How To Figure Out Where You Just Saved a File On Your Mac

When yo uquickly save a new document, it can be easy to not pay attention to where the file was saved. You can use these methods to locate the file. This also helps when you download a file, save a mail attachment or export a file.

Comments: 12 Responses to “How To Figure Out Where You Just Saved a File On Your Mac”

    Frank Scully
    3 years ago

    This happens to to me occasionally. I use winder and Cmd +F and last modified date is "today"

    Rocky Berlier
    3 years ago

    I'm trying to figure out why command+R isn't taking me to the enclosed folder, but rather rotating the image. Do you know why it's doing this?

    3 years ago

    Rocky: Command+R only works if you are viewing search results. If you are just looking at the file in the folder where it is located, then you are already at that location.

    Rocky Berlier
    3 years ago

    Gary: I'm in the Recents location (as you show here) and pressing Command+R rotates the image instead of showing the enclosed folder.

    3 years ago

    Rocky: Not sure why it is not working for you. Maybe try closing that Finder window and opening another. Try different files. Experiment and try different things. Works for me in Recents in all situations.

    Frank Scully
    3 years ago

    I have had occasions where I mistyped the name or have copy& pasted (move option cmd + opt V) and discover it is missing. This is because I was not correctly positioned in finder & was at say root level. I found the only way to locate it because of spelling error was to search by date added, date created, or date changed. Even this is NOT 100 % if the file is on an external disk AND that disk is excluded from spotlight. I discovered an app called Find any File which does not depend on index

    Rick Grossman
    3 years ago

    Great ideas! If you end up with a list of files from this, examine each with the spacebar. When you escape, you don't have an extra window and the list is exactly as it was including folder, view, sort & filter. You can work your way down a list without needing to scroll down and wonder if you looked at each file or not. I'm adding Go/Recent to my first choice when searching.

    Ron Housley
    3 years ago

    when there's a PDF that arrives inside a text message and then you elect to open with Preview, I can't find where that file is in Finder --- it must be in some Library folder somewhere, right?

    3 years ago

    Ron: It isn't really saved anywhere until you save it.

    Gail
    3 years ago

    I was just racking my brain less than 24 hours ago about this. Thank you, Gary!

    Lawrence Moore
    3 years ago

    Can I find docs I've photographed, named, and tagged in Photos with the Finder--i.e. without opening Photos? I often photograph documents with my iPhone, which transfers them to Photos on my desktop Mac. At a later time, I may need to find which Photo Library they're in before opening Photos.

    3 years ago

    Lawrence: No, you have to do that search in Photos.

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