MacMost: Finder

Quick Look allows you to preview files in the Finder. But you can also do other things with it like rotating and editing images, trimming videos, scroll through documents and select text to copy, view multiple files as an index sheet or slideshow and more.

If you like to use Finder tags to organize your files, check out these quick ways to assign and clear tags from selected files. You can use hidden keyboard shortcuts to do it, and also access tags in the Info window, Inspector, or though a special Tags panel.

Title Icons, also called Proxy Icons, allow you to drag and drop files directly from their document windows without needing to use the Finder. You can also use them in the Finder to drag the folder you are currently viewing without needing to go up a level.

The context menu appears when you Control+click, right+click, or two-finger click something on a Mac. Most of the items in a context menu appear depending on what was clicked and which app you are using. But some parts of the context menu can be customized to fit your needs.

Often people ask me about duplicate photos or files when all they are seeing is two different ways of viewing the same single photo or file. For instance, albums in Photos show the same photos as the Library, and Recents and the Desktop in the Finder show files you can also see elsewhere. It is important to understand why these aren't duplicate items to avoid deleting the one and only copy of a photo or file.

When you go to save a file it can be frustrating to find the location you want. But there are many things you can do to quickly navigate to your folders in the Save Dialog. You can also use these techniques when saving downloads in your browser.

You have four choices when it comes to Finder views. List View, however, has several advantages which make it my go-to Finder view.

When you open a new Finder window, it can be confusing as to why the new window is at a specific location, size and view settings. Understanding the difference between Finder windows and folder locations is key, as well as knowing the difference between browsing and opening new windows, and what is remembered by the Finder.

You have a lot of ways to customize your Mac's Desktop. You can use a grid or even have items automatically sorted. You can change the icon and text size, show more information, set a background color, and even show images or information over the background.

If you suspect that you have some large duplicate files on your Mac, you can find them without any special software. You can use the Finder to search for files and sort them so duplicates are together. You can also use the Terminal to find duplicates with a multi-part command.

Accidents happen and things get deleted. Here are several ways you can get back deleted text, files and other items on your Mac.

When you drag and drop a file from one folder to another on a Mac, sometimes this will move the file, and sometimes this will copy the file. Learn when a drag is a move vs a copy and how to choose the other option.

When you transfer a file between Mac and Windows, or upload to a cloud service, you may notice that the file size looks different. Windows and most cloud services use a different way to measure sizes like megabytes than Macs do. The file is actually the same size, just the math used to get those file size numbers is different.

If you have a messy Mac Desktop and want to clean it up, there are several techniques you can use. You can do something quick and simple to tidy up, or get to work and go through those files to organize them better.

The Desktop & Documents Folders feature of iCloud Drive lets you decide whether those two folders are stored only on your local Mac's hard drive, or as part of iCloud Drive and available across all of your Apple devices.

The Finder is easily controlled with a mouse or trackpad, but if you prefer to use your keyboard you can access most functions if you know the right keys to press.

In most apps you can choose to Duplicate the current document, or use a hidden Save As command to do something very similar. What are the differences between the two commands and what other alternatives are there?

Most apps you use to create documents on your Mac have the same core commands in the File menu. Learn how to use New, Open, Close, Save, Duplicate, Save As, Rename and Move To. Plus, lots and lots of useful tips and tricks!

While it may not seem like you can use wildcards in a Spotlight search on a Mac, you can use a variety of options to get the same result with a normal search, and then regular wildcard searches when using Raw Query as your search type.

Drag-and-drop is a basic Mac skill, but there are many advanced techniques that most users don't know about. Learn how to use drag-and-drop with multiple desktops, the App Switcher, text selections, URLs, and even between Macs with Universal Control.