MacMost: Finder

You can choose whether or not to see filename extensions in the Finder on your Mac. But even if you choose to not see them, some filename will still show extensions and others will not. What makes these files different and how do you control them?

Sometimes you need to select two or more files in the Finder on your Mac. You can do this in a variety of ways depending on which Finder view you are using at the moment. All views let you use the Command and Shift keys to select multiple files, though they differ in some ways. You can also drag to select multiple files in each view. Keyboard shortcuts can be used to select all or deselect all.

You can create custom folder icons by using only the software that comes with your Mac. By taking the existing folder icon graphic and bringing it into Preview, you can tint the color and then add text, emoji or shapes to create a useful custom folder icon. Changing folder icons can be a little tricky and buggy, however. You can also use graphics apps to create more highly-customized icons and download icons online to use.

You can rename a group or folder full of files at the same time using the built-in batch rename tool in the macOS Finder. You can simple replace some text with other text in all of the selected files, add text to the names, or add numbers to each file. When using numbers, you can replace the names with some text and a number, or keep the current name and add a number before or after it.

If you only use the Dock to launch apps, you missing out on one of the Mac's most powerful features. By adding folders to the right side of the Dock, you can have quick access to downloads, applications, files and more. You can create Smart Folders to view recent documents or documents from a single app. You can create folders full of aliases to get quick access to groups of applications or files.

If you prefer to type instead of using the mouse and cursor you can manage your files and folders with the Terminal. You can use commands to list, open, rename, move and delete files. You can do nearly everything that you can do in the Finder, and some commands are even more powerful.

A quick search in the Finder will show you the largest files on your Mac or in a specific location on your Mac. But you may be better off using a special system utility that will show you large files and other items taking up a lot of space. Once you locate large files you can delete the or archive them to an external drive to free up space on your Mac's hard drive.

Learn some useful everyday tips, tricks and techniques to make it easier to manage your files and folders in the macOS Catalina Finder. See how you can use things like Undo, Copy and Paste, the Path Bar, keyboard shortcuts and more to navigate around in the Finder and work with your files.

If you use the Find function in the Finder you can perform file searches that are much more complex than using Spotlight. You can add many pieces of criteria to the search other than a single search term. If you know how, you can use logic to combine search criteria and add very specific options. Then you can save your searches so you don't have to recreate them from scratch later.

Many Mac users ignore the Go menu in the Finder, but there are some useful shortcuts there. You can access some of the most most used folders on your drive with this menu and see keyboard shortcuts for them. You can also access your Librray folder and Startup Disk through the Go menu if you know how. The Go to Folder function lets you move around by typing, which is preferred by many pro users.

You can customize your Finder sidebar to include the folders and locations you most often use. You can click on a sidebar item to go to that location, and also drag and drop items into those locations. You can customize the sidebar in Finder, Preferences, and also by dragging and dropping items into and around in the sidebar. Tags and Smart Folders can be used to make the sidebar even more useful.

It is fairly easy to compress a single file or multiple files and folders into a ZIP file archive on your Mac. You can also decompress any ZIP file by simply double-clicking it. This is useful for sending files online or to store files you no longer need. The Archive Utility is used invisibly for both commands, but you can run this app by itself and choose from more options when compressing or decompressing ZIP files.

Instead of storing your videos in the Photos app with your pictures, consider storing them as files in a folder in the Finder. You can place this folder on your iCloud Drive, on your local drive only, or on an external drive. You can organize them using file names, subfolders, tags and comments. You can use the Gallery view to look through your videos almost as if they were in a special video management app.

If you have a cluttered Desktop, you may want to occasionally hide the icons. You can do this with third-party apps or Terminal commands. You can also write a very simple shell script in Automator and save it as an app. Then you can toggle the Desktop on or off with a simple click in the Dock.

There are many ways to customize how files and folders appear on your desktop. You can manually arrange them, or have them sorted automatically. You can change the size of the icons, the text, and the grid spacing. A new feature in macOS Mojave is to have similar files organized into stacks. You can also select what other icons, such as hard drives, appear on the Desktop.

If you need to print the list of files in a folder, you can do it using TextEdit, the Terminal or by using a special trick involving your printer. Using TextEdit is a simple drag-and-drop, but you must be working with a plain text document. By using the ls command in the Terminal, you can customize which information is included with the listing. You can also simply drag and drop a folder to an alias to your printer, but you must create that alias first.

Need to convert a jpg image to a jpeg? Or an mov video to a mp4? Chances are you don't need to convert anything at all. You just need to change the filename. File extensions on a Mac are somewhat optional and often interchangeable. A jpg is the same as a jpeg file. Video files extensions aren't as important as the contents of the file as video file are really just containers.

It is common to hear a Mac user complain that the file search function in macOS Finder doesn't find files they know are present. The reason is often that the user has made one of these mistakes. When searching for a file, the search usually starts in the folder in which the user is currently looking. You need to change the scope of your search to look elsewhere as well. By default, searches look in the content of files as well as the file names, but you can narrow your search to only the file names. If you are looking for something other than a file's content or name, you need to start the search differently. Many users search for files using Spotlight, but if you know you want a file, then it is better to search with the Finder.

A common complaint from Mojave users is that when you copy and paste a file icon to create a custom icon for a file or folder, the result is blurry. It turns out that this only happens when the icon image is not square. Convert the image to a square one, or copy a square portion of the image, and the result is crisp and clear.

When you save a file you get to assign a name and pick a location. The standard save dialog provides a lot of power user techniques that most people don't know about. You can harness the power of Finder windows to choose a location, you can use keyboard shortcuts to jump to locations and cancel. You can click on existing files to inherit the same name.