Details the contents of files which are built into Spotlight’s index, its reliance on keys, how apps can perform Spotlight searches, and the three bundled tools for users.
Finder
Almost 16 years old, many think it has grown steadily worse. It has faced new challenges such as iCloud, privacy, and APFS backups. Here’s how it works, and how to get the most from it.
UserDefaults and cfprefsd manage the preference system, an amorphous database spread across hundreds of files which can only be controlled in Terminal. It’s time for a change.
Something wrong with the Finder or an app, and you want to trash its preferences? Don’t: macOS will defeat you. Here’s how to do that so it works.
Apparently at random, my main working folder, on an external SSD, vanishes from the Finder. Is this a problem in macOS 11.1?
The answer could be anything from 15 to 32 GB. Maybe the Finder’s just having a wild guess? Numbers courtesy of Big Sur and APFS.
So convenient to use – edit them in the Comments: section of Finder’s Get Info dialog. But as reliable as loose scraps of paper, and as easily lost.
Unlike file data, metadata has varying persistence. Some is ephemeral, others sticky. macOS has inbuilt mechanisms for managing the persistence of extended attributes.
Easy to access, well-supported in the Finder and elsewhere, Finder tags are powerful tools which rely on extended attributes to do their job. All you need to know about them.
How can you create and resolve Finder Aliases at the command line? And two further utilities you may find helpful for working with Aliases.
