14 Changes That Will Make the Finder App on Your Mac More Useful
Finder is your path to all your Mac’s files. Yes, you can (and should) use Spotlight to quickly find and open files. But when it comes to actually managing and working with files, folders, and documents, the Finder app is indispensable, especially since none of us know how to create a folder hierarchy anymore .
The good news is that Finder is really good at helping you organize your files. But there are some things about it that could be improved. What if every new Finder window didn’t automatically open in the Recents folder by default? What if you could easily see the detailed path to a specific folder? Or organize files using tags? Well, you can: here’s how to customize what you see in the Finder app.
How to Customize the Sidebar in Finder
The sidebar is where you’ll likely start interacting with the Finder, so you’ll need to take some time to add what you want to see there and remove what’s cluttering it.
Open Finder > Preferences > Sidebar . From here, select the sections you want to show or hide. For example, you can remove the Tags section, limit the number of Locations items, and shorten the Favorites section.
After that, go to some frequently used folders and drag them to the Favorites section so that you can always access them easily.
How to change Finder’s default folder
By default, Finder starts with the Recents folder ready to go. This may not be helpful to you – if you keep all your files in your Downloads or Documents folder, it might be better to use one of those as a starting point.
Go to Finder > Preferences > General > New Finder Window . Here, select any folder that will be used as the default when you open a new Finder window.
How to Show the Path Bar in Finder
Every Finder user must turn on the Path Bar. This gives you an idea of where exactly you are in the file directory. Go to View > Show Path Panel to turn it on.
You will now see the path to each folder at the bottom of the Finder window. You can click on any folder from the path to go to it. You can also quickly copy the full path by clicking the folder along the path and selecting the ” Copy as path ” option.
If you don’t want to always see the file path, you can display it selectively; simply right-click on the file or folder name at the top of the Finder window to see a list of all the folders or files from which your current file/folder came.
How to show Finder status bar
By default, the status bar in Finder does only two things: it shows how many items are in a folder (and how many are selected), and how much space is left on your Mac. Overall this is useful information and is worth including. To do this, choose View > Show Status Bar .
How to Customize the Finder Toolbar
You can customize the Finder toolbar just like you do in Safari. Right-click an empty space in the Finder toolbar and select the Customize Toolbar option.
Here you can rearrange items and drag or remove items from above. (Adding ” Delete ” and ” New Folder ” buttons would be very helpful.)
How to Increase Font Size in Finder
If you’re using a 13-inch MacBook Air, you may find it difficult to navigate through the long list of file names. Try increasing the Finder font size. To do this, go to View > Show View Options and under Text Size , increase the text size to a reasonable value (probably 16 is a good choice).
Open new Finder folders in windows instead of tabs.
Finder now has tabs, just like Safari. Simply double-click a folder while holding down the Command key to start using it. However, if you’d rather go back to using Windows with this shortcut instead, it’s still an option.
To revert to the old behavior, go to Finder > Preferences and uncheck the ” Open folders in tabs instead of new windows ” checkbox.
Changing the appearance and sorting of folders
Finder gives you powerful ways to customize how you view and sort items in folders. First, views . Click the Views icon in the top toolbar to choose between icons, list, columns, and gallery.
Each view is useful depending on the contents of the folder. Icons are used by default, but you can switch to Gallery view to make it easier to view images in larger preview sizes. The Columns view displays a multi-pane structure, so you can continue to dig deeper into the folder structure while still keeping an eye on higher-level folders. List is the most powerful view and is usually the default view I use. It shows all files and folders sorted by various parameters such as name, last updated time or size. You can click on any of these properties to change the sorting, and all this metadata will always be available next to the file name, which is very convenient.
You can also select the Group icon from the toolbar to group files based on various criteria such as name, application, tags, size, file last updated time, etc.
The only thing to note here is that all of these browsing settings are per folder, so you will need to change the settings on a per-folder basis as you navigate through them. However, once they are set, Finder will remember your settings going forward.
Show hidden files on Mac
If you frequently use hidden files or need to view hidden files in your System or Library folder, you can quickly use the Command+Shift+ keyboard shortcut. (dot) to make them appear or disappear.
And if you like keyboard shortcuts, try the Marta app . It’s a third-party alternative to the Finder app based on the idea of navigating through files using the keyboard.
Change default search location
Using Finder means using the search function, but without making some changes you might find it a little annoying. By default, it only searches the current folder you’re in, not your entire Mac.
Open Finder > Preferences > Advanced . Under “When you search,” switch to the “Search this Mac ” option. Or, better yet, switch to “Use Previous Search Scope” to make Finder remember which option you last used.
Don’t be afraid to use tags
Don’t sleep on Finder tags. They are just as useful as tags in the reminders app. Right-click any file or folder to give it a color tag. If you click the Tags button, you can also create a new custom tag with the color of your choice. Tags you use automatically appear in the Finder sidebar for quick access.
Tags are a great way to group similar files in one view without having to move them between folders. This way, you can collect all the files related to the project in one section, and then get rid of the tag when the work is completed.
Set up quick actions
Quick Actions is a relatively new addition to the Finder, but it already contains one of the best new hidden features on the Mac. Right-click the image, select Convert Image , and you can convert the HEIC image to JPEG or reduce the image size with ease. But you can also click the Customize button to add additional features to this menu. However, the best thing you can add to quick actions are shortcuts. You can create shortcuts to resize images, move or manipulate files, helping to automate the browsing process.
Improved Quick View
Quick View is one of my favorite Finder features. You press spacebar and an immediate preview of what’s in the file you selected appears. It’s the fastest way to read a PDF or watch a video. By default, Quick Look doesn’t work for all file types, but Mac developers have created many Quick Look extensions that help you view digital publications , ZIP content , and more. We’ve highlighted the best Quick Look plugins in our dedicated guide .
You can also use the independent app Peek to add support for over 600 file types.
Find contacts on all desktops
If you use multiple monitors on your Mac , you can pin the same Finder window to all desktops. Right-click the Finder icon in the Dock and choose Options > All Desktops . Now, when you move between desktops, the same Finder window will move with you.