How to Create Smart Folders on Mac – Guide
Smart folders are a great way to save time and effort when organizing files on your Mac. They automatically locate and organize files based on your search criteria, and are constantly updated. For instance, you can create a smart folder that displays the most recent documents created in the past month, all files over a certain size, or even all music at a certain rate. Here’s how to make one.
Smart folders don’t create a new storage space for your files; they simply index them according to type and keywords. Your files stay in their original locations, but the smart folder provides an easy way to access them.
Where you can define Up Smart folders?
Smart Folders are a useful tool for Mac users, available in many applications. Finder, Mail, iTunes and Contacts all offer Smart Folders (or Smart Groups in Contacts). Other programs such as 1Password also support the feature. To take advantage of this time-saving tool, look for the “smart” option in your programs.
Getting started: Creating a smart folder in the Finder
Using the Finder’s Smart Folder feature, Mac users can quickly locate .pdf files in their Downloads folder. The New Menu in most Mac programs contains the option to create a Smart Folder, which opens up a search window. This makes it easy to find what you need without having to search through the entire hard drive.
To create a smart folder on your Mac, start by navigating to the folder or volume you want it to search. Then, select “New Smart Folder” from the File menu. Your Mac will now look for items in that specific location.
Click the plus sign below the search balloon on the right side of the window to create search criteria.
Users can create a Smart Folder in Finder to quickly locate PDF files. They simply need to select “Kind” as the attribute and “PDF” as the detail.
The Finder’s É drop-down menu allows users to search for files by name, but more accurate results can be achieved with attribute search.
Smart Folders enable users to search for files using multiple criteria. For example, if a user wants to locate a recently created large PDF, they can select size as an attribute and click the plus icon for additional options.
Searching through a long list of options is made easier with the “Other” option.
By selecting Size and the Finder in their Mac, users can quickly access file size attributes without having to navigate through menus. For added convenience, they can choose No Menu to make the option always visible.
Users can select PDFs larger than 1MB in size.
Smart Folder Top Ideas
Find large files on your hard drive
Macs with solid state drives may eventually run out of space due to their limited capacity. To identify which files are taking up the most space, users can create a smart folder to view large files.
To quickly locate large files on your computer, create a Smart Folder in the Finder. Select “File size” from the first drop-down menu and set it to “greater than” 1 GB. This will generate a list of all files larger than 1 gigabyte, which are likely disk images that can be deleted.
Find installer files – .DMG
Finding installers can be tricky, especially if their names are unclear. To make the process easier, create a smart folder with the left menu as the file extension to quickly identify what you’re looking for.
If you haven’t already done so, select ‘Other’ from the options and then choose ‘File extension’ in the next field. This will set your file format to DMG, which is the standard for Apple installer files.
Labeling files from the Smart Folder Installer can help ensure Office for Mac (X16-92852-EN) is installed correctly.
Files downloaded from a URL
Every month, I struggle to find my mobile provider’s invoice. Its nondescript name makes it hard to locate, but a new Smart Folder feature can help: it searches for email attachments as well as other options when configuring the search.
Choose where to get your files from and select the matches you want. For example, this month, all files can be sourced from att.com.
All recipes from an online supplier
Smart contact folders
Creating a Smart Group in Contacts can save time when searching for contacts. To do so, select New Smart Group from the Contacts menu. This feature is especially useful when you remember where someone works but not their name.
Final note
We hope you found our guide on creating Smart Folders on Mac helpful. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Show your support by sharing this article with your friends!
