How to Find Files on a Mac | 5 Practical Methods

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Most users are not alien to the process of finding files on a Mac; you can easily locate the file you want from a folder, unless your Documents folder is missing on Mac. However, locating a document by remembering its lengthy path can be a tedious process.

**How to Find Files on Your Mac** This article will go over five better, more effective ways to find files than just looking for them.

Use a Software Tool	This is the easiest and most powerful way to find your files on a Mac, even if you've deleted them or forgotten where you saved them.
Use MacSpotlight	You can search for specific files by name, date, and type. The Preview feature in Spotlight will help you verify that the search results are correct.
Use MacFinder	This is simple but direct. However, if you don't remember which folder the file was saved in, searching through all of your Mac's storage can take a while.
Look at Your Recent Items List	This is a quick method, especially if you were editing a Word/Excel document. However, keep in mind that the version you open may not have your most recent changes saved.
Use Terminal Commands	Using commands to find a file might be tricky if you're new to computers. However, if you're comfortable with Terminal, this will be the most straightforward method.

When you think about how to find a document on your Mac, you might first think of the folder where you saved it. But there's a downside to this approach: you have to remember the exact location where you saved the document.

However, if you forget where you saved the file, try any of these five quick and effective methods to find your file on MacBook Air/Pro.

Method 1: Use Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to Find Your Document

The most probable reason for not finding your files in the Downloads folder is that you might have accidentally deleted them. If you're lucky, you can find the missing files in the Mac Trash, assuming it hasn't been emptied yet.

Or, worse still, if you forget to save a document, like a Word document, the only way to recover it is by using a professional data recovery software, such as Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to recover unsaved Word document on Mac.

Even if you have already permanently deleted a file on Mac, data recovery software can restore it with just a few clicks: recover permanently deleted files on Mac. It supports PDF file recovery on Mac, Excel document recovery, and PowerPoint file recovery. Follow the steps below:

Note: You can create a backup first by clicking “Disk Backup” on the left. The software will recover your documents from the backup image. This prevents further damage to your disk and data, making it safer and more reliable.

Step one: Search for the lost files.

Select the location where your lost important Word/Excel/PPT/Numbers/Pages document was saved, and then click “Start to Search Lost Files”.

Select the location on your Mac and scan for lost files

Step 2: Find Your Lost Files on Mac

The Mac Data Recovery Wizard will start scanning the disk volume you selected immediately. The scan results will be displayed in the left pane. Choose "Documents" to quickly filter out lost DOC/PDF/PPT/XLS files.

Step 3: Recover Lost or Deleted Documents

Select the files you wish to recover, preview them by double-clicking, and then click the “Restore” button to immediately get your lost documents back.

Mac data recovery software tools can also help you recover missing Excel documents. If your Excel file is missing on a Mac, you can read this article to fix the problem.

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Method 2: Find the Document on Your Mac Using Spotlight

Spotlight is a powerful feature on the Mac that lets you quickly open any file. Use Spotlight to find your document by following these steps:

Step 1. Press the Mac Spotlight shortcut “Command + Space.” Alternatively, you can click the magnifying glass icon on your desktop to access Spotlight search.

command + space

Step 2: Type the name of the document in the search bar. In addition to searching by name, you can also search by date and file type.

Step Three: Open the file you want; you can preview documents in the Spotlight results.

Unlike the Finder, which is limited to searching for files on your Mac, Spotlight can do more, including fetching search results from the web, performing calculations, and giving you directions.

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Method 3: Search for Files on MacBook Air Using Finder

Finding documents on a Mac is straightforward using the Mac Finder. Both the Finder and Spotlight can quickly locate files on your MacBook Air/Pro. Follow these steps:

Step 1. Double-click the Finder icon in your Mac Dock to open Finder.

Mac Finder

Step 2: Press “Command + F” to search for a file or folder in Finder.

Search for This Mac in Finder

By default, the Finder searches within the selected folder for the item, but if it's not there, it searches “This Mac” to see if the document is stored anywhere on your Mac.

If the file still doesn't appear in Finder, quit Spotlight, make sure you've got the right filename, and try again.

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Method 4: Search for the document through the “Recent Items” list

If you still can't find the file, open the Apple menu > Recent Items list to see if it's there.

Recently Opened Items

In some applications, like Microsoft Word for Mac, choose “File” > “Open Recent” (or a similar option) to see a list of recently edited documents and find the one you want. If the document isn't in your recent files list, you might have deleted it or failed to save it.

Recently Opened

Method 5: Find a Document on Mac Using Terminal Commands

Using commands to search for files might be tricky if you're new to computers, but if you're comfortable with the Terminal, it's the most direct way. You can search for documents by name within specific directories by entering commands into the Terminal. The Terminal window will display the exact path of each document.

For example, you could open Terminal and enter the command find /users/lex -name macgasmrocks.rtf, which would search your entire home directory for a file with the .rtf file extension.

Use Terminal Command

Moreover, Mac Terminal can help you recover deleted documents. So, if you accidentally delete a document, read on to learn the recovery process.

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Conclusions

This article outlines five effective ways to find files on your Mac: using a Mac data recovery wizard, Spotlight, Finder, Terminal commands, and checking the Recent Items list. Throughout the process, it's assumed that your files have suddenly disappeared from your Mac, which could mean they're lost, deleted, or unsaved on your device.

In that case, you can check the Trash first and restore your lost document by clicking “Put Back.” However, if you have emptied the Trash, don't worry; you can still use Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to recover deleted, lost, or unsaved documents.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Find Files on a Mac

When searching for how to find files on a Mac, people also ask the following questions. Read through them for more information on locating files on a Mac.

**How to recover an earlier version of a Word document on Mac?** To restore a previous version of a Word document on your Mac, you can follow these methods: 1. **Using Time Machine backup:** - If you have set up Time Machine backups, connect your backup disk. - Open the Time Machine application. - Scroll through the timeline to find the old version of the Word document you need. - Click on the desired version and then click "Restore" to copy it back to your Mac. 2. **Word's AutoRecover feature:** - Launch Microsoft Word. - Go to "File" > "Recent Documents" > "Recover Unsaved Documents." - A list of automatically saved Word versions will appear. Select the one you need and open it. - Save this version to your hard drive. 3. **OneDrive Version History:** - If you sync your Word documents with OneDrive: - Open the Word document and click "File" > "Info" > "Version History." - In the popup window, browse and select the old version you require. - Click "Restore" or right-click and choose "Save As" to save that version to your computer. Please note that menu options might vary slightly across different versions of Word. Make sure you are using the latest version of Microsoft Office for optimal functionality.

You can use five tested methods to restore previous versions of a Word document on your Mac:

View File History
Use Mac Data Recovery Software [Recommended?
Utilize Auto-Recovery Feature
Exploit the TemporaryItems Folder
Restore from Time Machine Backup

2. Where can I find my files on a Mac?

Usually, you can find them in the folder where the document is saved. But if you can't remember where you saved the document, you can use Finder to locate it. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Click the “Finder” icon in your Mac's Dock to open it.