#HOW TO GET TO FINDER PREFERENCES ON MAC HOW TO#
#HOW TO GET TO FINDER PREFERENCES ON MAC PDF#
#HOW TO GET TO FINDER PREFERENCES ON MAC MAC#

Hold Command key and click on Up Arrow button.

Click on “+” icon which will open a Finder window.

Use Spotlight Search to open System Preferences.

Now, if you want to clear the Recents folder immediately follow these steps: In the search, window type the name (or part of the name) of the file, and it quickly populates the list that fits the search criteria. If you are looking for a specific file, all you need to hold the Command button and hit the space bar to bring up the Spotlight Search. In a nutshell, it creates an index of all files on the disk, and it knows which files have been changed recently. There is an app that runs on the background all the time and tracks all file modifications. This method is the fastest, and I mentioned it at the beginning of the article. Hide entire startup disk from Spotlight Search Some are better than others.įollowing are four ways to delete items from Recents on Mac. Some of them are easy, and some require some technical skills. There are several ways to achieve the result.

#HOW TO GET TO FINDER PREFERENCES ON MAC MAC#

4 Ways to Clear Recents Folder in Mac Finder They only affect the currently open window.īut don’t worry, below are the best methods of clearing Recents folder results. You can change the raw query and even click on the minus icon and then click on the Save button, but changes will not persist. In the dropdown list, click on Show Search criteria, and you will see something like this.Īs you can see, the Recents folder is a Raw query that returns all files you have touched recently.

Then click on the Settings icon (looks like a cog). If you need proof, just open the folder in the Finder. The Recents folder works exactly the same way.

#HOW TO GET TO FINDER PREFERENCES ON MAC PDF#

In short, a smart folder is a saved search, a query, sometimes with parameters.įor instance, you can search for all PDF files on your disk created last year and save this search (or query) in the Finder, so the next time when you search for the same files, you can open a smart folder and get the list instantaneously. If you read my article “How to Find Any File on Mac (Guide with Pics),” I explained in great detail what a smart folder is. The truth is that it’s not an actual folder on a physical disk. There is a little bit of confusion about what the Recents folder is. While this does not clear recently accessed documents in the Mac Finder, excluding the startup disk from the Spotlight Search does. But if you are short on time and need to hide Recents quickly, let me give a quick tip.Ĭlick on the Apple logo, and then in a drop-down menu click on Recent Items -> Clear Menu item to clear recent documents and apps from the Apple menu. I encourage you to read the entire post because it contains a lot of information most Apple users don’t know. I personally tested every method I described below, so everything I suggest works in macOS Mojave, Catalina, and Big Sur.

#HOW TO GET TO FINDER PREFERENCES ON MAC HOW TO#

For instance, if you want to find out how to hide files from the Recents folder in the Mac Finder, Google will return hundreds of blog posts, which totally miss the point.Īnyone who follows their advice will either fail to achieve the goal or lose the documents in the worst case. It’s so strange how hard it is sometimes to find answers for some simple and often asked questions on the internet.

How to get to finder preferences on mac