Smart Folders are virtual folders that, unlike regular folders on your Mac, can be organized based on criteria set specifically to the folder. The process of creating a Smart Folder is similar to creating rules in Mail or iTunes Smart Playlists. The possibilities for Smart Folders are unlimited, allowing you to organize files by type, size, and Mac App Store category.
One of the most simple ways to create a Smart Folder is by basing it on a Spotlight search. To do this, open a Finder window and type in a search term in the search field.
To save the search as a Smart Folder, you’ll want to click the “Save” button that appears during the search. Doing this will open a dialog window asking where you'd like to place your new Smart Folder and what you want to name it. Be sure to check the box labeled, “Add to Sidebar” to have the new folder automatically added to the Finder window sidebar.
Sure, you could use some specialized app to find all of the large files on your system, but why not use a built-in Smart Folder instead? Create a new Smart Folder by navigating to File > New Smart Folder in the Finder.
Next, stack up the following rules using the drop-down menus and the plus (+) button:
- “Kind” is “Any”
- “File Size” “is greater than” 500 “MB”
If the File Size option is not available, you will need to select “Other” and locate the “File Size” option from the list of available Smart Folder search criteria.
The files displayed in this Smart Folder will all be over 500 MBs, but you can easily change the file size in the criteria so that you can narrow down which files are displayed based on their file size.
Smart Folders can also be used to see only certain file types. This can be done by using the “Kind is” drop-down criteria item, and then choosing a type. Smart Folders currently support the following types automatically:
- Any
- Application
- Document
- Executable
- Folder
- Image
- Movie
- Music
- PDF
- Presentation
- Text
However, you can also narrow down your results by one specific file extension by selecting the “Other” option and typing in a particular kind of file in the text box. For instance, you could type “JPEG” to only show photos of type JPEG, or “Word Document” to only show Microsoft Office Word Document files.
Sometimes it can be necessary to sort you files based on what is contained inside of them, instead of just simply the file name, the size, or the file type. To create a Smart Folder based on the contents of the files on your Mac, stack together the following rules into a new Smart Folder:
- “Kind” is “Any”
- “Contents” Contains “Your Search”
Replace “Your Search” with the item that you are trying to locate inside of the file. All of the files that have this search phrase inside of them will be listed in the Smart Folder.
Applications that have been downloaded from the Mac App Store have some special metadata that can be sorted using Smart Folders: The category (games, productivity, etc). We’ll create a games-only Smart Folder by stacking the following rules:
- “Kind” is “Application”
- “Category” “is” Games
Only applications with the category of “Games” will be listed. You can also do this for other applications, such as “Productivity,” or “Utilities.”
Cory Bohon is a freelance technology writer, indie Mac and iOS developer, and amateur photographer. Follow this article's author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.
