findermacossearchspotlight
I am looking in a folder for a file which contains path in its name. I enter path in the search box, and select it to search the current folder (which is my default anyway). The tool tip indicates Filenames Name matches: path.
What I see is 110 items, none of which even contain the string path, let alone match.
What does the finder think I am looking for, and what do the results actually mean?
This is a relatively new iMac running MacOS Sierra.
The Spotlight window does not include files treated as system files by default. Try setting "System files" to "are included":
Or use mdfind:
$ mdfind -name tweetbot
/Applications/Tweetbot.app
/Users/lauri/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/Tweetbot_4C49445B-E14E-51E5-87DC-7CE59AE6A841.plist
/Users/lauri/Library/Containers/com.tapbots.TweetbotMac/Data/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/Tweetbot_4C49445B-E14E-51E5-87DC-7CE59AE6A841.plist
/Users/lauri/Library/Containers/com.tapbots.TweetbotMac/Data/Library/Application Support/Tweetbot
/Users/lauri/Library/Containers/com.tapbots.TweetbotMac
/Users/lauri/Library/Speech/Speakable Items/Application Speakable Items/Tweetbot
/Users/lauri/Library/SyncedPreferences/com.tapbots.TweetbotMac.plist
You can use the find command to show you the target of the symlink then have awk throw away the rest of the line. Then wrap that in a loop that tells you what it's doing then feeds the names to mdimport:
for linktarget in $(find ${HOME} -type l -ls | awk -F'-> ' '{print $NF}'); do
echo "importing ${linktarget}"
mdimport "${linktarget}";
done
It's probably easier to cut and paste this little script since there are some spaces that are easy to miss. (like the one after the arrow in the awk statement).
Best Answer
In the Finder, use command-F to get a Finder search window. You will get:
There is now a bar with criteria added. You see a pop-up menu "Kind" followed by "is" and another pop-up menu "Any". Click the "Kind", and choose "Name" from that menu:
There now is a pop-up menu just following "Name", select "contains" from that, and type the word "path" in the field that follows.
You can add criteria by clicking the + sign at the right of the search bar.
Spotlight does seem to "power" the default search field in Finder windows. I use Spotlight only in desperation, as it almost never ever finds what I'm looking for. But with the search criteria in the Finder's search window I usually book success.
So, remember: command-F gets you a Finder search window with a criteria bar, and that certainly helps.