How to use a Smart Folder on a Mac to gather files without moving them

A Smart Folder is a saved search that looks like a folder. In Finder, choose File > New Smart Folder, set the rules (kind, date, name, tag) and click Save. Every file that matches shows up inside it, and none of them move: each one stays in its real folder while the Smart Folder lists it.

Make a Smart Folder

1. In Finder, choose File > New Smart Folder. A search window opens.
2. At the top of the window, choose where to look: This Mac, or the folder you were in when you started, which is shown by name.
3. Click the + button at the right, just under the search field. A rule row appears.
4. Use the first pop-up menu to choose what the rule looks at (Kind, Name, Last opened date, Last modified date, Created date or Contents) and the menus beside it to set the value. For example: Kind is PDF.
5. Click + again to add another rule, such as Last modified date is within last 7 days. The window updates as you go, so you can see whether the rules catch what you expect.
6. Click Save. Give the Smart Folder a name, choose where to keep it, and leave Add To Sidebar ticked if you want it in the Finder sidebar.

By default it is saved in a Saved Searches folder inside your Library, which is fine when you reach it from the sidebar. You can also save it on the desktop or in a project folder, where it sits among ordinary folders.

Two refinements are worth knowing:

• More attributes. Choose Other at the bottom of the first pop-up menu to see a much longer list, including Tags and file size. Tick In Menu next to one to keep it in the pop-up from then on.
• Either-or rules. Hold Option and the + button turns into three dots. Click it to add a group that matches Any, All or None of the rules beneath it. That is how you ask for files that are PDFs or images, changed this week.

What a Smart Folder really is

It helps to be exact about this, because a Smart Folder behaves like a folder in some ways and not in others.

• It is a live list. A new file that matches the rules appears without you doing anything. A file that stops matching drops out.
• The files are the real ones. Open, rename or edit a file from inside a Smart Folder and you are changing the original. Move one to the Trash from there and the real file goes to the Trash.
• Deleting the Smart Folder is harmless. Removing the Smart Folder removes only the saved search. Every file it listed stays where it was.
• You cannot drop files into it. Membership is decided by the rules alone. There is no way to add a file by dragging it onto a Smart Folder.
• It depends on Spotlight. Smart Folders use the same index as Spotlight search. A folder or drive you have excluded from Spotlight in System Settings will not contribute anything, and neither will an external drive that is unplugged.

To change the rules later, open the Smart Folder, click the Action pop-up menu in the toolbar (the circle with three dots) and choose Show Search Criteria. Adjust the rows and click Save.

Use a tag when the files have nothing in common

Rules need a shared trait. A set of files chosen for a reason only you know, such as a contract, two photos and a spreadsheet for one meeting, has none. Tags are the built-in way around that.

1. Select the files, Control-click, and choose Tags. Type a new tag name such as Budget review and press Return.
2. Make a Smart Folder with the rule Tags is Budget review, or skip the Smart Folder and click the tag in the Finder sidebar, which shows the same list.
3. To take a file out of the set, remove the tag from it.

This works well for sets that last weeks. It is a lot of ceremony for a set that matters for ten minutes, because you tag every file going in and should untag every file when you are done, or the tag list fills with leftovers.

When picking by hand is faster

A Smart Folder is at its best answering a standing question: every PDF I changed this week, everything with invoice in the name, all screenshots from today. It answers the question again each time you open it.

It is the wrong tool for a one-off set: these four particular files, for this one email, right now. No rule describes them, and building a tag for a single send is more work than the send.

Ledge handles that case by letting you pick by hand without keeping windows open. Drag each file up to the notch at the top of the screen and let go. It lands on a shelf that drops from the notch and stays there, so you can gather things from different apps and folders in one place. When you have them all, open the shelf with Option-Space or a click on the notch and drag them off to the app or folder that needs them. A chat app gets an upload, a terminal gets the path as text, and a Finder window gets the file itself.

The two work well together. Use a Smart Folder to narrow the field, for instance every PDF changed this week, then drag the three you need from the Smart Folder window up to the notch. They are the real files, so they drag like any others. Carry them to the email or the chat from there. How to gather files from different folders in one spot and how to keep a working set of files in reach go deeper on the hand-picked side.

One caution with Finder drops: because a Finder window receives the file itself, dropping from the shelf onto a folder moves the file there. That is what you want when filing. If you only meant to send the file, drop it on the app instead.

To be plain about the difference: Ledge does not search, read or index your files, and it has no rules. It holds what you put on it and nothing else. A Smart Folder finds; a shelf holds. Ledge also has no account and no cloud, so gathering files this way does not send them anywhere.

Questions

Does a Smart Folder take up disk space?

Practically none. It stores the search rules, not copies of the files. A Smart Folder listing fifty gigabytes of video is itself a tiny file.

If I delete a Smart Folder, are my files deleted?

No. Only the saved search goes. Be careful with the opposite case, though: deleting a file while you are looking at it inside a Smart Folder moves the real file to the Trash.

Why is a file missing from my Smart Folder?

Check three things. The file may not match a rule exactly; Kind is the usual culprit. The search may be limited to one folder instead of This Mac. Or the file sits somewhere Spotlight does not index, such as an excluded folder or a drive that is not connected.

Can I select every file of one type without making a Smart Folder?

Yes, for a single folder. How to select all files of one type in a folder on a Mac covers the quick ways.