Are you having a problem locating all of the images and videos saved on your Mac? Or maybe you are trying to figure out why so much of your Mac’s internal hard drive space is being taken up, and want to try and determine how many duplicate files are being saved to your Mac.
No matter the reason, this is where Smart Folders comes in as you can create a customized folder that will show you specific files, documents, or anything else you might want to have quick and easy access to. It’s one thing to have Smart Folders available on your Mac, but if there’s a folder that you want to easily access, you can go so far as to add it to the Finder Sidebar. Today, we’re going to take you through the steps to add Smart Folders to Finder on Mac.
How to Create Smart Folders on Mac
Before you can go through the steps to add Smart Folders to Finder Sidebar on Mac, you’ll first need to actually create the Smart Folder that you want. It’s actually a pretty easy process, just make sure you know what documents, files, or other media you want the Smart Folder(s) to actually surface for you before going through and creating the folder.
Open the Finder app on your Mac.
In the Menu Bar, click File.
From the drop-down menu, highlight and select New Smart Folder.
Specify the criteria for the Smart Folder:
Set the first rule: In the search field, enter a topic, a phrase, a date, or another characteristic of the files you want listed in your Smart Folder, then choose from the suggestions that appear below the search field. Refine your search by clicking the pop-up menu in the search field.
Add a rule: Click the Add button below the search field, then set the rule using the search attribute pop-up menus. See the complete list of attributes by clicking Other in the first pop-up menu.
Click Save.
Enter a name and location for your Smart Folder.
At this point, there’s a toggle available that allows you to add a Smart Folder to your sidebar in Finder, simply labeled “Add To Sidebar.” This will automatically place the newly-created Smart Folder in the Finder sidebar, giving you quick and easy access to the folder.
How to Add Smart Folders to Finder Sidebar on Mac
As Apple continues to attempt to innovate with macOS, by bringing new and exciting features, the company has also been removing other long-standing features. One of these is the ability to easily add a Smart Folder to the Finder sidebar on Mac. Thankfully, there’s still a way for you to add a Smart Folder to the Finder sidebar, even if you decided against doing so when you initially created the Smart Folder.
Open the Finder app on your Mac.
In the Menu Bar, click Go.
From the drop-down menu that appears, highlight and select Go To Folder.
Enter ~/Library/Saved Searches.
Hit the Enter key on your keyboard.
Locate the Saved Search that was used to create your Smart Folder.
Press CMD + CTRL + T.
You can also click Finder in the Menu Bar and select Add to Sidebar from the drop-down menu.
Now, any of the Smart Folders that you have created will be available and accessible right in the Sidebar of pretty much any Finder window that you open. This is one of those features that you might have forgotten about, but once you start using them, you’ll never know how you managed to live without them before.
Andrew Myrick is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is having a never-ending supply of different keyboards and gaming handhelds that end up collecting more dust than the consoles that are being emulated.
Write a Comment