Search with Spotlight
The ability to switch between different sets of network settings (locations) can be useful in circumstances such as these: You use the same type of network (such as Ethernet) at work and at home, but the settings you use at work don't allow your Mac to automatically connect to the same type of network at home. Click your external hard drive under 'Devices' on the left side of the navigation window, and then click 'Choose.' This forces your Mac to delete the file index for the hard drive. To be honest, after upgrading and using Windows 7 built-in search tool, I see no reason to use a third-party desktop search tool. It takes a little tweaking, but the new search tool within Windows 7 is quite good.
- Click in the upper-right corner of the menu bar, or press Command-Space bar.
- Enter what you want to find. You can search for something like “apple store” or “emails from emily”.
- To open an item from the results list, double-click the item. Or to quickly look through the results, use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.
Search by file type or location
- To search by file type, use the word “kind” and the file type. For example, type “kind:folders” or “kind:audio”.
- To show the location of a file on your Mac, choose the file from the results list, then press and hold Command. The file’s location appears at the bottom of the preview. To open the file’s location, press Command-R.
- To see all the results from your Mac in the Finder, scroll to the bottom of the results list, then double-click “Show all in Finder.”
Get definitions, calculations, and conversions
Spotlight can show you dictionary definitions, calculations, measurement conversions, and more. Find out more ways to search with Spotlight.
Here are examples of what you can do:
- To get a definition, enter a word or phrase, then click the result in the Definition section.
- To get a calculation, enter something like “2+2” in the search field.
- To convert measurements, enter something like 25 lbs or “32 ft to meters”.
Find movie showtimes, weather, and nearby places
You can use Spotlight to search for movie showtimes, weather, and places near you.
Here are examples of what you can do:
- To get showtimes, enter the name of the movie that you want to see. To see what's playing near you, enter “showtimes.”
- To get local weather information, enter “weather.”
- To find restaurants near you, enter something like “places to eat,” then click a result in the Maps section.
Learn more
- Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac.
- Use Search on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Spotlight features might vary by country or region.
Network Utility shows information about each of your network connections, including the hardware address of the interface, the IP addresses assigned to it, its speed and status, a count of data packets sent and received, and a count of transmission errors and collisions.
These other tools are also included in Network Utility:
- Netstat: Examine your computer’s network routing tables by viewing a detailed summary of packet types sent and received using common network protocols.
- Ping: Test whether your computer can communicate with a computer or other device at a specific network address.
- Lookup: View information provided by your Domain Name System (DNS) server.
- Traceroute: Follow the path a message takes as it travels through the network from computer to computer.
- Whois: Enter a domain address to look up its 'whois' information from a whois server.
- Finger: Enter a user name and domain address to use the Finger protocol to get information about the user.
- Port Scan: Enter an Internet or IP address to scan for open TCP ports.
Find Network Utility using Spotlight or in these places on your Mac:
- In OS X Mavericks and later, Network Utility is in /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications.
- In OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, and Snow Leopard, Network Utility is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
Add A Network Drive On Mac
Connect Network Drive On Mac
To learn more, open Network Utility and choose Help > Network Utility Help from the menu bar.