Egg Freckles
By Thomas Brand

11th Dec 2014 EasyFind

Before Spotlight there was Sherlock.nAnd before Sherlock there was the Find.nWe have come a long way since the search in System 7.nContent awareness, deep indexes, and live results have made modern search powerful.nBut sometimes I wish I could return to a simpler search.nWhere the indexing every file isn’t required, and I can see the results from every folder on my hard drive.nEasyFind is powerful search made easy.

EasyFind’s Best Three Features:

  • Its fast results and Quick Look integration
  • The ability to search invisible files, and the contents of application bundles
  • The option to search anywhere, including my Library and System folders

Fast

EasyFind’s results are so fast on my MacBook Air, I often question the need for Spotlight to keep an index of my hard drive.nMaybe its because I rarely search my files by content.nOr maybe it is because of my MacBook Air’s super-fast SSD.nNo matter the reason, EasyFind’s search results often start appearing in less than a second.

Browsing

Browsing EasyFind’s results is simple too.nQuick Look long replaced Preview as my preferred way of previewing files,nand Quick Look is built into every EasyFind search.nSimply highlight the first result, tap the Spacebar, and navigate down the list using the arrow keys.nA full-screen preview appears with every key stroke.

Finding Your Mac’s Hidden Secrets

We all know our Macs have hidden files.nWe just have to know where to look.nSpotlight refuses to reveal the hidden files invisible to the Finder,nor tucked away inside application bundles.nEasyFind makes finding hidden files easy.nNo need to display invisible files in the Finder first,nor show the contents of application bundles or packages.

As a power user, one of my chief frustrations with Spotlight is its inability to look inside my Library or System folders.nIf I am modifying a system resource or adjusting a local preference,nmy activities often take me outside the view of Spotlight’s search.nEasyFind does not suffer from such shortsightedness.nIts powerful search finds file and folders, by name, phrase, or content no matter where they are located.nIt even follows Unix-Wildcards, and can exclude known file types.

EasyFind is the little squirrel I keep in my dock for finding stuff on my Mac.nFree from the Mac App Store,nor the Devon Technologies website.