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Find Files

There are multiple ways FileMinutes helps you find files or folders:

  1. Search
  2. Browse
  3. Browse Finder Windows
  4. Browse Selected files from Finder

Home screen

Start typing in the search bar and FileMinutes will search and update the results as you type.

Search by name

Type file or folder name to find your match.

Search by path

  • Start with any of these:
    • ~ (browse from your home directory)
    • / (browse from your root directory)
    • Paste a file/folder path
    • When searching by name, select a folder in results area and press Tab
  • FileMinutes will now show the contents of the path in the results area.
  • Optionally you can start typing to narrow down the contents of the path by prefix (e.g. ~/Do matches Downloads and Documents)
  • Use up/down arrows to select a subfolder and press Tab to browse it. Repeat until you reach your desired location.
  • Press Shift + Tab to go up one level

Example:

  • ~ shows contents of the home folder
  • Select Downloads, press Tab to navigates into ~/Downloads
  • Select Projects, press Tab to navigates into ~/Downloads/Projects

Search within specific folder(s)

Limit results to specific folder(s) and its subfolders using folder>search text or search text<folder.

  • folder can be a name fragment or full path
  • Use folder>search text when you know the folder to search in
  • Use search text<folder when you’re searching first, then narrowing the results by folder

Examples:

  • downloads>report searches for “report” inside folders matching “downloads”
  • report<downloads returns the same results, but you start by searching “report”, then narrow it to folders matching “downloads”
  • ~/Projects/Aurora>report — Browse to ~/Projects/Aurora, then type >report to search within it

Search by file type

Add file extensions to filter by type e.g. .pdf, .txt, .csv, etc.

Special types:

  • . — folders
  • .image — JPG, PNG, HEIC, etc
  • .document — PDF, DOCX, XLSX, etc
  • .video — MP4, MOV, etc
  • .audio — MP3, WAV, etc
  • .text — TXT, MD, etc
  • .archive — ZIP, RAR, etc

Examples:

  • report .pdf .xlsx finds PDF or Excel files with “report” in the name
  • . report shows only folders with “report” in the name
  • ~/Downloads>.image shows image files in the Downloads folder
  • 2025>invoice .pdf finds PDFs with “invoice” inside folders matching “2025”

Search by content

Enable Search in file contents in Settings to search contents of supported file types.

Supported file types

  • Plain Text files. e.g. .txt, .md, .csv, .rtf
  • PDF documents
  • Office Documents: e.g. docx, .xlsx, .pptx
  • Open Office Document: .odt
  • Apple Documents: .pages, .numbers and .key

Recent searches

The home screen displays your last 5 searches (adjustable in Settings). Click any recent search to run it again.

You can start a new search by:

  • Pressing Cmd + N from anywhere
  • Pressing Cmd + F to access the search bar (when in results area)
  • Pressing Esc until it goes to home screen

Results

Results Screen

Browse

Browse search results or folder contents

Navigate using arrow keys:

  • Up/down arrows to browse the results or contents of current folder
  • Right arrow to navigate inside a sub-folder
  • Left arrow to go to the parent folder. Press left arrow again at the starting folder to return to the home screen
  • Optionally you can start typing to narrow down the contents of current folder e.g. ~/Downloads/scr to see all files & subfolders starting with scr

Results Screen

As explained in the Search by path section, you can browse folders by typing a path, then use Tab and Shift + Tab to navigate — all without leaving the search box.

Browse Favorites

If you’ve added folders to Favorites, you can browse them by selecting from the main screen and pressing →

Browse in Preview mode

  • Use ↑ / ↓ / ← / → to browse search results or folder contents without closing the preview (e.g. flip through photos)
  • Use fn + ↑ / fn + ↓ to scroll through pages in multi-page files (e.g. PDFs)
  • In full-screen preview, you can also use Space / Shift + Space to flip pages

Browse Finder Windows

Browse all your open Finder windows and tabs using FileMinutes. Use the global keyboard shortcut Option + F (or your custom shortcut) to display all open Finder windows and tabs.

Browse Selected Files from Finder

Browse selected files from Finder directly in FileMinutes using the global keyboard shortcut Option + S (or your custom shortcut). When activated, FileMinutes will display a list of all files you’ve selected in Finder.