Find Any File — Mac download

Spotlight misses files tucked inside system folders, bundles and packages. Find Any File fills that gap.

FAF vs Spotlight — A companion, not a replacement. FAF finds files by name, date, size and plain text content. Spotlight handles email, Word and PDF content better.

Bundle search — Looks inside .app bundles, .pkg installers and other packages that normally hide their contents.

System folders — Searches directories Spotlight excludes. Good for tracking down preference files, cache items and buried logs.

Hierarchical view — Results show the actual folder tree. You see where a file lives, not just that it exists.

Tembo — A separate tool that refines Spotlight results. People sometimes compare the two, but Tembo builds on Spotlight; FAF works independently.

First days with FAF

Give yourself ten minutes to set up before you need it in a rush. These steps make the next search faster.

• Add it to the Dock — drag the app from Applications and leave it there. You will reach for it more than you think.
• Set a default search location — open Preferences, pick a starting folder. Your home folder works for most hunts; switch to the root of the drive when you need system files.
• Widen the results window — drag the right edge out so you can read full paths without horizontal scrolling. The hierarchy view only helps if paths are visible.
• Test with a known file — search for something you can already find, like a preference file you edited last week. Note how the folder tree shows its exact location.
• Try a plain text search — pick a word you remember from a log or readme. Limit the search to a single folder first to keep it quick.

Worked example: finding leftover preference files

An app you removed six months ago still shows a launch agent warning. Spotlight cannot see inside /Library properly. Here is the FAF workflow from start to finish.

1. Pick the search location. Click the folder icon next to the search field, choose Other…, then navigate to /Library on your startup disk.
2. Set the name filter. Type the app or developer name — just the core word, not the full bundle ID. FAF matches partial strings.
3. Narrow by date. Open the date dropdown. Choose Last modified and set a range that covers when you deleted the app. This weeds out current system files with similar names.
4. Check the hierarchy. Results appear as a folder tree. Expand each branch to see whether files sit in LaunchAgents, Preferences or Caches.
5. Reveal and decide. Right-click any result, choose Reveal in Finder. Confirm it belongs to the old app, then delete or archive it.

Repeat the same logic for ~/Library to catch user-level leftovers. Two searches, under three minutes each.

Shortcuts most people overlook for weeks

These shortcuts sit in plain sight but most people overlook them for weeks.

• Drag a folder onto the search field. Instead of clicking through the file browser, drop any folder from Finder straight into the location area. FAF switches the search scope instantly.
• Right-click to copy paths. Select a result, right-click, pick Copy Path. Paste it into Terminal or a document without typing a single slash.
• Sort by clicking column headers. Click Name, Size or Date to reorder results. Click again to reverse. The hierarchy stays intact — only the order within each branch changes.
• Use the Comments column. Added in version 2.6, it shows Finder comments attached to files. Enable it from View → Columns if you tag important files with notes.
• Save frequent searches. The search field keeps a dropdown history. If you run the same findanyfile mac query weekly — say, hunting large log files — pick it from the list instead of rebuilding criteria.
• Limit to plain text files. When searching by content, set the file type filter to Text. It skips binaries and keeps the scan fast on deep folder trees.
• Use the Hidden column. Another 2.6 addition. Sort by it to group invisible files together, handy when you are cleaning up dotfiles or old .DS_Store clutter.

• AppleScript support added — automate searches from scripts.
• New columns: Comments, Trashed and Hidden.
• Comment-finding is more reliable than in previous versions.

• macOS 10.11 or later
• Intel and Apple Silicon Macs