A Smart Folder is a saved Finder search that looks like a folder. It gathers matching files automatically without moving or copying the originals.
This guide applies to Finder on recent macOS versions.
Does This Affect You?
Use Smart Folders for files scattered across different places, such as PDFs containing a client name, images modified recently, tagged files, or documents of a certain type.
Create a Smart Folder from Search Criteria
- Open Finder and choose File > New Smart Folder, or press Command + Option + N.
- Click the plus button near the top-right of the search window.
- Choose a criterion such as Kind, Name, Last modified date, or Size.
- Add more criteria with the plus button to narrow results.
- Review the live result list.
- Click Save, name the Smart Folder, and choose where to save it. Add it to the sidebar if you want quick access.
Create a Smart Folder from Tags
- Open Finder and choose File > New Smart Folder.
- Click the plus button.
- Choose Tags. If Tags is missing, choose Other, find Tags, and enable it.
- Enter or select the tag name.
- Save the Smart Folder and optionally place it in the sidebar.
Smart Folder Tips
Search File Contents
Choose Contents instead of Name when you want Finder to search inside documents such as PDFs or Word files.
Match All or Any
Use the all/any control above criteria to decide whether every condition must match or whether any one of them is enough.
Edit Later
Right-click the Smart Folder and choose Show Search Criteria to adjust it without recreating it.
Deleting a Smart Folder Is Safe
Dragging a Smart Folder to Trash removes the saved search only. The actual files stay where they were.
Sources
- Apple Support: Create a smart folder on Mac
- Apple Support: Search for files and folders on Mac
- Apple Support: Add tags to files on Mac