How to Create and Use Smart Folders on Mac

If you spend any amount of time hunting for files you know you saved somewhere, fingers crossed they’re not buried three folders deep, Smart Folders are about to become your most-used Finder feature.

A Smart Folder is a saved search. Finder runs your criteria automatically and shows all matching files every time you open it, wherever those files actually live on your drive. Set it up once and it keeps itself current.

They work on any Mac running a current version of macOS, including macOS 26 Tahoe.

How to Create a Smart Folder

1. Open Finder.
2. Choose File > New Smart Folder from the menu bar.

3. A search window appears. Click the + button on the right to add your first rule.

4. Use the dropdown menus to define your criteria (file kind, name, date created, size, and more).
5. Make sure the scope at the top is set to This Mac to search your entire drive.
6. Click Save.

7. Name the folder, pick a save location, and check Add To Sidebar to keep it one click away in every Finder window.

Open the folder and it shows every file matching your criteria, updated automatically as files change.

Six Smart Folders Worth Setting Up

These are the ones that actually earn a sidebar slot.

Recent Files

Needed this one after spending ten minutes hunting a file I’d saved “somewhere” an hour earlier. This Smart Folder keeps a live list of everything created on your Mac in the last couple of days.

Set the scope to This Mac and add this rule:

Created date > is > within last > 2 > days

Change “2” to however many days fits your workflow. Seven works well if you tend to lose track of things for longer stretches.

Large Files

Running low on storage and not sure what’s eating it? This Smart Folder surfaces everything over a gigabyte, wherever it’s hiding in your folder structure.

File Size > is greater than > 1 > GB

Drop the threshold to 500 MB if you want to catch more. Old video exports, forgotten disk images, and installers you meant to delete months ago have a way of turning up.

Downloaded DMG Files

Apps downloaded from outside the App Store usually come as .dmg files. Once you’ve installed the app, the .dmg has no purpose; it’s sitting there taking up space.

File Extension > is > dmg

Skim the results and move anything you’re done with to the Trash. If you haven’t opened that installer in six months, the app is either already running or already abandoned.

Potential Duplicate Files

Smart Folders can’t compare file contents to detect true duplicates; for that you’d want a dedicated app like Gemini. But most duplicates on Mac pick up a number in parentheses when files get copied: Report (1).pdf, photo (2).jpg. This folder catches those.

Hold Option and click + to switch the matching logic from “all” to “any”, then add:

Any > of the following are true

Name > contains > (1)
Name > contains > (2)
Name > contains > (3)

Add more lines, (4), (5), if you suspect more copies exist. Then review and delete what you don’t need.

Unused Apps

Trying to clear out storage and reclaim space? This Smart Folder lists every app you haven’t launched since a date you choose.

Kind > is > Application
Last opened date > is > before > 01/01/2024

Check before deleting. Background utilities and system helpers sometimes appear here even though they’re actively running. Opening an app to confirm it’s what you think it is takes five seconds.

Photos Taken on a Specific Device

Finder indexes image EXIF metadata, which means you can filter photos by the device that captured them. Useful when you’ve imported photos from multiple cameras or phones and need to separate them.

Kind > is > Image

Device make > matches > OnePlus

If Device make doesn’t appear in the dropdown by default, click Other at the bottom of the list and search for it to enable it as a criterion.

Swap “OnePlus” for whatever make you’re after, like “Canon”, “Nikon”, “Samsung”, or “Apple” for iPhone photos. Finder reads the EXIF data and returns only images where the device make matches.

Things That Trip People Up

• Search scope is wrong. If a Smart Folder isn’t showing files you’d expect, check that the scope at the top of the search window says This Mac rather than a specific subfolder. That one setting accounts for most “why isn’t it finding anything?” moments.
• Deleting files deletes the originals. A Smart Folder is a view into your filesystem. Delete a file from inside one and you’re deleting the original wherever it lives on your drive.
• You can edit criteria later. Right-click the Smart Folder in the Finder sidebar and choose Show Search Criteria. Change or add rules without starting over.
• Criteria options are missing from the dropdown. Click Other at the bottom of any attribute dropdown. A searchable list of all available metadata fields opens; that’s where options like Device make live.

Once you’ve got two or three of these pinned to the sidebar, the file hunting that used to eat your morning finally becomes Finder’s problem. Set them up once and they keep themselves current. You never have to run the same search twice.