The hierarchical folder view is where Find Any File shows its difference. Instead of a flat list, results appear in their actual folder nests. It’s the kind of thing you don’t think about until you’re hunting an old config file buried three levels deep. The app reads disks directly—no database—so it’s useful right after a fresh install or on a network share Spotlight ignores.
- Searches any mounted disk, including NAS and server volumes not indexed by Spotlight.
- Looks inside bundles and packages to surface files normally hidden from Finder.
- AppleScript support lets you chain searches into automation workflows.
- New columns for Comments, Trashed, and Hidden give you more clues per result row.
- Finds by plain text content in any file, not just the formats Apple indexes.
This is not a Spotlight replacement for rich documents—email and PDFs with styled text aren’t its strong suit. But when you need a raw, disk-level look at what’s actually sitting on a drive, it delivers without fuss.
Sector-by-sector scans take a moment
People open the app expecting Spotlight-style instant results and get antsy when a scan takes a few seconds. This thing reads the disk directly, sector by sector. It's not slow—it's just doing the actual work. Grabbing coffee while it finishes a deep scan on a six-terabyte external drive is normal.
Another classic move: typing a vague two-letter query, checking "Name contains," then wondering why you got eight thousand results. Be specific. If you remember part of the filename, use it. Toggle "Name ends with" or "Name starts with" to narrow the net.
The biggest facepalm comes from not selecting a search location. Beginners leave it on the default boot drive, find nothing, and assume the file's gone. It wasn't—they just forgot to point it at the external disk sitting right there on the desk.
Zero results often means bundles are closed
Sometimes a search returns zero results even though you know the file exists. Nine times out of ten, the "Show Package Contents" option is off. macOS treats apps and bundles like opaque boxes. Flip that checkbox under the Find window and try again. Your missing installer script or plug-in is probably hiding inside a bundle.
Another head-scratcher: the app can't see a network share. Mount the volume first in Finder, then restart the search. Find Any File doesn't browse unmounted shares—it reads mounted volumes, same as the system sees them. No mount, no luck.
If results feel sluggish on a spinning hard drive, disable "Search file contents" unless you genuinely need it. That checkbox forces the app to crack open every file, which on a mechanical disk can turn a ten-second scan into a five-minute wait. Save text-content searches for when you're truly stuck.
Show invisible files in one checkbox
Right after launching, open Preferences and check "Show invisible files." By default, the app respects Finder's hide-everything-useful policy, and half the files you're hunting—dotfiles, .plist leftovers, cache folders—are invisible. Turn that on once and leave it on.
Next, bump the "Maximum results" slider. The default cap is reasonable for casual use, but if you're cleaning house or doing a full system audit, you want the full picture. Slide it to the right or uncheck the limit entirely.
While you're in there, enable the Trashed and Hidden columns for the results list. These were added in version 2.6 and they save you from right-clicking every item to check its status. A quick glance tells you if a file's already in the Trash or flagged as hidden—handy when you're deciding what to purge.
Bottom line: a few tweaks upfront turn Find Any File from a blunt instrument into a scalpel. Learn what it's actually scanning, give it the right location, and let those new columns do the triage for you.
Version 2.6 brought a few quiet but practical additions. The kind of stuff you notice when a script starts working or a long-forgotten comment finally shows up in a search.
- AppleScript support arrived, so you can now drive searches from your own automation.
- New columns for Comments, Trashed, and Hidden appeared in the results view.
- Finding Spotlight comments got more reliable across the board.
- macOS 10.11 or newer
- Works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs
- Interface: English
Questions I actually get
Does Find Any File search inside packages and bundles?
Yes, it can look inside macOS bundles and packages, which is handy for finding nested resources or plist files that Finder normally hides.
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