I am a huge fan of Spotlight, and use it so constantly that I’d be completely lost without it. Years ago, before Spotlight debuted in MacOS X 10.4, I had neatly organized folders and a filing system that worked very well–when I used it. Spotlight takes file search several steps further and actually allows you to search within files.
If you’re an advanced Spotlight user, you already know that you can tweak your search terms to find what you need. I detailed this process in Tech Tails #683, and I still receive e-mails from readers thanking me for publishing it. If you’re Spotlighting like a pro, this tip will be of comparatively less use, but for the rest of us who use Spotlight differently, it’s a useful piece of knowledge.
Open the Spotlight preference pane in System Preferences, and ensure the “Search Results” tab is selected. You can drag the items in this list up and down; those items at the top of the list will appear first in your search results, while those at the bottom of this will will appear last in your results.