MAC TREAT #164: Hidden Nuggets in Finder

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by

Mike Moffit
in

Before upgrading to Lion, I was most excited for the improvements to Finder, and they haven’t disappointed. To help you get the most out of Finder in 10.7, here are five notable new features of the happy Mac face we all know and love.

  1. You can arrange your files.
    There’s an Arrange button in the Finder’s toolbar in Lion, and it lets you do just that: you may now group files and folders by name, size, label or date, among others. So nice!

  2. You can resize a window from any location.
    This is a favorite feature of mine because I often find myself with dozens of windows open, and the lower righthand corner isn’t always immediately visible. In Lion, you can now resize from any part of the window—top, bottom, left, right and anywhere in between. So simple, yet so gratifying.

  3. You can search using file types.
    Yay! As tidy as I try to keep my files and folders, sometimes I am too lazy busy to name a file as I’d like it to be permanently. This feature is much like what you can already do in a Google search: Type kind: JPG (or whatever you need to find) into the search bar in a Finder window. Once you select a file type from the menu, your results will be limited to those.

  4. You can edit and arrange your System Preferences menu. (OK, so that may not be technically a part of Finder, but it’s a system feature that goes hand-in-hand.)
    Are there some things in System Preferences that you never use or would rather not see? Just select System Preferences (under the Apple) > View > Customize and uncheck what you want to hide. You can always go back and change those settings again, so nothing’s set in stone. It’s as satisfying as spring cleaning to me!

  5. You can get your colored icons back.
    This requires a third-party software download and some commands in Terminal, but it’s pretty simple if you’ve been hankering for a bit more color in your life after Lion left your Finder windows monochromatic! (I’ll have to make sure Don sees this one, as he was lamenting the all-grey look when he first upgraded.)
    Read how to do it here. UPDATE: Looks like the original link has been taken down, but you can find the plugin download here.