Mac OS Folders List View Can't Show Photo Metadata Fields

Windows File Explorer allows you to select a huge variety of file details (music, photos, etc...) so you can see and sort on a variety of fields.


Mac OS (even Sonoma) allows only basic fields, e.g. Name, Date Modified, Date Created, Size, Kind, Tags, Version, Comments, Date Last Opened, Date Added.


Why doesn't the Mac OS allow you to see metadata views? It seems like a poor product team decision, especially for an OS that supposed to be used for handling rich media (photos, music, etc...). Maybe I'm missing something.

Posted on Nov 12, 2023 8:00 AM

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5 replies

Nov 12, 2023 11:31 AM in response to mikeypop

The Finder is a file manager. It shows you file metadata. To see photo metadata displayed in that way you would use a photo manager, Photos is a lightweight app and not aimed at folks who want to scan their aperture settings or their iso in columns. For that you would use a more heavyweight app like Lightroom Classic or similar.


However it is worth noting that the Finder does index this information and it can be searched for in the Finder:


Nov 12, 2023 1:25 PM in response to mikeypop

With a Finder Window open, you can pick your view (e.g. ⌘1, ⌘2, ⌘3, or ⌘4) and from the View menu, select Show Preview. That will open a window on the right-side of the open Finder Window that will be empty until you select an image. Then, View Menu : Show Preview Options.


If you have selected an image with internal EXIF metadata, some of those metadata category names will be selectable in the Preview Options pane:



And once you have closed this options panel, you can scroll in the Finder sub-window containing your image and available meta data will be listed (if available in the image). To hide the Preview sub-window in an open Finder Window, you select Finder : View Menu : Hide Preview, or just ⇧⌘P.


One can open the image (or PDF) in Apple's Preview application, press ⌘i to open the Inspector panel and click on the i⃝ button to reveal categorical metadata content that is present in the image or PDF permissions, etc.


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Mac OS Folders List View Can't Show Photo Metadata Fields

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