I have had trouble finding things in Finder (10.12) recently.
I have discovered why.
When I select "show search criteria" it seems that it has defaulted to Kind is Other "com.microsoft."
How do I rectify this; and ideally change it to default to showing system files too rather than hand selecting each time? I am assuming a plist somewhere needs an edit.
Many thanks.
JKB
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016), macOS Sierra (10.12.4)
Open finder if you have selected On My Mac to switch to defaults click on All My Files shown with red arrow in the screen shot .
Click on minus sign , it is just for one option for reference you can click on minus sign for all of them shown with red arrow , in your computer as shown in your screen shot .
Did you try clicking the Remove button (minus sign)?
Read the article : How to include system files in Finder search results - Apple Support
By the way, if you want to look at "Recents" in High Sierra, which has replaced "All My Files", you will find the saved search (with a raw query this time) at this path (put it into the Finder's "Go > Go to Folder..." menu, as the path will show different names in Finder itself - "Recents.cannedSearch" and won't allow opening the packet file with a simple right click):
/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/MyLibraries/myDocuments.cannedSearch/Resources/search.savedSearchThe raw query string, again including Microsoft files, found in the saved search:
(kMDItemLastUsedDate = "*") && ((kMDItemContentTypeTree = public.content) || (kMDItemContentTypeTree = "com.microsoft.*"cdw) || (kMDItemContentTypeTree = public.archive))Yes, of course, the minus sign is clicked now for each and every search, I have to. But I'd like to not have to every time, hence the request to change the defaults.
Changing the scope is no help at all. That simply changes the current search, not the defaults. So the problem recurs.
Very capable of doing that. I have been doing it since OS X 10.0
How do I change the default search criteria though, as they have obviously been changed during a Microsoft installation?
For now I think I'll create a Saved Search with essentially no criteria…
Change default search criteria in Finder