spotlight

You have the Spotlight Search Results category Documents selected, correct?

What results do you achieve using the following Spotlight search? The +.doc will allow .doc/x documents, but exclude templates and macros. The name: operator can accept the explicit document name, or a partial string (e.g. myword) of the document name. It can be omitted if you don't know either.

kind:word +.doc name:myword "search string"

Open the Documents folder, then type in your search criteria in the search field, you should then see Documents appear next to This Mac in the Search title, click on it to highlight it, and your results will be revealed.

so that is a Finder search, your original question was about Spotlight. Open System Preferences> Spotlight> Search Results make sure Documents is checked in the list.

In Finder Preferences> General you can select in New Finder Window show: Documents, so when you start a search Documents will be listed rather than Desktop.

If this a search with criteria you often use you could create a Smart Folder.

Or

Why not tell Apple, Feedback - macOS - Apple

I have the following Finder Preferences set:

• General : New Finder windows show: (the house icon with your short login name)
• Advanced : When performing a search: Search the Current Folder

And from the Finder View menu, Show Path Bar.

Now, when you get the results of a Finder search, you can single-click on the document icon and the Path Bar will show you where the file is located. If Documents appears as a folder icon in that Path Bar results, then simply double-click on that Documents folder icon in the Path Bar to open the Documents folder. You can also click on the Documents folder entry under the Finder window's Favorites panel.

If you know you only want Spotlight to search documents then only have that option checked in Spotlights preferences, it will narrow the search down, but as you have noted Finder search can be more specific.

You know, I never use the command+F to launch the Finder Search window. I launch a regular Finder window, and type my Spotlight search criteria in its search window, or the Spotlight panel itself. Less fiddling for me.

Spotlight gives you the ability to refine your search with keywords. The Finder Help Search for Spotlight offers the following. Look at the Narrow your searches entry:

I suppose it has to open somewhere, so why not, if it opened with Documents a lot of people would ask why.

It is not really a hardship is it.