Search Syntax

Result Ranking

Results are sorted by Best Match by default: an exact name match comes first, then the name without its extension (readme → "README.md"), then names starting with the term, then matches at the start of a word (report → "Q3 Report.pdf", delegate → "AppDelegate.swift"), then matches anywhere. Within each tier, recently modified files and shallower paths rank higher, and files inside node_modules, .git, app bundles, caches, and build output rank lower.

Click the Name column header to switch between Best Match and alphabetical order. Scroll to the bottom to load more results; the status bar shows the total match count.

Pinyin Search

Chinese file names can be found by pinyin or pinyin initials — no need to switch input methods:

baogao      → 报告.docx, 年度报告.pdf
bg          → 报告.docx
yhls        → 银行流水.pdf

Common polyphonic characters are matched by both readings (e.g. 银行 matches both yinhang and yinxing). Pinyin matching applies in Contains and Starts With modes when Match Case is off.

Typo-Tolerant Fallback

If nothing matches exactly, AnySearch automatically retries with fuzzy matching — the letters you typed, in order, but not necessarily adjacent. anysrch finds "AnySearch.xcodeproj". A banner tells you when fuzzy results are shown.

Search Modes

AnySearch supports four search modes, selectable from the search bar dropdown:

Inline Filters

Add filters directly in your search query:

Extension Filter

ext:pdf
ext:pdf,docx,xlsx
*.tsx

Filter results to one or more file extensions (case-insensitive, so ext:pdf also finds "SCAN.PDF").

Kind Filter

kind:image
kind:doc
kind:app

Filter by category: doc, code, image, video, audio, archive, app.

Filename Wildcards

Use * or ? in your query for shell-style glob matching against the full filename. * matches any run of characters (including none); ? matches exactly one character.

Wildcards combine with the other filters: *report.pdf modified:this-week finds files ending in “report.pdf” modified this week.

Size Filter

size:>100mb
size:<1kb
size:1.5mb..2gb

Filter by file size. Supports units: b, kb, mb, gb, tb, including decimals.

Date Filter

modified:today
modified:this-week
modified:7d
modified:>30d
modified:2024-05
modified:2024-01-01..2024-03-31
created:last-month

Filter by modification date (modified:) or creation date (created:). The same values work for both:

Type Filter

type:file
type:folder

Show only files or only folders.

Folder Filter

in:~/Documents
path:src

in: limits results to files under a folder; path: matches text anywhere in the full path.

OR

invoice OR receipt
invoice|receipt

Match files whose name contains either term.

Exclusion

NOT keyword
-keyword

Exclude files matching a keyword from results.

Literal Text

"quarterly report"
"ext:odd"

Wrap text in double quotes to search for it literally — including spaces and text that would otherwise be read as a filter.

Filters parsed from your query appear as tags below the toolbar; click a tag's ✕ to remove that filter from the query.

While you type, AnySearch suggests filter names and values (for example mod → modified:, kind: → kind:image). Click a suggestion or press Tab to accept the first one.

Combining Filters

Combine any filters in a single query:

project ext:swift size:>10kb modified:this-week

This finds Swift files larger than 10KB, modified this week, with "project" in the name.

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