Find Any File: A Powerful Alternative to Spotlight

As a Mac user, I've often found myself in situations where I need to quickly locate specific files across various subfolders. While Spotlight has been my go-to tool for many years, there are times when it falls short. That's why I was excited to try out HoudahSpot, a free app that promises to deliver fast and comprehensive file searches.

In my experience, the app lives up to its promise. After relaunching it a few times to ensure stability, I was impressed with its performance. While it may not be as lightning-fast as Spotlight in all situations, it's surprisingly quick on mounted network volumes of a Mac OS X server.

One of HoudahSpot's unique features is its ability to list invisible files across multiple subfolders. This is particularly useful when searching for system files or files hidden within packages and other excluded items from Spotlight searches. Unlike Spotlight, which relies on a pre-built database, Find Any File searches the chosen volume directly, making it a more comprehensive tool.

Other notable features of HoudahSpot include:

* The ability to save queries and run them again later

* Support for running as root user, allowing access to any file on your disk, even those hidden from normal users

* A new hierarchical view of found items, making it easier to browse through hundreds of search results

Find Any File is an incredibly useful utility that works exactly as expected. With its robust features and fast performance, it's a great alternative to Spotlight in certain situations. Whether you're searching for system files or trying to locate specific documents across multiple folders, HoudahSpot is definitely worth checking out.

Free HoudahSpot

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