---
tags:
  - macOS
  - Tahoe
  - find
  - terminal
  - search
title: Locating Files with Find on macOS Tahoe
---

# Locating Files with Find on macOS Tahoe

While Spotlight is great for quick, indexed searches, the `find` command is the ultimate tool for locating files based on specific criteria like size, modification date, or permissions directly from the terminal.

## Basic Syntax

The structure of the command is:

```zsh
find [path] [expression]
```

*   **[path]**: Where to start searching (e.g., `.` for current directory, `~` for home, `/` for root).
*   **[expression]**: The criteria to match.

## Finding by Name

To find a file by its name:

```zsh
find . -name "config.json"
```

To search regardless of case (e.g., matching "Image.png" and "image.PNG"):

```zsh
find ~ -iname "image.png"
```

## Finding by Type

You can filter results to show only files or only directories.

*   `-type f`: Files
*   `-type d`: Directories

**Example:** Find all directories named "build":

```zsh
find . -type d -name "build"
```

## Finding by Size

You can search for files based on their file size.

*   `+`: Greater than.
*   `-`: Less than.

**Example:** Find files larger than 100MB:

```zsh
find ~ -size +100M
```

## Finding by Time

*   `-mtime`: Modification time (in days).
*   `-atime`: Access time (in days).

**Example:** Find files modified in the last 7 days:

```zsh
find . -mtime -7
```

## Executing Commands on Results

The most powerful feature of `find` is performing an action on every file it finds using `-exec`.

**Example:** Find all `.tmp` files and delete them:

```zsh
find . -name "*.tmp" -exec rm {} \;
```

*   `{}`: Placeholder for the found filename.
*   `\;`: Ends the command.

For more on general terminal usage, refer to Getting Started with macOS Tahoe.