McFind - macOS File Search Utility

A fast, modern macOS application for searching files in your home directory, inspired by Everything on Windows. Visit website →

Features

• Lightning-fast search: Indexes your home directory for instant file searching
• Path and name search: Search by filename or full path
• Modern UI: Clean, native macOS interface with SwiftUI
• Smart filtering: Intelligent search with exact matches prioritized
• Hierarchical settings: Control indexing per folder, including cloud storage
• Cloud integration: Index SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud Drive by default
• Keyboard navigation: Use arrow keys to navigate, Enter to open files
• File metadata: Shows file size, modification date, and file type icons
• Real-time monitoring: Automatically detects file system changes
• Background indexing: Non-blocking file indexing with progress indicator
• Automatic database maintenance: Periodic VACUUM to prevent index bloat

Download

Option 1: Homebrew (recommended)

Easy install and updates with brew upgrade:

brew tap ntufar/tap
brew install --cask mcfind

Option 2: Direct download (latest release, signed and notarized by Apple)

• DMG Installer: Download McFind.dmg — drag-and-drop installation
• PKG Installer: Download McFind.pkg — automated installer

All Releases

View all available releases and download previous versions: Releases Page

Requirements

• macOS 14.0 or later (Sonoma+)
• Xcode 15.0 or later (for building from source)

Building from Source

See docs/SETUP.md for detailed build instructions.

Usage

1. Launch the app: The application will automatically start indexing your home directory
2. Configure settings (optional): Press Cmd+, to customize which folders to index
3. Search: Type in the search bar to find files instantly
4. Navigate: Use arrow keys to navigate through results
5. Open files: Press Enter or double-click to open the selected file

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Cmd+,: Open Settings
• Cmd+Shift+R: Re-index all files
• ↑ / ↓: Navigate through search results
• Enter: Open the selected file
• Escape: Clear search or close window

Settings

McFind offers fine-grained control over what gets indexed:

• Top-level folders: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, etc.
• Library folder: Excluded by default (contains system caches)
• Cloud Storage: Library/CloudStorage is ON by default (OneDrive, SharePoint, Google Drive)
• iCloud Drive: Library/Mobile Documents is ON by default

See docs/HIERARCHICAL_SETTINGS.md for details.

Documentation

• Setup Guide - Installation and configuration
• Development Guide - Architecture and development
• Hierarchical Settings - Settings feature details
• Features - Complete feature list

Privacy & Security

The app requests minimal file system permissions through sandboxing:

• Read-only access to user-selected files
• Read-only access to common directories (Downloads, Pictures, Music, Movies)
• Read-only access to home directory files

Performance

• SQLite-based indexing for instant search results
• Background indexing with real-time file system monitoring
• Smart exclusions: automatically skips caches, logs, build artifacts
• Typical index size: 50-100MB for ~100k files
• Search latency: <50ms for most queries

Author

Created by Nicolai Tufar — github.com/ntufar — ntufar@gmail.com

License

This project is open source. Feel free to modify and distribute according to your needs.