everythingByMdfind - Lightning-Fast File Search Tool for macOS Based on Spotlight

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everythingByMdfind is a high-performance file search tool designed specifically for macOS, implemented as a Python script. It leverages macOS’s native Spotlight (mdfind) search engine to deliver search results with near-instantaneous speed, while offering far greater flexibility and powerful file management capabilities than Finder.

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🌟 Key Features & Advantages

🚀 Unmatched Search Speed

• Native Engine Powered: Directly uses macOS’s built-in Spotlight (mdfind) index for file searches, achieving near real-time results.
• Lightning-Fast Response: Significantly faster than traditional recursive search methods—especially on large hard drives, with performance improvements by multiple orders of magnitude.

🔍 Flexible Search Options

• Search by Name or Content: Quickly locate files by name or search within file contents (for file types supported by Spotlight indexing).
• Advanced Filtering:
  • File Size Range: Filter files by minimum and maximum byte size.
  • File Extensions: Target specific extensions such as pdf, docx, etc.
  • Match Mode: Supports case-sensitive, exact, or partial matching.
• Directory-Limited Search: Restrict searches to specific directories for more focused results.

💎 Rich File Preview

• Multi-Format Preview: View various common file types directly within the application without launching external apps.
  • Text Files: Automatically detects encoding for accurate display.
  • Image Files: Supports JPEG, PNG, GIF (including animated), BMP, WEBP, HEIC.
  • Vector Graphics: Renders SVG files flawlessly with zoom and center alignment.
  • Audio/Video Files: Built-in media player with playback controls and progress bar.

🎮 Integrated Media Player

• Built-in Player: Supports standard playback controls (play/pause, fast-forward/rewind) for audio and video files.
• Independent Playback Window: Pop out media content into a separate window for multitasking.
  • Continuous Playback Mode: Supports sequential playback of files in a playlist or folder.
  • Audio Controls: Includes volume adjustment and mute functionality.

🔖 Practical Presets & Bookmarks

• One-Click Quick Searches: Predefined search conditions for common tasks:
  • Large Files: Quickly locate files larger than 50MB.
  • Media Files: Filter videos, audio, and images.
  • Archives: Find compressed files like zip, rar.
  • Applications: Search for all installed apps.

💾 In-Depth Disk Space Analysis

• One-Click Space Analysis: Instantly analyze disk usage in the current user’s home directory.
• Interactive Charts: Visualize folder sizes with interactive bar charts.
• Hierarchical Analysis:
  • Right-click any folder in search results to analyze its space usage.
  • Double-click a bar in the chart to drill down into subdirectory details.
  • Color-coded charts clearly show size distribution across subdirectories.
• Smart Sorting: Automatically sorts folders by size to help you quickly identify “space hogs.”

📊 Efficient Result Management & Operations

• Sortable Result List: Sort search results by name, size, modification date, or path.
• Batch File Operations: Support multi-select to move, copy, or delete multiple files at once, dramatically improving file management efficiency.

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🛠️ Technical Overview

• Language: Python
• Dependencies: Managed via requirements.txt for easy installation.
• Multilingual Support: The project includes READMEs in English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, German, and Spanish, reflecting its international accessibility.
• Open Source & License: Open-sourced on GitHub under a specific license (see LICENSE.md in the project root for details). Users are free to view, use, and contribute to the code.

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⚡ Summary

everythingByMdfind elegantly combines macOS’s powerful native Spotlight search engine with a feature-rich, user-friendly graphical interface. It not only overcomes Finder’s limited search capabilities but also integrates advanced features like disk space analysis, multimedia preview, and batch operations. This makes it a powerful productivity tool suitable for both power users and everyday users. For anyone who frequently searches and manages large volumes of files on Mac, everythingByMdfind is an indispensable utility.