• Open Spotlight: Click the Spotlight icon in the upper-right corner of the menu bar, or press Command-Space bar.

  If it’s your first time using Spotlight, a description is shown in the Spotlight window. Just start typing in the search field where it says Spotlight Search.

• Enter a search phrase: Start typing what you want to find—results appear as you type; you don’t need to press Return.

  • You can find files on your Mac by typing what you’re looking for the same way you’d say it. Here are some examples of natural language search phrases:

    • new york photos

    • emails from emily

    • salesreportQ1

    • presentation I worked on yesterday that contains budget

  • You can find things on the web and in the iTunes Store, iBooks Store, or App Store. For example, you can get results for weather, sports, stocks, or transit information. Or search for music, movies, books, apps, nearby stores and landmarks, and more.

• Open an app: Type the name of the app, such as Preview, then press Return.

Spotlight learns from your searches, so if you enter “s” and open Safari, the next time you enter “s,” Safari is the top result.

• Open an item: Select the item in the results list on the left, then press the Return key. Or double-click the item.

• Use a preview: Click items or links in the preview on the right. For example, to hear a song in your iTunes playlist, click the Play button next to the song. Or to purchase tickets for a movie playing near you, click the movie times.

• Show the location of a file on your Mac: Select the file in the results list, then hold down the Command key to show the file’s location at the bottom of the preview.

• Copy an item: Drag a file from the results list to the desktop or a Finder window.

• See files recently used in an app: Enter the app’s name (don’t press the Return key unless you want to open the app). To open a file, double-click it in the preview.

• Make a desktop shortcut to an item: Drag the item from the results list to the desktop; just click it on the desktop to open the item in the appropriate app, such as Safari.

• See all results from your Mac in the Finder: Scroll to the bottom of the results list, then double-click Show all in Finder. You can narrow the results in Finder.

• Convert currencies: Enter an amount to see the equivalent in other common currencies. For example, enter $100, £100, or ¥100. Or enter something like “300 sek in dollars.”

• Convert temperatures: Enter a temperature like 98.8F or 32C. Or enter something like “340K in F.”

• Convert measurements: Enter a measurement like 25 lb, 54 yards, or 23 stone. Or enter something like “32ft to meters.”

• Get a calculation: Enter a mathematical expression, such as 956*23.94.

• Get a definition: Enter a word or phrase, then click the result below Definition.