Excluding Special Folders from Searches

    Mac OS X Only

    One of the options available in the More Options section of the Find window allows you to exclude certain kinds of folders from searches. Note that

    The following kinds of folders can be excluded:
    System folders
    This includes the Mac OS X System folder and the Mac OS X 9 System Folder if you have one installed.
    Library folders
    Preferences folders
    If you exclude Library folders, Preferences folders are excluded as well since they reside inside Library folders in Mac OS X.
    Trash folders
    Typically your Trash folder. Does not include Trash folders belonging to other users. Unless you keep a lot of items in the Trash, leave this option off to keep from slowing down searches.
    Applications folders
    Typically two: one in your user folder and one at the system level that everyone can access.
    Packages
    Bundled applications are the most familiar packages, but plug-ins in Mac OS X are packages, and there are a few document packages such as .rtfd documents.

    File Buddy handles searches of entire volumes differently than than searches of individual folders. As a result, excluding specific folders will make searches of entire volumes slower, but searches of individual folders will be faster if the they contain an excluded folder and unaffected otherwise.


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