Search, Browse, or Find, oh my!

Client Notes

Recently, I’ve been helping Ron & Maren consolidate their technology holdings, largely acquired while operating a former business. I also upgraded their Internet service to Sonic and home network to eero with better Wi-Fi reception throughout. I’m an eero reseller, so I can get you a really good deal.

Plus, I’ve supported several computer migrations:

1. Valeria replaced her 2012 MacBook Pro with a 2026 MacBook Air and is getting acquainted with some changed interface elements.
2. Philip decided to finally adopt a 2021 MacBook Pro to which I migrated his 2015 MacBook Pro last year — and now again.
3. And Andrea decided to let go of her aging PC in favor of a new iMac, but didn’t lose access to her stained glass design software.

Meanwhile, I’ve started working with Marti & Chick to improve the way they share their Mac with each other. And, working with me, Alice has increased efficiency and flexibility through resolving duplicates, learning to organize files and photos, adopting password management best practices, and more.

Search

When you use a search engine, such as Google, DuckDuckGo, or Spotlight, you type words that represent or describe something and hope for results that make sense or reveal that thing. Often, the more keywords you use, the more targeted and accurate your results.

When I direct you to search your Mac, Spotlight is usually the go-to tool. That’s the magnifying glass on the menubar in the top right corner of the screen. (The default keyboard shortcut is Command+Space.) Assuming its index is working properly, you can quickly find files and applications on your Mac, look up things on the Internet, perform various actions, and even access recent items on your clipboard.

On the web, you likely use the search function of a web browser to seek out websites whose address you don’t know, ones you’ve visited before, and other information. In your browser’s settings, you can choose what provider to use by default, whether Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, etc., though these are but a few of a larger list.

Then, when you enter a query in the address bar, the browser issues it to the chosen search engine. (Unless you want to generate results with a different engine or your choice isn’t available this way, there’s no need to visit your preferred engine’s website first.)

Browse

Browsing is what you do when an application displays a list or group of items and you skim or peruse them. In the Finder, you have choices of how to view items in a window, such as Icon, List, and Columns. Beyond that, your senses do the legwork in some combination of scrolling, looking, listening, and/or using Quick Look.

A web browser is a specific type of application used to visit and link to webpages by targeted discovery. Safari, Google Chrome, Brave, Arc, Edge, and DuckDuckGo are all web browsers, and there are many more choices in this landscape.

Importantly, some of these are delivered separately as a browser and a website and you may use one or both within a given brand. For example, if you prefer DuckDuckGo but also want a browser that supports third-party extensions like 1Password, you’ll likely choose the DuckDuckGo search engine within the other browser of your choice. In this case, Brave and Safari are probably worth considering because of their developers’ value for privacy.

On iPhone and iPad, the term “browse” also comes up in Files, as mentioned in Scan Documents. That is, Browse is a specific area of Files where you navigate your folder hierarchy to locate items.

Find

Find is another form of search in the context of a specific file or page. In a word processing document, the Find command helps you locate instances of a string within the file. While web browsing, it’s possible to increase your precision and efficiency by using the Find command.

In any of these applications, on a device with a keyboard, press Command+F to initiate a local search for text. You’ll commonly find this command in the Edit menu. In a mobile web browser, tap the Share or other menu button and look for Find on Page or similar.