I’ve always preferred using Raycast over Spotlight Search on Mac as it lets you do much more than just find files and launch applications. However, it looks like Apple has finally caught up. With macOS Tahoe, you can use Spotlight to perform actions within apps, access your clipboard history, filter search results by type, and more. Here’s a roundup of all the new Spotlight Search features available in macOS Tahoe.
New Things You Can Do With Spotlight in macOS Tahoe
While you won’t notice the changes right away, hovering over the new Liquid Glass search bar reveals four main buttons alongside other options for filtering the search results. Here’s what each option does:
1. Launch Apps On Your Mac & iPhone
Unlike earlier versions of macOS, macOS Tahoe doesn’t offer a Launchpad with a grid of apps. Instead, Apple has opted to include a new Apps option within Spotlight Search. You can now sort through your apps by name or category and quickly search for them in one place. Beyond that, you can also use the same interface to quickly access and launch applications installed on your iPhone via iPhone Mirroring.
2. Access Recently Opened Files
Spotlight now keeps track of your workflow better and lets you quickly access recently opened files. This means you’re less likely to dig through folders to find files you want to view or need to upload in a document. Additionally, it can sort your recent files depending on the apps you use to view or edit them.
3. Perform Actions Within Apps
With several updates to the App Intents API, Spotlight in macOS Tahoe can be used to perform actions within apps even without opening them. Say you want to send an email. You can type the message, set the recipient, and add a subject, all without lifting your hands off the keyboard. This can be particularly useful when you need to get something done quickly without juggling between multiple applications.
Meanwhile, with updates to the Shortcuts app, Spotlight lets you trigger system-level actions like putting the display to sleep, extracting text from images, generate QRs, among many other things. In addition to that, you can also create custom two-letter quick keys to trigger useful actions even more quickly. For instance, you can simply type “SM” to send a message or “AR” to add a new reminder.
4. Access Your Clipboard History
macOS Tahoe fixes one of the biggest issues Mac users have had for years and offers a native clipboard manager that’s baked into Spotlight. Now, when you summon Spotlight Search with Command + Space, you can access a dedicated clipboard manager that displays all your previously copied text and images. This feature can be pretty useful for designers copying images or writers juggling with text snippets.
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5. Filter Search Results by Type
Searching for a specific type of file or content within apps is now easier than ever. Spotlight Search in macOS Tahoe allows you to filter results by typing directly from the search bar. Whenever you enter text into Spotlight, you get a list of options to filter results as per your requirements. You can get Spotlight to search only for mail, calendar events, notes, or menu bar items to perform actions within applications.