Find Files Anywhere
The find command searches for files by name, type, size, or date — across your entire Mac if needed.
Common Patterns
1
Find all PDFs in Downloads:
find ~/Downloads -name "*.pdf"
-name matches filenames. The * is a wildcard meaning "anything."
2
Find files larger than 100MB:
find ~ -size +100M
-size +100M means "larger than 100 megabytes." Use -100M (minus) for smaller than.
3
Find and delete all .DS_Store files:
find . -name ".DS_Store" -delete
-delete removes each file found. Use carefully — there's no undo. The . means "current folder and everything inside it."
Key Takeaway
find searches for files by any criteria. Add -delete carefully to remove matches.