Search Options in Finder

When using Finder, going to a folder, and typing in a keyword in the Search space ... it will find documents etc. that are relevant to my search keyword.

However, the results returned are only in three columns: Name, Kind, and Last Opened.

The Last Opened column is of no use whatsoever to me. I need to see when the documents were Last Modified.

Yes, I can do a search on Last Modified using the options but, it still comes up with the same three columns: Name, Kind, and Last Opened.

How can I get the search result window to display: Name, Kind, and Last Modified? ... or any other chosen column for that matter?

When I choose Show View Options from the menu bar, I get the message: "There are no view options for the "Searching "This Mac"" window."

Anyone know a way to change the view?

This might not be exactly what you want, but try clicking the '+' just below the search box. Then click the next one, and the next one, etc.

Column Header

toMACsh said:

This might not be exactly what you want, but try clicking the '+' just below the search box. Then click the next one, and the next one, etc.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response.

Yes, I've tried that but it does not do anything about the third column header that continues to just list "Last Opened". I want "Date Modified" in that third column.

Oh, I guess I misunderstood. Sorry. I use Icon View. I discovered what you mean by first switching to one of the other options before doing the search. I looked in the online help and in a book I have and haven't found a way to change that third column, or add another.

I'm having same issue!

It's driving me crazy. I don't know why they changed the default to Last Opened. I need to see last modified as well so I'm working on the most recent document. Let em know if you've figured this out.

Check these out.

I just found this.

10.6: Add Size and other columns to search results
Tue, Sep 8 2009 at 7:30AM PDT • Contributed by: vl_tone
I was very disappointed that I couldn't add the Size column to the list view in search results in Snow Leopard like you could do in Tiger, since Apple gave us the impression that Spotlight would include additional ways to sort results in Snow Leopard. Only Date Created and Date Modified were added as options in 10.6; the others are grayed out.

Fortunately, I found a way to force the Size column to appear, as well as Comments, Version and Label columns. You'll have to edit the com.apple.finder.plist file found in ~/Library/Preferences, using the Property List Editor app (included with Xcode) or PlistEdit Pro.

Open the Root node, then navigate down into SearchViewSettings » ListViewSettings » columns. Then choose the column you want to activate in the column list (ie. Size), and set the visible key to yes. Save the .plist and relaunch the Finder (Option-Control-click on the Finder icon in the Dock).

Note: you must have done at least one search, and selected one of the additional columns in the View Options panel for the search results (Date Created, for example), or else your .plist file may not contain the SearchViewSettings node.

Warning: Apple probably disabled these columns for a good reason, as there may be some bugs that could cause problems on your system. I didn't have any problems with the size column, but be warned.

[robg adds: I have no idea why it's taken over three years (and counting) to fix something that worked in 10.4. Until Apple gets it fixed, though, this seems to do the trick. I tested it on my MacBook Pro, and haven't had any problems as of yet. Note that you won't be able to actively enable/disable the columns in the View Options dialog, but all the columns you set to yes will show in your search results -- and once they're showing, you can sort as expected by simply clicking a column heading.]

Using Snow Leopard, I just control click on the desktop, or finder window>show view options, and check date modified... I recall that this was an option in Leopard, am I mistaken?