Notes from the Warren
Finding files when your work is spread across a stack of drives, a NAS, and one external you cannot quite place. Practical pieces, no filler.
What is the .Spotlight-V100 folder on your drive?
Plug a Mac-used drive into Windows or a camera and a .Spotlight-V100 folder shows up. Here is what it is, whether it is safe to delete, and how to stop it coming back.
How to catalog your external hard drives on a Mac
A catalog lists every file on every drive you own, so you can search them without plugging them in. Here are the ways to make one on a Mac, from a text file to an app that keeps it current.
Which of your files are not backed up anywhere?
Most people with several drives have copies of some files everywhere and copies of others nowhere. Here is how to find the files that exist in only one place on a Mac, before a drive dies.
How to keep track of where your external drives are
Knowing a file is on "Archive 04" does not help if you do not know where Archive 04 is. Here is a simple system for tracking a pile of external drives, and how to make your Mac remember it for you.
How to find a file when you cannot remember its name
Filename search only works if you remember the filename. What to search instead when you do not, and how to narrow a result set down by the things you do remember.
Spotlight not working on a Mac: the checks that actually fix it
Spotlight stops finding files for a small number of concrete reasons. How to tell which one you have, how to rebuild the index properly, and the one case rebuilding will never fix.
How to find a photo across several external drives
Camera filenames tell you nothing, and the drive is usually unplugged. How to search a photo archive by what you actually remember about the shot.
Finding duplicates across every drive you own
Duplicates hide in the gaps between drives, and name plus size is not a safe way to spot them. How to compare by contents, across drives that are not plugged in, without deleting a last copy.
How to offload a camera card safely
A Finder copy tells you the write finished, not that the files arrived intact. What a verified offload checks instead, and the rule worth following before you format a card.
Why Spotlight will not find files on an external drive
Spotlight keeps a separate index on each volume, skips exFAT drives entirely, and loses the lot when you eject. The three causes worth checking, and what none of them fix.
How to find a file on a drive that is not plugged in
Eject an external on a Mac and its files vanish from search, because Spotlight keeps that drive's index on the drive itself. Here is why, and what actually fixes it.
Prefer a reader? Subscribe to the RSS feed. New to GetFerret? Start with the user guide.