GUIDE · FIND A MISSING FILE
Start with what you still remember: when you opened the file, its type, a phrase inside it, or the folder where it probably lives. Try the built-in Mac tools below before changing any search settings.
16 October 2026 · Shlexball guide
Open Finder and choose Recents. Group the results by Date Last Opened, then look around the day you remember. The app that created the document may also have a File > Open Recent menu. These are useful starting points when you remember working on a document but have forgotten its saved name. Apple’s missing-file guide describes both routes.
In Finder, start a search, then use the plus button below the search field to add criteria. Kind limits the results to a document type; date attributes can narrow the period. Choose the current folder when you know the likely location, or This Mac when you do not. Apple explains Finder’s search criteria.
For example, if you remember a PDF you edited last month, start with those two facts. Open likely candidates with Quick Look before adding another filter. Every extra condition can also exclude the file you wanted.
A client name, invoice reference or unusual phrase is often a better clue than a generic topic such as “work”. Try one remembered term at a time. If a PDF looks like a photograph of a page, check whether you can select its text; a page image may need text recognition before a content search can use its words. See our PDF search guide for the difference between text PDFs and scans.
Shlexball searches a folder you choose from a plain-English description. The existing demonstration below shows made-up documents found from their contents: a lease saved as scan_0412.pdf, a paper saved as paper_v2_FINAL.pdf, and a tax form saved as stmt_2025.pdf. The queries and matching files are shown in the recording; they are examples, not a guarantee for every document.
Watch the recorded PDF searches and read the exact examples. For a search with Wi-Fi off, see finding files by meaning offline.
Shlexball needs macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon and 16 GB of memory. Setup downloads about 3.1 GB of model files; cached searches run locally. It does not read text from scanned PDFs without a text layer or open password-protected PDFs. The first 30 searches are free and need no account.
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Verify that the document is present in the folder you are searching. Check the app’s recent-file list and any backup you normally use. If you know the exact file name and Spotlight still cannot return it, follow the separate Spotlight troubleshooting guide. Searching a different way cannot recover a document that is no longer stored there.