Find text in a folder in Textmode on Mac

In a folder document, you can search across files in the folder from the sidebar. From the search results, you can open a file and quickly go to the matched text.

Tip: Folder search searches the contents of files. To filter items shown in the file browser by name, use the filter field at the bottom of the file browser.

Note: Folder search is available only when you open a folder in Textmode.

Search in a folder

  1. In the Textmode app on your Mac, open a folder.

  2. In the sidebar, select the Find tab.

  3. Enter the text to search for in the Search in Folder field, then press Return.

  4. In the search results, click a file name or a matched line.

    The file opens in the same window. If you click a matched line, the matched text is selected in the editor.

Change the search method

Use the menu above the search field to choose Text or Regular Expression. To search with exact capitalization, click the Case Sensitive button.

Narrow which files are searched

To search only specific files, choose Edit File Scope from the File Scope menu below the search field, then add conditions for the file name, file path, or file extension. In the file scope, you can add multiple conditions and choose whether files matching any or all of the conditions are searched. For example, to exclude automatically generated files from the search, add a condition like “File path does not contain build.”

To search all files again, choose Clear File Scope from the File Scope menu.

From the File Scope menu, you can also include hidden files or other file types in the search. However, even when you include hidden files, .DS_Store files and .git folders are always excluded from the search.

By default, Textmode searches only files that can be classified as plain text. Even when you include other file types, files that Textmode can’t read as text may be skipped. Files larger than 1 GB are also skipped. Aliases and symlinks are not followed.

Note: Up to 5,000 matches per file and 500,000 matches in total are listed. When a limit is reached, the search results indicate that more matches exist.

Save file scopes for reuse

To save the current file scope for later use, click “Save as Named Scope” in the file scope editor, then enter a name for it. The saved scope is applied to the search, and also appears in the File Scope menu so that you can apply it anytime just by choosing it.

To rename, edit, or delete saved scopes, choose “Manage Saved Scopes” from the File Scope menu. Saved scopes are available in all folder documents.

See also