Root search

Root search is the main field of the launcher. It finds apps, commands and files, ranks them with fuzzy matching and frecency (how often and how recently you used them), and answers math and currency conversion on the same line. Files come from Spotlight; a pulsing “Searching files” indicator shows while Spotlight answers.

Open the launcher with ⌥ Space, type, move with ↑ ↓ and press ↵ to run the primary action or ⌘ ↵ for the secondary one. ⌘ K opens the action panel. A single click runs a list row, and clicks in the 350 ms after a view change are ignored so a habitual double click cannot fire the first row of the new screen.

Options

• Aliases and favorites: give any app or command a short name; ⇧ ⌘ F adds or removes a favorite (on a file result the same keys run Float on Shelf).
• Hotkey per command: ⇧ ⌘ , sets a hotkey for the selected command.
• Fallback: when nothing matches, a “Look up in Dictionary” fallback is offered.
• Window switcher, notes, emoji and file search are commands of the same list. See System commands.
• esc clears the search, goes back or closes; ⌫ goes back when the search is empty.

Related

• Calculator
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Settings