How to Find Which Folder a File Is In on a Mac

What you need: A Mac and all or part of the file's name, such as budget. These steps search this Mac, then show the folders that hold the file.

Steps

1. Click Finder (the blue smiling face) in the Dock, the row of app icons along the edge of the screen.
2. In the menu bar at the top of the screen, click Go, then Home. A Finder window opens.
3. In the upper-right corner of the Finder window, click the magnifying glass. A box for typing opens.
4. Type all or part of the file's name, then press the Return key.
5. Below the toolbar at the top of the window, find the row of choices for where to search. Click This Mac, even if it already looks selected.
6. Wait for the results to appear in the window. Searching the whole Mac can take a moment.
7. Look through the file names in the list. When you see your file, click its name once to highlight it.
8. In the menu bar at the top of the screen, click File, then Get Info. A window with information about the file opens.
9. In that window, find Where. Beside it are the names of the folders that hold your file, from left to right, with a small arrow between each name. Find Desktop, Documents or Downloads among them. Write down that name and each name after it, in order, such as Documents, then Recipes. The last name is the folder your file is in.
10. Click the red button in the upper-left corner of the information window to close it.

Expected result: You have written down the names of the folders that lead to your file, in order, such as Documents, then Recipes, and the information window is closed.