Fenn vs Find Any File: Which Mac search to use?
Apr 4, 2025
Fenn vs Find Any File: which Mac search should you use?
Find Any File is a powerful utility. It excels at filenames, paths, and system level visibility. Power users have relied on it for years when Spotlight falls short.
Fenn is different. It searches the content itself and takes you straight to the answer. That means the exact page in a PDF, the right slide in a deck, the frame in an image sequence, or the timestamp in a recording. On-device by default for privacy.
Use both if you want. They solve different problems.
TLDR comparison
Capability | Find Any File | Fenn |
|---|---|---|
Primary use | Locate files by name, path, and attributes | Find the exact moment inside content |
Content search | Limited to names and system fields | Inside PDFs, documents, slides, images, audio, video |
Result action | Opens the file or location | Opens at exact page, frame, or timestamp |
Query style | Literal strings and filters | Semantic, keyword, or hybrid queries |
Best for | System files, known filenames, Library and hidden items | Research, legal, finance, creative, meetings, class notes |
Privacy | Local utility | On-device by default, optional cloud indexing |
Platform fit | Classic Mac utility | Built for Apple Silicon performance |
Where Find Any File shines
Exact filename or extension recall.
Digging in system folders like Library.
Power user filters on paths and attributes.
When you know the file exists and want to reveal it quickly.
If your main friction is locating a particular file in a specific folder, FAF is excellent.
Where Fenn changes the game
You rarely remember a filename. You remember a sentence on page 12, a figure on slide 8, a quote at 37 minutes, or text inside a screenshot.
Fenn is built for that.
Searches the content of PDFs and long documents.
Makes text in many scans and images discoverable.
Surfaces the right moment in audio and video.
Opens directly at the match so there is no scrubbing.
Privacy
Fenn indexes on-device by default. You can enable cloud indexing for speed or scale if you choose to.
Search modes
Use keyword when you know the exact phrase, semantic when you remember the idea, and hybrid when you want both.
Real workflows side by side
1) Find a clause inside a contract bundle
Find Any File: search by filename pattern, open candidates, run Command + F inside each PDF, repeat.
Fenn: search once, confirm via context snippet, open at the exact page.
2) Pull a slide about Q3 pricing from last quarter
Find Any File: filter by file type and date, open slides one by one, jump through slides manually.
Fenn: search for “Q3 pricing” and open at the slide that mentions it.
3) Grab the Wi-Fi password screenshot
Find Any File: search names like IMG_ or screenshot, open images, eyeball text.
Fenn: search the actual text. Fenn finds the image and opens to it.
4) Revisit the part of a meeting where budgets were approved
Find Any File: locate the recording file, scrub to the right section.
Fenn: search the topic, then open at the correct timestamp.
Who should choose what
Choose Find Any File if your work centers on filenames, paths, and system visibility. Developers, IT, and power users will keep it in their toolkit.
Choose Fenn if your work depends on what is inside files. Lawyers, accountants, researchers, students, PMs, designers, and anyone who needs the exact page or timestamp will move faster.
You can run both without conflict. Use FAF to surface files. Use Fenn to open at the answer.
How to use them together
Keep Find Any File for system tasks and file management.
Install Fenn. Choose the folders that matter: Documents, Downloads, knowledge bases, meeting recordings, and note archives.
When you remember a concept or a quote, start with Fenn in hybrid mode.
When you need to track down a specific file path or bundle, use FAF.
Try Fenn on a hard query
Search a phrase you failed to find with Spotlight or Finder.
Open directly at the match.
Save minutes on every retrieval.
Download Fenn and find the moment, not the file.