Howto exclude folder(s) from Alfred File Search ?

[David]

Hi,

 

Is it possible to exclude folders from Alfred's file search?

 

For example i have a folder "/Users/David/kde4/' containing a lot of files, so whenever i search for some file in Alfred (by typing "Find somefile") a whole list of crap from this folder gets listed first...

 

 

Thanks.

[bencfd]

Hi,

 

You can add this folder under the Privacy tab of the Spotlight prefpane.

Or, if I remember well, you can add to this folder the Spotlight tag alfred:ignore.

[David]

I did both - and it works. Thanks!

[lmartins]

Is it possible to add patterns to the exclusion?

I need to exclude every cache folder but cant figure it out how to do it.

[jdfwarrior]

Is it possible to add patterns to the exclusion?

I need to exclude every cache folder but cant figure it out how to do it.

 

Every folder inside of ~/Library/Caches? You could add that folder to the Spotlight Privacy section

[lmartins]

Every folder inside of ~/Library/Caches? You could add that folder to the Spotlight Privacy section

 

Not the ~/Library, in this case i wanted to ignore all Sass cache folders inside various projects. Was wondering if there was a way to add a pattern to the exclusion criteria, not just folder by folder, which would be overwhelming in this case.

 

Those folders are polluting my file searches within Alfred.

[jdfwarrior]

Not the ~/Library, in this case i wanted to ignore all Sass cache folders inside various projects. Was wondering if there was a way to add a pattern to the exclusion criteria, not just folder by folder, which would be overwhelming in this case.

 

Those folders are polluting my file searches within Alfred.

 

There isn't a way to do that that I am aware of. Andrew may know better on this issue.

[spyder]

None of this is working for me

I've tried both alfed:ignore and adding the folder to the privacy tab of spotlight.
 
I use parallels 8, which means that I have ~/Applications (Parallels) - I have set alfred:ignore on this

Inside it is a weird GUID folder with translation. Finder shows it as Windows 8 Applications but the filesystem (and alfred) show it as {b1844a62-a22e-4f7a-890f-27157387d63e} Applications.localized. I set alfred:ignore on the one Finder shows but the mdls command doesn't show a kMDItemFinderComment on the actual folder, while it does on the Applications (Parallels) folder.

The only way I've found to exclude my Parallels applications from Alfred results is turning off "include folders in home" and reloading the Alfred cache. As soon as I turn the home folder back on the Parallels results reappear.

[jdfwarrior]

None of this is working for me

I've tried both alfed:ignore and adding the folder to the privacy tab of spotlight.

 

I use parallels 8, which means that I have ~/Applications (Parallels) - I have set alfred:ignore on this

Inside it is a weird GUID folder with translation. Finder shows it as Windows 8 Applications but the filesystem (and alfred) show it as {b1844a62-a22e-4f7a-890f-27157387d63e} Applications.localized. I set alfred:ignore on the one Finder shows but the mdls command doesn't show a kMDItemFinderComment on the actual folder, while it does on the Applications (Parallels) folder.

The only way I've found to exclude my Parallels applications from Alfred results is turning off "include folders in home" and reloading the Alfred cache. As soon as I turn the home folder back on the Parallels results reappear.

 

I have Parallels installed right now and can actually test this so..

 

I opened Spotlight prefs, went to the Privacy tab. I popped open Alfred in File Browse mode by pressing ~. Alfred showed the contents of my Home folder, including the Applications folder, and Applications (Parallels). I dragged and dropped the Applications (Parallels) folder into the Spotlight Privacy area, then popped Alfred back up and typed 'reload' to reload the app  cache and all Parallels applications disappeared from the results.

 

Can you verify that these were the exact steps you took?

[spyder]

Yes and no - I've had Applications (Parallels) in my privacy tab for years, since a previous Parallels version on a previous machine (I did a TM restore onto my MBA last year). I've looked through Alfred's options a few times to try hiding the windows apps, both v1 and v2, but only last night did it bug me enough to start googling for a solution.

 

Anyway.

 

Before I posted I tried removing the folder from privacy, waited a few seconds and then re-added it. Now something weird is going on; I removed the folder and windows apps don't show up!

 

They're not in either Alfred's results or the Spotlight search (but they do in Spotlight "show all in finder" search). One of the things I tried last night was turning off Parallels sharing windows apps with the mac, but I turned it back on after a few minutes.

 

My MBA has been asleep overnight, maybe it woke up and did some maintenance that changed something... Admittedly I didn't check if they showed up this morning before removing it.

 

 

I'm confused, but happy they're gone from my results. I'll post back if they mysteriously return.

[spyder]

curiouser and curiouser.

 

Some parallels apps are showing up in both the Alfred results and spotlight. Just not very many of them.

 

I'm going to hit the Rebuild OS X Metadata button and see if that fixes the weird behaviour

[deanishe]

Hi,

 

You can add this folder under the Privacy tab of the Spotlight prefpane.

Or, if I remember well, you can add to this folder the Spotlight tag alfred:ignore.

 

How do you add a Spotlight tag? Is that a Spotlight comment or an OpenMeta tag?

[bencfd]

How do you add a Spotlight tag? Is that a Spotlight comment or an OpenMeta tag?

 

Yes, I meant Spotlight comment. Select the file in the Finder and hold Command + I. This will show the info panel of the file. On the top of this window, you should find a "Spotlight comments" field where you can add your Spotlight tags/comments.