Search and the command palette
Find files, folders and commands with ⌘K.
Press ⌘K to open the command palette. One box finds files, folders and commands.
Find a file
Type a file name, or part of one. Branchway keeps its own index of file names for each volume, including external drives, and merges in Spotlight results when Spotlight is on, so search works even when Spotlight is off or still catching up. Results show a name and location, which helps distinguish files with similar names.
The index holds file names only and stays on your Mac. Without the optional Smarter photo search model, searching inside documents still goes through Spotlight. If a result is missing, check its location and whether the file is available locally before assuming it has been deleted.
Search by what is in a file
Switch on Smarter photo search in Settings and you can type a plain sentence in ⌘K or the search field. It is an optional model by Google (EmbeddingGemma 2, converted by Evenpine, Apache License 2.0). You download it once from Evenpine, and after that it runs on your Mac. It needs Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later. By default it indexes only while the Mac is charging and above 50 %, and you can remove it any time.
With it on, one sentence finds three kinds of thing:
- Photos whose contents match. The result is tagged In image.
- Documents whose text is about it. The result is tagged In document, with the place when Branchway knows it: In document · Slide 4 for a presentation, In document with the sheet name after it for a spreadsheet, In document · Section 3 for an e-book. Word files show no place.
- Videos, at the moment that matched. The result is tagged In video at 1:42, and the matched frame is the thumbnail.
Branchway reads Word, PowerPoint, Excel and e-book files for this, plus PDF and plain text. For video it looks at sampled frames. It does not listen to the sound or transcribe it. Everything stays on your Mac. Only the model download leaves it.
Find a command
Commands appear in the palette too. For example, type “dual” to find the command that turns dual pane on. The palette is useful when you know what you want to do but not its menu location or shortcut.
Go directly to a path
The address bar supports autocomplete and history. It is another route to a folder when you know where it lives.
Searching and previewing files remain available after the trial ends. They do not require a license to edit files.