Search & Filter

Three Different Searches#

“Search” in a file manager covers a few different things, and Seiz handles each one in the place where it makes sense:

• Filter the current folder — narrow what you're already looking at, with the inline filter bar above the file list. This is the everyday search.
• Find files by meaning — type a description in plain English (“tax forms”, “photos from Iceland”) and let the local AI model find what you meant, even if the file name doesn't match. Lives in the Command Bar (⌘K).
• Find files by tag — click any tag in the sidebar to see every file across your Mac with that tag, regardless of folder.

The Filter Bar#

Above every folder's file list is a slim text field — the filter bar. Type into it and the visible files shrink to just the matches. Empty the field and everything returns. The filter only applies to the current folder; navigating to a different folder clears it.

Three matching styles, switchable in Settings:

• Plain text — case-insensitive substring match. The default, and what most people want.
• Fuzzy — type the letters in order, gaps allowed. Typing “arpdf” matches “annual-report.pdf”. Ranks results by tightness — the closer the matches cluster, the higher the file appears.
• Regex — full regular expressions for people who already know what those are. Invalid patterns fall back to plain text rather than throwing an error.

Stacking Conditions#

Beyond text, the filter bar lets you add structured condition chips. Click the small + button next to the filter field, pick the kind of condition you want from the popover, and enter a value. Conditions stack with AND logic — each one narrows the result further. Available conditions:

• Extension — match by file extension (e.g. pdf, jpg, swift).
• Size > / Size < — greater than or less than a threshold, with units (e.g. 10MB, 500KB, 1.5GB).
• After / Before — modified after or before a date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
• Tag — files with a specific tag, or leave the value empty to find untagged files.
• Kind — match by file kind name (image, video, document, archive, etc.).

Each active condition shows up as a removable chip above the file list — click the × on a chip to drop just that condition without rebuilding the rest.

Semantic Search (AI)#

Press ⌘K to open the Command Bar, then type a description of what you're looking for. Unlike the filter bar — which matches against names — semantic search uses an on-device AI model to find files by their meaning. Searching for “contract with Acme” finds the right PDF even if the file is called final_v3_signed.pdf.

Semantic search needs to be enabled in Settings (off by default) and builds an index of your files in the background. Everything runs on your Mac. See Local AI for the details.

Tag Search#

macOS lets you tag files with one of seven colored labels. Seiz exposes these in the sidebar — click any tag and the active pane shows every file on your Mac with that tag, across every folder. Useful when you tag client-related files with one color and personal files with another, then want to see everything in either pile at once.

Click Untagged Items under Smart Folders to see the inverse: every file that doesn't have any tag. Useful for cleanup.

Recents#

Click Recents in the sidebar (Favorites section) to see every file you've opened in the last 14 days, newest first. Same view modes and sort controls as a normal folder. The fastest way to get back to something you were working on this morning.

Next Steps#

• Command Bar — where semantic AI search lives, plus quick navigation by typing.
• Local AI — semantic search, OCR, and how the on-device indexing works.
• SmartFolder — find duplicates, big files, and untagged items.