Getting information on a file, folder, drive, or device on the Mac is straightforward:
- Go to the Finder.
- Click once to select an item.
- Press Command I for information.
- The information box opens.
- When you are finished, click the red candy button in the top left-hand corner of the information box to close it.
You do not have to be in the Finder to use Command I. It will work on any item you select in a folder, or on the desktop.
Although the information box has a single format, the data shown is specific to the type of item selected, e.g.; file, folder, drive or device.
Understanding The Information Box
The information box has several sections:
- Icon and Title
- Tag Box
- General
- More Info
- Name and Extension
- Comments
- Open With
- Preview
- Sharing and Permissions
Icon and Title
- Icon – Default icon. This post details how to change an icon.
- Title – Item name.
- Size – Size rounded to 2 decimal points.
- Modified – Date the item was last modified.
Tag Box
- Tags – Items can labelled with single or multiple tags.
General
- Processor – Shows for device only. CPU speed.
- Memory – Shows for device only. Amount of RAM.
- Startup Disk – Shows for device only. Location of boot disk.
- Kind – Item type, e.g., Volume, Folder, PDF, JPEG Image, Pages Document, etc.
- Where – Location of item on drive.
- Created – Date item was created.
- Modified – Date item was last modified.
- Version – Software is often identified by a version no.
- Copyright – Any embedded digital copyright information.
- Format – Drive format, e.g., Mac OS Extended Journalled, MS-DOS (FAT 32) or Windows NTFS.
- Capacity – Total size of a formatted drive or disk.
- Size – Size of an item. May also include the no. of items within a folder or other container.
- Available – Unused space on a formatted drive or disk.
- Used – Used space on a formatted drive or disk.
- Stationary Pad – Check this box to turn a file into a template.
- Locked – Check this box to lock a file. No other users will not be allowed write to this file.
- Shared Folder – Checked if an item is shared.
More Info
- Title – Name as listed in file’s meta-tags.
- Description – Description as listed in file’s meta-tags.
- Version – Version information as listed in file’s meta-tags.
- Pages – No. of pages.
- Resolution – Resolution in pixels.
- Dimensions – Dimension in pixels.
- Color Space – Shows if item is using RGB or CMYK color space.
- Alpha Channel – Shows if an Alpha Channel is embedded in the file. Alpha Channels store data related to masks and transparency.
- Where From – Source of the file. May be name of another computer user, website, etc.
- Security – Lists any file protection.
- Content Creator – Creator as listed in file’s meta-tags.
- Encoding Software – Software used to create the item.
- Last Opened – Date item was last opened.
Name and Extension
- Name and Extension – Name and three-character file extension. Name can be changed here.
- Hide Extension – Check this box to hide the extension for individual files. Only relevant, if you run OSX with extensions visible.
Comments
- Comments – You may enter comments here.
Open With
- Open With Drop-down – The default application that opens a file with this three-character file extension.
- Change All… – Click to change the default application that opens all files with this three-character file extension.
Preview
- Preview – Thumbnail preview of item.
Sharing and Permissions
- Permissions – Name and Read/Write Privilege of all users with access to this file.
- Add/Subtract – Use to add or subtract users and user priviliges.
- Actions – Drop-down menu that provides an option to revert any changes made in this area.
- Lock – No changes can be made to this area without clicking this lock and entering an Administrator name and password.
That’s it. Happy New Year 🙂
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