Search for photos and videos on Mac

You can quickly find a photo or video by searching for a title or caption, a keyword, or a date. You can also search for text within photos to quickly find receipts, documents, and more.

Open Photos for me

Search for photos and videos

  1. Go to the Photos app on your Mac.

  2. Click the search field in the toolbar.

    Tip: Press Command-F to quickly activate the search field.

  3. Type the search text in the search field. For example, type “basketball,” “beach,” or “birthday cake.”

    As you type, suggested searches appear below the search field. You can type multiple words separated by a space to search based on multiple criteria. For example, you can search using a location and a month to see photos from a specific place and time.

    The search field with search criteria entered in the field.

    Apple Intelligence* makes it even easier to find a specific photo, or a key moment in a video, using natural language search. See Use Apple Intelligence in Photos.

  4. Click an item in the suggested searches to see matching photos.

    To display all your photos again after a search, click the Cancel button in the search field.

Search by shared library participant

If you’re a participant in an iCloud Shared Photo Library, you can also search by the person who added the photo or video to the library.

  1. Go to the Photos app on your Mac.

  2. Click the search field in the toolbar.

  3. Enter “Shared by,” then click a suggested name.

*Apple Intelligence is available in beta with support for the following languages: English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions. For more information on language and feature availability and system requirements, see the Apple Support article How to get Apple Intelligence.
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