Wildcard search on Mac OSX

If you want to use a wildcard behavior in Finder :

For this example lets say you are searching for all files *_modif*.PNG

  • In the finder search box enter .PNG, press ENTER
  • Now appears just below the search box a Save button and [+] button
  • Click the [+] button, then towards your left click on the combo box that says [Kind]
  • In the [Kind] list select “Other” at the bottom
  • Scroll down to “File extension”
  • Now type in “PNG” in the box after the text [File extension] is, then press ENTER
  • Click the [+] button again
  • In the [Kind] list select “Name” (which is the same as Filename if you went into “Other…”
  • After the [Name] combo, open the next combo box and select “contains”, then enter _modif and press ENTER

You can now save this search, and apply it to the folder you started from or the entire Mac

Note most wildcard behaviors can be obtained by selecting the other options from the same place you selected “contains”, ie “begins with”…