How to jump between Spotlight search result categories on Mac OS X

Spotlight on Mac will search through many different types of files and folders to find what you're looking for, but if Spotlight finds multiple matches in different categories, you'll see the returned results in each listing of the respective category.

While many Mac users use the cursor keys to click on the desired result, some more advanced users use the arrow keys to navigate within Spotlight search results. The tip below will allow you to quickly navigate through Spotlight search results by jumping to different category lists in the results window.

This trick for quickly moving between Spotlight results sections is quite simple, and we'll show you how to do it.

When a Spotlight search results screen with multiple categories is displayed, hold down the Command key while using the up and/or down arrow keys to instantly jump to the next category in the search results.

For example, if you're at the top of the list in the first search:

Hold down the Command key and press the down arrow a couple of times, and the selection will jump through multiple categories instead of having to navigate or select individual results.

Practice this by searching for anything that has multiple category results.

This works with any result in the Spotlight menu; simply hold down the command key in conjunction with the up and/or down arrow keys to jump categories more broadly through the Spotlight search results.

This is the trick that will help you jump between Spotlight search result categories on Mac OS X, quickly and easily.

Do you know any other keyboard shortcuts? Well, we invite you to share them in the comments section.