NOTE: For older Macs with many years worth of files stored on them, Monarch may slow down as you search. As a workaround, you can set File Search to None and rely on the File Navigation feature.

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File Search, your way

Open the Monarch Settings ⌘ + , and scroll down to the File Search section to view the different ways to leverage File Search functionality in Monarch. This option will cause files to appear directly in root search alongside your apps, folders, Superlinks, etc. This is the fastest way to search files similar to Spotlight Search but results will surface noticeably faster. You will have immediate access to all of your relevant files at all times, however search results can be come cluttered or bogged down for computers with many years’ worth of files.

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Use File Search with Prefix

Use this option for cleaner search results in root search. Monarch allows you to specify a custom prefix that you can use at any time to start searching exclusively for files. With this setting, you can keep your root search nice and organized and search for only files whenever you like without worrying about mixing the two.
📕 Prefix rules: If the prefix you set ends with a letter or number, you will have to type a space after it to trigger file search. If your prefix ends with a symbol, then no space is required. This is to prevent clashes with apps and command names.

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None

No files will appear in Monarch at all. The folders you have added to Monarch via the Monarch Settings will still be accessible and you will still be able to use File Navigation at any time to access files within any given folder should the need arise.

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Increasing search area

To increase the search area of Monarch, open Monarch Settings and go to the Folders section. Click the + button and select the folder you want to add. This will also add the folder’s immediate children. The folders listed in this section are the folders Monarch is indexing for File Search. This helps to keep search results significantly cleaner while also allowing for fuzzy search capability.

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File Navigation

Monarch allows you to navigate through folders on your Mac and search for what you’re looking for much faster than using Finder. Open Monarch and search for a folder such as Downloads, and press the Right arrow key key to enter the folder. You are now viewing search results only for items within this folder. You can enter nested folders by continuing to use Right arrow key as much as you like.

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Open files and folders

Pressing Enter during File Navigation on a file will open the file using the default app. For folders, it will open that folder in Finder. To reveal a file or folder’s location in Finder, use ⌘ + Enter. To cancel File Navigation and return to Monarch before you entered the folder, press Escape. This will place you back in root search with the original search query. To completely reset Monarch you can press Ctrl + C at any time (this works in any Mode).

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Take actions with Instant Send   >

Search for a file or folder in Monarch and press the greater than sign (>) to use Instant Send on that file or folder. This gives you a fast, keyboard-first way to move, copy, delete, or use “Open With” directly from Monarch. This is especially useful as it allows you to use “Open With” actions even on folders, which you cannot do by default on macOS. Press Escape to cancel Instant Send and return to root search.

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Monarch vs. Spotlight Search and other apps

File Search in Monarch offers numerous benefits over searching with other apps and tools, I’ve listed them here but please note that more features and improvements are already underway.
  1. Standard file search excludes config files by default, so you don’t have to see a bunch of index.js files from node_modules or cache files from the Library folder.
  2. No need to bind a dedicated hotkey to file search. If file search is something you use very frequently, both the Root Search and Prefix options are here! Save that hotkey for something else!
  3. You can easily view hidden files by using File Navigation (Press Right arrow key to enter a folder).
  4. Flexible search modes with root search, custom prefixes, and disable search altogether.
  5. Get to those hard-to-reach locations such as Application internals by using File Navigation.
  6. Quickly see how many items are in any given folder using the status bar.
  7. Fuzzy search with files means you don’t have to get searches 100% correct.
  8. Significantly faster file navigation controls in Monarch
  9. Hide any files or folders you don’t want to see to declutter search results with ⌘ + H.
  10. See the location of similar files at a glance. All files have their full location directly underneath the name of the file at all times, making it much easier to know which file you’re looking for.
  11. Use Open With on folders with ease. By default, macOS does not allow you to use Open With on folders via the right-click menu.

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Limitations

Currently Monarch’s File Search has limitations that affect more intense use-cases, however it will more than suffice for the majority of users. There will be updates to address these limitations however they are not currently a major priority. Avoid adding tens of thousands of folders & files at once. This can affect search performance. The goal is for Monarch’s file search to cover the most relevant and likely-to-be-used files instantly, while also not requiring the user to type exact matches in the file names. External drives are not yet supported. Not currently planned, but if demand for this rises that could change. Please review the feature request board and cast your vote if you want this! iCloud Drive files are not yet supported. Support for this is planned for the near future.