Does plain-English search send my files to an AI service?

No. The search is parsed on your Mac by a local parser; no file names, contents or searches leave it.

Is it better than Spotlight?

For files, often: Spotlight wants names or syntax, and finds little that it hasn’t indexed. Spotlight is still the quicker way to open apps.

Can it search inside documents?

Yes. It matches names, Finder tags and the text inside documents through Spotlight’s index, and the text inside images through its own on-device text recognition.

Kinds (pdfs, videos, screenshots), dates (last week, in August, older than 6 months), sizes (over 5 MB), sources (from gmail) and folders, in any order.

Peekaboo · Plain-English search

Find files on your Mac by describing them

You rarely remember a file’s name. You remember it was a PDF, from Gmail, sometime last week. Type that, and Peekaboo shows how it read you as chips you can correct.

Download free trial14 days free · macOS 14+ · Updated November 2, 2026

What it does

Words in, filters out: “zips bigger than 1 GB older than 6 months” becomes kind, size and date chips, with an “Understood as” line. Fix a chip instead of retyping the search.
The text inside images: Screenshots, photos and PDFs are read on your Mac by Apple Vision, so a search finds the words in them, not just their names.
Where it came from: “pdfs from gmail” works because downloads keep their source. Search by the site or app a file arrived from.
From any app, or the whole disk: Quick Search opens over any app with ⌥Space. Tokens like ext:, path: and hidden: narrow a search, and Search Everywhere walks the disk for files Spotlight never indexed.

How to use it

1Press ⌥Space anywhere, or ⌘F in the window.⌥Space
2Type what you remember: kind, when, size, where from.
3Adjust a chip if it read you wrong, then save the search to the sidebar if you’ll need it again.⌘S

When another app fits better

If you want a launcher that also runs commands, scripts and clipboard history, Raycast or Alfred cover far more than files. If you build precise searches from criteria and boolean groups, HoudahSpot is made for that. Peekaboo is for describing a file the way you’d say it.

Questions

Does plain-English search send my files to an AI service?: No. The search is parsed on your Mac by a local parser; no file names, contents or searches leave it.
Is it better than Spotlight?: For files, often: Spotlight wants names or syntax, and finds little that it hasn’t indexed. Spotlight is still the quicker way to open apps.
Can it search inside documents?: Yes. It matches names, Finder tags and the text inside documents through Spotlight’s index, and the text inside images through its own on-device text recognition.
What can I type?: Kinds (pdfs, videos, screenshots), dates (last week, in August, older than 6 months), sizes (over 5 MB), sources (from gmail) and folders, in any order.