Extract text from macOS Smart Folders (SAVEDSEARCH)
To convert SAVEDSEARCH Smart Folders to another format, you need macOS Finder or other Settings software.
To convert other file formats to the "macOS Smart Folder Query" file type, you need software like macOS Finder or a similar tool.
The .savedsearch file is an XML-based configuration file created by Apple macOS Finder to store the criteria for a Spotlight saved search, commonly known as a Smart Folder. It contains search rules, file paths, and query parameters rather than actual document or media data. You can natively open and use these files within the macOS ecosystem using Finder.
The primary disadvantage of the .savedsearch format is its strict lock-in to Apple platforms. If you transfer this file to a Windows or Linux operating system, it is entirely useless as an executable search tool. Users frequently face frustration because they mistakenly believe this file acts as an archive containing their actual documents or images, when in reality, it only holds a text-based search string. Standard online converters fail to process it because it lacks standard document geometry or rasterized media data to convert.
If you need to view the contents of this file on non-Apple systems, the most pragmatic conversion targets are plain text formats like XML or TXT. Converting to these formats allows you to extract the raw search queries and logic, but it completely drops the virtual folder functionality.
Because this is a closed, proprietary system file tied to the macOS core, it is difficult to convert into standard document formats. Often, only the original operating system can properly interpret the query data to display virtual folders. However, convert.guru can still identify the file format, inspect the file, and show text or internal content. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible. Just drag and drop your file onto convert.guru to identify the format, view the internal structure, and extract what you can.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SAVEDSEARCH file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted WEBLOC, TEXTCLIPPING and ALIAS files.
If you want to convert SAVEDSEARCH file to SYS, DLL, EXE, DRV, VXD, 386, COM, BAT, CMD, SCR, PIF or LNK, you can use macOS Finder or similar software from the "macOS Search Criteria Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MSI, EXE, REG, MST, LNK, CAB, CAT, DRV, INF, SYS, MSU or DLL files to SAVEDSEARCH, try macOS Finder or another comparable tool in the "macOS Search Criteria Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our SAVEDSEARCH converter.