In Mac OS X, what is the Info window, and how do I use it?

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In Mac OS X, the Info window provides information about documents, folders, volumes, applications, and other items. To open it, click an icon for which you want information. Then, when the icon darkens, from the File menu, select Get Info. The Info window has several different panes you can access by clicking the triangles next to their names. The panes and their functions are listed below.

Note: This document assumes you are viewing the information for a single file. However, if you select multiple icons in the Finder and hold the Option key down, you can select Show Inspector from the File menu. This will open a window with information about the entire selection.

On this page:

"Spotlight Comments" pane

This pane shows any comments attached to the item.

"General" or "General Information" pane

All icons have a pane containing general information. Its contents depend on the type of file or folder associated with the icon, but may include the following:

Kind: This tells you the type of item you are viewing. Documents will be identified by the application program that created them, if possible.
Size: This tells you the amount of space the file or folder takes up on the disk. With folders and packages, this amount is the total of all enclosed files.
Where: This gives the folder structure describing where the item is on the disk.
Created: This shows when the item was created.
Modified: This shows when the item was last modified.
Version: This lists the version of the item.
Format: This is reported for volumes (e.g., hard disks, removable media, network volumes, audio CDs, and video DVDs) and describes the kind of file system the volume uses.
Capacity: For volumes, this lists the total amount of space.
Available: For volumes, this lists the amount of unused space.
Used: For volumes, this lists the amount of space taken up by data.
Original: For aliases and links, this lists where the original file or folder is located.
Full Name: This is the name by which fonts will be displayed in applications.
Copyright: Frequently, fonts will have their copyright information listed in this field.
Label: Displays what colored label, if any, has been assigned to the item.
Shared folder: If this checkbox is selected and File Sharing is on, the contents of the folder will be shared. For more information about File Sharing, see In Mac OS X, how do I turn file sharing on or off?
Open in 32-bit mode: If an application is 64-bit, selecting this checkbox will force it to open in 32-bit mode.
Open using Rosetta: For Universal applications, selecting this checkbox will force it to open in PowerPC mode using Rosetta.
Stationery Pad: If you check this box, when you open the document, the document will instead open a copy of itself.
Locked: If you select this checkbox, the document cannot be changed.

"More Info" pane

This pane varies, but it will often have a "Last opened:" field displaying the most recent time the item has been accessed.

"Name & Extension" pane

You can change the name of a file from the "Name & Extension" pane. You can also use this pane to determine whether the Finder will display the file's extension.

"Open with" pane

You may use this pane to designate what application will open a document when you double-click it. You can also use this pane to change the opening application of all the other files on your computer that are of the same type and were created with the same application.

"Preview" pane

For text and PDF files, as well as files in formats that QuickTime understands, the "Preview" pane will show you the file's contents.

"Sharing & Permissions" pane

In this pane you can set the owner, group, and global access permissions of files, folders, and volumes.

"Languages" pane

With many applications, you may add and remove language support from this pane of the Info window. This pane is not available in Mac OS X 10.6 and later.

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Last modified on March 14, 2011.