Filed under: Mac 101
Mac 101: Find where a file came from
If you frequently download files via iChat file transfer or Safari, then you may want to know where the files came from later on. This information can be found using a simple Get Info command in the Finder.
Right-click on the questionable file and select "Get Info" (you can also click once on the file and press command + I). Once you are in the Get Info window, click the "More Info" disclosure triangle. Look in the "Where from" field to identify your file's origin.
If you downloaded the file from an iChat file transfer, you will see the person's name, handle, and date/time of download. If you downloaded the file using Safari, you might see the URL for the site you downloaded the file from. Please note that this will not work for all files, and your experience may vary if you are using non-Apple browsers or chat tools.
Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 section.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rucativava said 7:41AM on 10-13-2008
I thought this only worked if I installed "DownloadComment".
One question: Does anybody know how can I get this functionality working from within Firefox?
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Tony said 8:36AM on 10-13-2008
Doesn't work on any downloaded files I have on my system, so you may be right - needs an addon.
Samuel said 12:12AM on 10-15-2008
check this, maybe it'll help:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6599
James Conroy-Finn said 7:46AM on 10-13-2008
This has been around for a long time. You'll find similar functionality in Address Book when you download a vCard from a website.
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John Russell said 9:51AM on 10-13-2008
I find it slightly humorous that "where from:" is bad English. Although, most people should still understand it just fine.
What makes these certain apps so special that they add in this tag of information? Does Apple have to code it into each app?
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Fenton Jones said 10:47AM on 10-13-2008
The trouble is, the info is not enterable/copyable. I believe the data comes from metadata. I use the following AppleScript, which I save as a droplet application on the desktop to put the URLs on the clipboard. Copy/paste the below into Script Editor, save as application. If the long line gets broken up, it's 1 line.
on open (file_drop)
set file_alias to item 1 of file_drop
set pos_file to quoted form of POSIX path of file_alias
set URLs to do shell script "/usr/bin/mdls -name kMDItemWhereFroms " & pos_file & " | egrep 'http:'"
-- download URL, could be more than 1 line
set the clipboard to URLs
display dialog "The URLs are on the clipboard" buttons {"OK"} default button 1
end open
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Neil T. said 11:57AM on 10-13-2008
Camino supports this as well, but Firefox does not. There is a request to add support for this in Firefox, see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=337051
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Laiven said 12:12PM on 10-13-2008
This was on the Apple Quick tips podcast too...
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Jose said 1:09PM on 10-13-2008
IE on Sys 9 used to do this and I've always missed this feature. I had no idea that it was a browser specific thing! Thanks for the tip!
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Conor Sexton said 6:25PM on 10-13-2008
Yes this tip appeared on the Apple Quick Tips podcast before you posted it.
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Samuel said 12:11AM on 10-15-2008
If you want to know where an image/photo came from when downloaded online use this free firefox extension:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6599
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Tice said 5:45AM on 10-17-2008
I have DownloadComment installed but would like to know if this info shows up without it. Does it work only in iChat, Safari and Mail?
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جمال محمد محمد الحفناوى said 9:52PM on 11-17-2008
0104420268
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george smith said 7:30AM on 1-06-2009
Is there any way to disable this feature in Safari? It actually really annoys me, and I would love it if there is a way I could disable it.
Thanks.
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