OSX Spotlight Does Math

I’ve not been a fan of the OSX search feature, Spotlight, mostly because it ignores the concept of location – it shows you the results it finds but doesn’t make it clear where it exists. All too often I want to find something and then do what I want with it (generally Terminal access).

But this tip mildly redeems spotlight:

i had been using spotlight for simple calculations for years, but i stumbled onto conversions (like “528 in2 in sq ft” or “32c”) only a couple months ago. if you don’t specify to the units you want, it will still give you a most likely conversion unit with less common ones down below. it’s super useful and quick!

Here are some examples:

• 528 in2 in sq ft tells you 3.67 sq feet
• 32c tells you 89.6 degrees f
• 1.1m tells you 1.2 yards
• 3+12+3 tells you 18
• 3tbsp tells you 0.19 cups
• 2mi tells you 3.22 kilometers