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One day when trying to open Xcode.app with Spotlight, I accidentally told it to open Xcode Server Builder.app. Now every time I type in Xcode into Spotlight, the first result it gives me is Xcode Server Builder instead of Xcode itself due to Spotlight guessing that it's more likely that I'll want the former. I have typing Command + Space Xcode return into muscle memory for launching Xcode so I really want to reverse this behavior.

Is there any way I can manually reset the order in which Spotlight returns matches so that it reverts back to its original default for searches?

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  • I think since Lion it is learned behavior. Maybe just starting to pick the one you want will change the default in the future.
    – StephenCollins
    Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 0:47

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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I face the same problem. I overcame it by excluding Xcode Server Builder.app from Spotlight search results.

Locate Xcode Server Builder.app by navigating to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications directory. Now, go to System Preferences → Spotlight → Privacy tab. Drag and drop Xcode Server Builder.app from the Finder window into the list under Privacy tab.

enter image description here

Now, the Xcode Server Builder.app will no longer appear in the Spotlight search results. This should take care of accidentally launching it instead of Xcode.app.

In case you still need to launch Xcode Server Builder.app on an infrequent basis, you can either drag and drop the app into Dock to create a shortcut, or press and hold Command + Option and drag the app icon to any convenient location to create a shortcut link to the app.

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  • 2
    This is a good way to fix this particular problem, but I'm looking for a general solution. This isn't the first time I accidentally picked the wrong option in Spotlight causing it to learn the wrong behavior, and I suspect it won't be the last. And most of the time I don't want to remove the wrong item from the search results -- I just don't want it to be the default.
    – Bri Bri
    Commented Aug 27, 2018 at 4:54

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