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Similar to this question, I have an external SSD that I use as expanded storage when my MacBook Pro is docked. I would like the contents of that disk to be searchable with Spotlight, so I have indexing enabled. The problem is that most times I try to eject that drive I'm met with the message,

The disk "External" wasn't ejected because one or more programs may be using it.

I believe the culprit is mds and its related processes, but I'm not entirely sure.

Is there a good way to reliably eject an external drive that has Spotlight indexing enabled?

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    I'd recommend finding the definite cause of the problem first, rather than assuming it's Spotlight.
    – benwiggy
    Commented Nov 26 at 15:53

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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To eject an external drive with Spotlight indexing enabled:

  1. Disable indexing temporarily:

    sudo mdutil -i off /Volumes/ExternalDriveName

  2. Eject the drive.

  3. Re-enable indexing:

    sudo mdutil -i on /Volumes/ExternalDriveName
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