All Questions
188 questions
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Spotlight not returning results for internal iMac drives - ".Spotlight-V100" folder has red forbidden sign
My iMac running [macOS High Sierra][2] has two SSD drives: 256GB with the OS on it and 2TB for data.
Spotlight returns zero results when doing a search on both drives. Also other apps using Spotlight ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
43
views
Spotlight searches: exclude iCloud
On my MPB running Sonoma with "Search: This Mac "Documents"" duly displayed, all my Spotlight search results come solely from my iCloud backup.
Is there a way to force Spotlight to ...
1
vote
0
answers
32
views
Can't Search Within Folders on a Drive?
I have a weird Spotlight issue with one of my external drives; I can search the drive as a whole just fine, but if I try to search only a specific folder within it then the search simply doesn't work.
...
- 1,757
1
vote
0
answers
48
views
How to get Spotlight working correctly on SMB mounted volumes?
We've been having this strange issue on an 18TB drive that is nearly full (1.4TB available). The larger of the two directories will apparently not stay indexed or available for search once indexed. I ...
- 1,158
0
votes
0
answers
24
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Finder search shows 0 results for searches inside user folder
It seems from a bit of research that Finder search is a frequent source of issues for people, and I have tried the standard System Settings and mdutil approaches to rebuild the Spotlight database, but ...
- 1
1
vote
0
answers
100
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How to troubleshoot why custom Finder search keeps breaking?
I use macOS 12.7.6. I have a custom Finder search (a .savedSearch) that searches a folder for files matching two criteria, Kind is Music (All) and Composer is not Example.
I set this up on an older ...
- 1,923
0
votes
0
answers
34
views
How to have mdfind search system and library files
I need to write a script for many users to find where some other dependencies maybe installed. I would like to use mdfind for the Mac users to search in their /opt or /usr directories, but it seems ...
- 113
2
votes
1
answer
961
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Search in System Preferences pane stopped working
Since recently, searching in the System Preferences does not work any more on my Macbook Pro M1. When I enter any search string, just nothing happens, as if I hadn't typed in anything. Other users (...
- 2,050
2
votes
1
answer
142
views
macOS Calendar search doesn't work for future events
Spotlight search finds future events, but macOS Calendar search (top right corner search field) does not.
How do I fix this?
- 225
0
votes
0
answers
63
views
Finder search not working - weird behavior
I have the latest version of macOS Sonoma on my MacBook Air.
I have a Word document named Pabrai Books.doc in my Documents folder.
I open Finder and start typing the name of the document in the Search ...
- 1
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How to search file contents on iOS?
Is it even possible? Like, for example, list all php files that contain the word “filter”?
- 31
2
votes
1
answer
686
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Apple Mail: Search and smart folders no longer work
Several weeks ago, Apple Mail on my MacBook Pro M1 running Ventura suddenly no longer showed any e-mails in my smart folders (such as "Today" or "Unread"). Also, Mail's search was ...
- 71
3
votes
2
answers
740
views
How to list the content of a whole drive to keep it searchable when disconnected?
I would like to keep track of what files I have on the external drives where I store everything I do not need to access every day. Still, I would like to have some way to know what drive I should ...
- 1,674
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Thousands of random files (.h, .py, .res, .str, and more) in Finder searches
To preface, I'm not a developer, and I had a MacBook Pro previously for many years which did not do this, which is why I'm looking for a solution.
Currently, whenever I search anything in Finder, I am ...
- 31
1
vote
1
answer
116
views
Spotlight always 1 Search Behind
Have the strangest issue on my computer. Let's say I go to Spotlight and search "ABC" -- it displays the results from the search I made previous. So now if I reopen Spotlight and search &...
0
votes
2
answers
244
views
How can I determine the folder containing a file found in a Spotlight search in Ventura?
It used to be that, when I did a search in Spotlight, I could determine the folder containing the file by holding the Command key while the mouse was over the name of the file or the file was selected....
- 163
3
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Search file content in iCloud Drive
Is there a way to search file content in iCloud Drive? For example, in Google Drive or OneDrive, when you search, you'll get results not just by name but also any PDF or Word/Docs file where the ...
- 457
0
votes
0
answers
50
views
How to include .git folders or files from .git folders in spotlight index?
There is a very old question about excluding .git folders form Spotlight index.
Apparently macOS today by default excludes content of .git folders, since on macOS Ventura, files residing in .git ...
- 469
2
votes
0
answers
214
views
Spotlight: Show recently opened files of application
With macOS Monterey (and before) it was possible in Spotlight to show the recent files of an application before opening the application.
E.g.:
Open Spotlight (Command Space)
Search 'Pages'
Arrow down ...
- 121
1
vote
0
answers
59
views
Can Spotlight index HTML files on Mojave?
Spotlight doesn't index HTML files on my machine. In the prefpane there's no option for webpages or .htm or .html file extensions. Google can't find a plugin for these files. I have 36,703 such files ...
- 31
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Why does Spotlight search no longer work after a system update?
After a recent system update (to Catalina) Spotlight stopped working. Additional symptoms:
I could add volumes to the Spotlight>Privacy list and then remove them with the - button but it made no ...
- 77
3
votes
0
answers
679
views
Is there a suitable alternative to mlocate for macOS?
I would like to replicate the functionality of mlocate (not findutils) from Linux in macOS. I've tried the following alternatives, but each has its own downside:
findutils: only world-readable files ...
- 83
0
votes
1
answer
88
views
How do I search a folder excluding one specific subfolder?
I have this folder structure:
Photos
|- Bangalore
|- Sydney
|- Videos
How do I search in Photos excluding the Videos subfolder?
I don't want to permanently exclude the subfolder from Spotlight, just ...
- 1,725
2
votes
0
answers
487
views
Change order of search results (Siri) on modern iOS?
Legacy iOS versions had a Spotlight area in Settings > General to control the order of the results.
I cannot find any such setting on iOS 16. Is it no longer possible? For example, I would like ...
- 3,638
0
votes
1
answer
491
views
Why does Finder not search Python (.py) files for content?
I want to search all my .py files for a certain expression, but it seems that Finder does not look at their content. Is this normal? What can I do?
(This question was also raised here.)
- 471
0
votes
1
answer
361
views
Find password protected files on macbook pro High Sierra
Is it possible to search for password protected Microsoft office (word or excel) files? I have forgotten some passwords and am trying to recover them. I noticed a password protected file is not '...
- 1
2
votes
1
answer
353
views
How to reset Spotlight's suggestion heuristics?
When I search for an app by name, Spotlight usually finds that app before it makes other suggestions. But when I was first setting up this new laptop, I mistakenly chose the web-search item for "...
- 245
0
votes
2
answers
740
views
Configure Spotlight to follow symlinks or search multiple paths
When using the search box in a Finder window, I would like to configure Spotlight so that a search will follow symlinks in the directory tree below the folder being searched.
For example, I symlinked ...
2
votes
0
answers
76
views
Change Spotlight web search default keybindng
The default keybinding to search the web from Spotlight (⌘ CommandSpace) is ⌘ CommandB.
Is it possible to change it? I haven't even found this keybinding documented on official website. (macOS Mojave ...
- 131
2
votes
2
answers
238
views
How did I accidentally summon this helpful Finder search feature, and what is it called?
In MacOS Catalina (10.15.7) I somehow inadvertently turned on this very nice search feature in a Finder window.
I can select several search criteria in pulldown menus and build a search via GUI rather ...
- 1,773
-1
votes
2
answers
670
views
Spyware in MacOS: Spotlight Search Privacy
I have Macbook Pro 14.2 from 2017. I don't have Apple ID and I don't own Iphone or any other apple products.
I wanted to know are Spotlight search private? Or, in my case is it possible to mask my ...
- 131
5
votes
2
answers
152
views
Search for files that are NOT a specific kind on my Mac
I am trying to work out which fonts I have on my machine that are Type 1 Postscript fonts so I can avoid problems when Adobe stops supporting them next year. I have used kind:”type 1 outline font” ...
- 51
0
votes
1
answer
541
views
Problems with searching in finder, spotlight and file-management on Mac
I got some problem with indexing of disk, Spotlight, searching in finder and file-management.(MacBook m1 2020)
Finder is loading a lot of time, searching in it does not work, Spotlight does not work ...
- 1
1
vote
1
answer
92
views
Folder in external SSD not found by Finder Search even though it exists
I have two folders in an external SSD with the name "sumatera": "REGION SUMATERA" and "REGION SUMATERA 500". However, when I search for it with the Finder's Search ...
- 13
0
votes
0
answers
227
views
Folders disappearing from search result list after consulting them
We have a customer that is experiencing a strange behavior when he searches folders on his MacBook (Catalina 10.15.7, i7 2.2Ghz, 16GB Ram).
For example :
he searches for "2022-D00170" which ...
- 1
1
vote
1
answer
408
views
mdfind using -name option
I get this result:
user@10 $ mdfind kind:application -name "Seashore" -onlyin /Volumes/WD\ Elements
/Volumes/WD Elements/backup 2018/Desktop/Seashore.app
/Volumes/WD Elements/backup Juli ...
- 374
0
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Finder search doesn't work when searching individual folders in iCloud Drive
A few months ago I switched from backing up to an external drive using Time Machine to just having everything on my iCloud Drive and it automatically backing up any changes I make.
Since then, I've ...
- 474
0
votes
1
answer
315
views
The action “Find Finder Items” encountered an error: “Unable to search with Spotlight.”
EDIT: Ok I give up using Automator actions, probably it has something to do with my external drive being ExFat not indexed or something. If anyone has an AppleScript code or whatever workaround to ...
- 1,065
9
votes
3
answers
14k
views
Is there any search tools like "everything" on MacOS?
Now I want to search a file exists or not on my mac, when I am using Windows, I can using the everything tool that searching any files less than 50ms on the disk, I was wonder if there is any tool ...
- 1,195
1
vote
1
answer
417
views
Finder search shows no Email results - Spotlight preview does
Very strange ...
I setup a new MBP 2020 Intel coming from an old MBP 2010 with High Sierra. I transferred everything to the new system, all now on 12.2, and everything is running - except one problem ...
- 33
3
votes
1
answer
164
views
MacBook Air update to Big Sur broke my Spotlight search
I have been experiencing multiple issues since upgrading to Big Sur.
My zsh terminal takes upto 30s to open (never happened before)
My Firefox tabs crash when I wake my Mac from sleep
Spotlight ...
1
vote
1
answer
383
views
Can Finder / Spotlight search for files by a specific time of day?
I have thousands of JPG images from a GoPro timelapse recorded in 5 minute increments throughout the day. I need to grab just the 12PM images, but i have to scroll down so far to get to the next file.
...
- 11
2
votes
2
answers
610
views
Spotlight search useless for basic core apps
Why is the Spotlight search index not finding what seems to me to be the most obvious result for a core app?
I search for the Calendar and it gives me a bunch of useless results. I did a fresh OS ...
- 367
1
vote
2
answers
1k
views
Find files with comments in Finder search?
How can I find all the files on my system that have a Finder comment (the one you can see in "Comments" when using "Get Info")?
- 309
5
votes
1
answer
3k
views
hide safari and chrome internet results in spotlight searches [duplicate]
When i search for something using spotlight (CMD + SPACEBAR), I don't want to see anything related to internet searches using safari or chrome.
Is there a way to disable spotlight from using these ...
- 173
0
votes
0
answers
86
views
Finder Search Criteria not applied to "This Mac"
When applying search criteria to "This Mac" the results do not seem to match the parameters. But when I click on "Recent" then it does. I am running Catalina with the latest update....
- 1,870
0
votes
0
answers
138
views
How to make spotlight search more effective at locating commonly used directories?
Spotlight Search - cmd + space - doesn't seem to find the Applications folder, despite it being on of the most well-known and important folders on the macOS:
Same happens in a quick search for the ...
- 5,385
0
votes
2
answers
275
views
How to find out, what I am able to look for in Spotlight
I am looking for a very good documentation or tool, that help's me to make better searches in spotlight.I have found some descriptions like: "https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/...
- 3
0
votes
0
answers
36
views
Find recently modified image files in subdirectories on external volume
I recently modified some JPGs in a complex directory structure on an external volume on MacOS Catalina. The format of the files was DSC_####.jpg or _DSC####.jpg. I want to find all such files and sort ...
- 309
1
vote
1
answer
222
views
What does Spotlight consider to be a 'Document'?
I have noticed that the Finder's Recent Smart Search Folder doesn't show several type of 'app document' file.
The same is true if I create a new Smart Folder with the criterion set to Kind = Document.
...
- 38k