Hello! I'm new to these forums - and a little bit new to mac (I have had a macbook pro for about a year) - and am looking for some advice.
Files that I *know* exist are not showing up in spotlight or finder, and I have no idea why, or how to find them.
Here are the details:
I recently had an external hard drive quit working. I was able to use time machine backups to save most of my files to a new external hard drive.
Since the move, when I search for Text Edit and Numbers documents using spotlight or finder, some of the documents are not found. Most documents are found without a problem, but certain ones seem to have disappeared.
The strange thing is, some of the files I need are listed under "open recent" in the "file" menu for text edit or numbers, and I can open the files from there. Even though it is clear that these files exist, they are not showing up in finder.
I tried making some edits and saving one of these files, but the file I have saved is not listed in finder (I checked by clicking "today" on the left side of the finder window) and is still not coming up in spotlight. The document does not appear to exist anywhere, even though it is right in front of me. The document can be open or closed, re-opened, re-closed.... and still spotlight and finder are not finding it!
I have recently made sure spotlight has re-indexed all of my hard drives so I cannot think of a reason why the files aren't showing up. Finder has always worked so well before.
My main concern is the missing documents that are not listed in the "open recent" menu. I think they must be there somewhere - but how can I find them? And what about the ones that are in this menu? Obviously they are are on my computer - somewhere - but according to finder do not exist.
Where are the files? How can I find them?
I appreciate any suggestions you can offer.
Files that I *know* exist are not showing up in spotlight or finder, and I have no idea why, or how to find them.
Here are the details:
I recently had an external hard drive quit working. I was able to use time machine backups to save most of my files to a new external hard drive.
Since the move, when I search for Text Edit and Numbers documents using spotlight or finder, some of the documents are not found. Most documents are found without a problem, but certain ones seem to have disappeared.
The strange thing is, some of the files I need are listed under "open recent" in the "file" menu for text edit or numbers, and I can open the files from there. Even though it is clear that these files exist, they are not showing up in finder.
I tried making some edits and saving one of these files, but the file I have saved is not listed in finder (I checked by clicking "today" on the left side of the finder window) and is still not coming up in spotlight. The document does not appear to exist anywhere, even though it is right in front of me. The document can be open or closed, re-opened, re-closed.... and still spotlight and finder are not finding it!
I have recently made sure spotlight has re-indexed all of my hard drives so I cannot think of a reason why the files aren't showing up. Finder has always worked so well before.
My main concern is the missing documents that are not listed in the "open recent" menu. I think they must be there somewhere - but how can I find them? And what about the ones that are in this menu? Obviously they are are on my computer - somewhere - but according to finder do not exist.
Where are the files? How can I find them?
I appreciate any suggestions you can offer.
