a folder and its contents do not come up at all in spotlight searches even though i can access them in finder perfectly.i dont know what happened but it's like spotlight is ignoring them or something. and now it doesnt register any file i copy simply shows the one original file and no other duplicates made before today.and even when i move one file from the invisible folder to someplace else it still doesnt show up. and it has only happened with that one folder nothing else.i remembr getting an error notice but i forgot what it said and now that folder is invisible. any way i can make it show up in spotlight again?
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Files don't show up in spotlight
- Thread starter Kalta0Keilyth
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You may need to reindex.
i did what the instructions said and they still dont show up. unless it takes time or something. do you know what would cause such a thing? cuz i did get an error message so something has to have happened. thankyou though
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oh forgot to mention i have mac os 10.6.8 that index thing said that only worked on 10.4 or 10.5
Re-indexing can take some time. You can check to see if Spotlight is indexing by looking at the Menu Bar icon:
If it fails to index, enter the following command in Terminal:
sudo mdutil -i on "/Volumes/your drive name"
Also, be aware that Spotlight will not return search results from some areas of your drive, such as your Library folders or system files. It's really better to use Finder for complete and accurate search results.i had been using finder for my searching,i jut thought spotlight was what the overall search engine was called. and not once when i indexed did the spotlight icon pulse. unless i am ding it wrong. the instructions said to drag and drop the folder into the privacy tab then remove it.i have removed it a second after dropping it in so maybe it needed to stay longer before removing? oh and with the terminal command does it work on external hard drives? i forgot to mention this file was on an external.are externals special or will they work like any other? thankyou for the advice though
Yes, Spotlight is the search engine, but you didn't specify if you were searching from Finder or from the Spotlight search on the Menu Bar, which yields different results.
It does help if you include such information like the drive being external. That brings up another question: how is the drive formatted?
I'm having the same problem. I've re-indexed and cleared the cache files.
I looked in the hostconfig file using Terminal and there is no listing of Spotlight at all. Since I'm not very Terminal savvy, I don't know if I should just add the Spotlight into hostconfig.
Any advice appreciated.
I looked in the hostconfig file using Terminal and there is no listing of Spotlight at all. Since I'm not very Terminal savvy, I don't know if I should just add the Spotlight into hostconfig.
Any advice appreciated.
What exact problem are you having?
What cache files did you clear?
What version of Mac OS X are you running?
What model Mac do you have?
How to maximise your MacRumors troubleshooting experience
What exact problem are you having?
When I search in Spotlight I get only "Look Up" and "Web Searches." None of my files are shown in the results. When I search in Finder or Mail I get no results.
What cache files did you clear?
Using MainMenu I cleared the "System Cashes," "All User Cashes," and "Font Caches."
What version of Mac OS X are you running?
10.7.3
What model Mac do you have?
Macbook Air - 2011 Model
When I search in Spotlight I get only "Look Up" and "Web Searches." None of my files are shown in the results. When I search in Finder or Mail I get no results.
What cache files did you clear?
Using MainMenu I cleared the "System Cashes," "All User Cashes," and "Font Caches."
What version of Mac OS X are you running?
10.7.3
What model Mac do you have?
Macbook Air - 2011 Model
It sounds like it didn't re-index properly. I'd do it again, using the Terminal command I posted.
Clearing your caches will not affect your indexing problem and will only hurt your system's performance. Caches are there to increase performance. Unless you have a specific problem that involves a specific cache, you shouldn't clear them.
Eureka! Indexing has started.
Thanks so much for making the suggestion again. I had followed another thread's suggestion and done something in Terminal which I thought was the same thing, but it clearly was not!
I tried four or five other solutions and this was the one that did it.