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How do force re-index spotlight?
- Thread starter Xanderxxx
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Remove the .Spotlight-V100 folder on the root of the partition (hard drive) you want to re-index (as far as I remember from another thread).
If it is your main HD: Open terminal and type open /.Spotlight-V100, then a finder window will open and you can move the folder (or its contents) to trash, empty trash and log out and back in (or restart, I don't remember) and Spotlight will re-index...
If it is your main HD: Open terminal and type open /.Spotlight-V100, then a finder window will open and you can move the folder (or its contents) to trash, empty trash and log out and back in (or restart, I don't remember) and Spotlight will re-index...
Doesn't it prompt for password...?
Hmmm... try typing sudo open /.Spotlight-V100, and type your admin password when asked...
If that doesn't work, you may try sudo rm -r /.Spotlight-V100...
NOTE that the rm command, combined with sudo can do irreparable damage to your system if you don't type it exactly as indicated above... e.g. sudo rm -r / .Spotlight-V100 (note the space) will wipe your entire HD, no questions asked (after you've given your password)
Hmmm... try typing sudo open /.Spotlight-V100, and type your admin password when asked...
If that doesn't work, you may try sudo rm -r /.Spotlight-V100...
NOTE that the rm command, combined with sudo can do irreparable damage to your system if you don't type it exactly as indicated above... e.g. sudo rm -r / .Spotlight-V100 (note the space) will wipe your entire HD, no questions asked (after you've given your password)
Agh, don't do that, it's very dangerous, one typo could kill your files. The supported way is using spotlight's own mdutil command.
Open a terminal, and paste in this:
sudo mdutil -E /
That will erase the spotlight metadata store and then start rebuilding it.
Open a terminal, and paste in this:
sudo mdutil -E /
That will erase the spotlight metadata store and then start rebuilding it.
softwiz500 said:
My Spotlight suddenly stopped working (ie finding about 2 things when i typed in '.jpg'). So i pasted your command into the terminal, and sure enough, spotlight re-indexed its self, and it is now working almost normally.
Except, now it isnt finding photos from iPhoto when i type in keywords!
Anyone know why this might be?
If you don't want to use the Terminal, add your hard drive to the Privacy window in Spotlight's prefpane. Next, remove your HD from the Privacy window. Spotlight should start indexing your drive.
I also recommend the Tiger message boards at discussions.info.apple.com
I also recommend the Tiger message boards at discussions.info.apple.com
THE SIMPLE WAY TO FORCE SPOTLIGHT TO REINDEX:
1. Open Spotlight preferences and add your hard drives to the privacy list.
2. Close the system preference. Wait a second or two.
3. Open Spotlight preferences and remove your hard drive from the privacy list.
It's that simple. No terminal. No searching for random files.
1. Open Spotlight preferences and add your hard drives to the privacy list.
2. Close the system preference. Wait a second or two.
3. Open Spotlight preferences and remove your hard drive from the privacy list.
It's that simple. No terminal. No searching for random files.
Those last two are a very helpful tip--for some reason Spotlight didn't index one of my partitions, but doing this--adding, then removing it from the "Privacy" list--caused an immediate re-index, and four minutes later (I like that it gives you an estimate and progress bar) it was searching that partition properly.
woodsey said:
Are you using iPhoto 4 or 5? I discovered through some searching on Apple's site that Spotlight will only take note of photo Comments from iPhoto 5, but not from 4. (I'm having the same problem/irritation)
btw, thanks guys for the re-indexing tips!
aswitcher said:
This is going to sound strange, but:
I'm wondering if any of our weird random problems with Tiger and its features, Spotlight, etc. stem from software messing with the OS in some way? Like maybe a software package everyone has installed, such as Office 2004? Could that cause problems? With protected memory it shouldn't I guess, but it's done some weird things like not printing to a shared printer when it's selected for the first time in the print dialog box and others.
Excellent and correct way:
From Textsnippets: http://textsnippets.com/posts/show/308
1. Open Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/)
2. Type the following:
sudo mdutil -E / to reindex the root volume
sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/volumename to reindex another volume named volumename.
3. Enter your admin password when prompted to do so and press enter.
4. You will receive the message Volume index removed. Index will be rebuilt automatically. in the Terminal window. You can monitor the reindexing progress in the Spotlight toolbar drop-down window.
5. Done
From Textsnippets: http://textsnippets.com/posts/show/308
1. Open Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/)
2. Type the following:
sudo mdutil -E / to reindex the root volume
sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/volumename to reindex another volume named volumename.
3. Enter your admin password when prompted to do so and press enter.
4. You will receive the message Volume index removed. Index will be rebuilt automatically. in the Terminal window. You can monitor the reindexing progress in the Spotlight toolbar drop-down window.
5. Done
Go to the Help Menu.
Open Help Menu.
Search for Re-index Spotlight.
Read instructions.
Basically it says what BWhaler said.
Open Spotlight preference,
Drag HD to the privacy list,
and then Remove HD from privacy list.
Re-Indexing will begin.
Open Help Menu.
Search for Re-index Spotlight.
Read instructions.
Basically it says what BWhaler said.
Open Spotlight preference,
Drag HD to the privacy list,
and then Remove HD from privacy list.
Re-Indexing will begin.