Why can't Finder find it?

[TrailerTrish]

Okay, I'm prolly just doing something simple wrong here, but when I search in Finder for a file I know full well is on that disk, it never finds it, and I used the exact name of the file. I have another window open on that disk, and I'm looking right at the file on it, and Finder cannot find it.

Yes, I clicked on file name instead of contents, yes I selected the disk the file was on, and it will not find the file.

Why might this be?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Where exactly is that file located? Is it a system file or a hidden file?

To find system files via Finder, that can't be found via Spotlight:

 

[TrailerTrish]

It's a movie file, The Hunger Games.mp4, on a drive with nothing but movies on it.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

It's a movie file, The Hunger Games.mp4, on a drive with nothing but movies on it.

Might this folder be excluded from Spotlight?

 

[Ariii]

It's a movie file, The Hunger Games.mp4, on a drive with nothing but movies on it.

If you've accidentally put a dot before the file name, try going into the Terminal and running ls -a on the directory it's supposed to be in. If it doesn't show up that way, it probably isn't on the drive.

 

[TrailerTrish]

Might this folder be excluded from Spotlight?

Well yes it is! I excluded that drive from Spotlight in hopes of resolving another issue, and I guess this is the result. Now I know. Thanks!

 

[wwsd3]

having the same problem

I'm having the same problem and, no, spotlight has not been told to ignore this folder. It is finding other files in this folder, just not the one I'm looking for.

I can see the file, but finder can't.

Finder can't find??

I give it a 0/10 on this one.