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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > Spotlight not finding files in specific folder

Spotlight not finding files in specific folder
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warnergt
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Dec 9, 2021, 04:24 PM
 
I cannot use Spotlight to find files within a specific folder.
This used to work but has not worked for quite some time.
I have rebuilt the Spotlight index countless times with no change.

Consider the following search for "Name: beer" on "This Mac", it finds "BeerCanDoMiracles.jpg" (among others) in the "Humor (2021)" directory.


Now, if I tell it to search only in the "Humor (2021)" directory, it doesn't find it.
Why doesn't this work?
     
reader50
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Dec 9, 2021, 05:03 PM
 
Try changing the name of the directory. Then changing it back. Manually typing in the desired name, not by copy-pasting.

Reasoning: if the directory has a non-printing character in the name, then Spotlight won't find the folder using the intended spelling. But it would find it using a global search.

I'm not sure if Spotlight will update instantly for the name change, or if it will need time, or need to rebuild that drive's index.
     
warnergt  (op)
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Dec 9, 2021, 06:52 PM
 
This is not unique to any directory. I see this everywhere on my Mac.
     
warnergt  (op)
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Dec 9, 2021, 07:04 PM
 
After a lot of searching and experimenting, I believe that I have finally solved my problem!
I had previously rebuilt the whole disk index without resolving the problem.
This time, I did something different first.

I went to the Finder Preferences...
and set "When performing a search:" to "Search the Current Folder".


That, alone did not fix it..
But THEN I rebuilt the entire disk index.
Now, it works! And from the finder window, I can choose whether it searches "This Mac" or some other folder name. Both cases now work as I expect them to.
     
warnergt  (op)
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Dec 9, 2021, 07:07 PM
 
Apple's description of this Finder preference suggests that it only changes the default search location.
It appears that it also changes the Spotlight indexing.
     
andi*pandi
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Dec 13, 2021, 07:35 PM
 
Thanks for posting the solution!
     
fitlore
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Feb 18, 2022, 05:59 PM
 
I've lived with this (very) annoying issue for months. The Apple Genius Bar was stumped. I hope your fix solves my problem...will try tonight!
     
   
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