Just yelling into the hurricane: every update to my OS (today Sonoma 14.4.1 on M1 Mini) breaks searching in Mail and Messages.
Other threads have posted solutions:
AARRGGHH
Mac mini (M1, 2020)
Start with this...
On your Mac, choose Apple menu > Shut Down.
Wait for your Mac to shut down completely. A Mac is completely shut down when the screen is black and any lights (including in the Touch Bar) are off.
Press and hold the power button on your Mac until “Loading startup options” appears.
Select a volume.
Press and hold the Shift key, then click Continue in Safe Mode.
The computer restarts automatically. When the login window appears, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.
Restart normally.
Open Terminal and run each of these one at a time
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user
sudo /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -seed -lint -r -f -v -dump -domain local -domain system -domain user -domain network
killall Dock
sudo mdutil -E /
sudo mdutil -i on /
Rebuilding a drive index can take a long time, so be prepared to wait whether you do it through the System Preference panel or the command line.
I'm sad to report that the 14.5 update broke my Spotlight again. But the simple fix posted elsewhere worked:
sudo mdutil -i off -E /
sudo mdutil -i on /
Thanks for the detailed instructions. But... are you saying this will fix the fact that each OS update is breaking my search? Or is this something I need to do every time?
Hopefully it fixes it for good, that would be the Safe Boot correcting Directory damage.
Great, thanks for the help! I did it all, and we'll see what happens with the next OS patch.
Great, please do let us know the outcome my friend. :)
Thanks.
Mail and Messages search breaks with OS updates
