JimBlowitski

Q: Spotlight Search Problem with iCloud

I want to find emails and notes on my MacBook I have written about iCloud.  However on my MacBook if I do a Spotlight Search on the word iCloud it includes all notes, events, reminders, etc. that are saved on iCloud versus showing only documents that contain the term iCloud.  It will show me documents that do not have the word iCloud anywhere in them.  This seems to be a problem only in OS X because when I do a search on an iPhone it works appropriately and shows only documents or events that contain the word iCloud.  Apple, why have you implemented Spotlight Search this way and do you plan on fixing it?

 

Thank you,

Jim

null, Windows 10, iCloud Notes

Posted on Mar 8, 2016 9:01 AM

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Q: Spotlight Search Problem with iCloud

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  • by JimBlowitski,

    JimBlowitski JimBlowitski Mar 8, 2016 9:04 AM in response to JimBlowitski
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 9:04 AM in response to JimBlowitski

    I am running 10.11.3

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Mar 8, 2016 9:19 AM in response to JimBlowitski
    Level 6 (12,500 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 8, 2016 9:19 AM in response to JimBlowitski

    You can restrict your search to mail messages and notes containing the word "iCloud" by typing a spotlight search query like:

     

           (kind:mail OR kind:notes) iCloud

  • by JimBlowitski,

    JimBlowitski JimBlowitski Mar 8, 2016 9:35 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 9:35 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    I'm having the opposite problem.  For example, I have an event called "Cr" and no further text in the event.  When I search using the term "iCloud" it shows up under the events results.  I believe OS X is showing it in the results because it is stored on the iCloud.  iOS does not seem to be doing this.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Mar 8, 2016 10:26 AM in response to JimBlowitski
    Level 6 (12,500 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 8, 2016 10:26 AM in response to JimBlowitski

    JimBlowitski wrote:

     

    I'm having the opposite problem.  For example, I have an event called "Cr" and no further text in the event.  When I search using the term "iCloud" it shows up under the events results.  I believe OS X is showing it in the results because it is stored on the iCloud (maybe because it is an ICS file).  iOS does not seem to be doing this.

     

    I don't see how that is the "opposite problem".

    You search for "iCloud" and your search result comes up with a lot of things that are related to iCloud - including events in iCloud calendars.

    You need to restrict the search, by either the kind or other way.

     

    I tried the following and it seems to do what you want:

     

         content:iCloud

     

    this shows me documents, mail messages, etc, that contain "iCloud". First on the list was the e-mail message containing your last post in this thread, because, well, it contains "iCloud" :-)

  • by JimBlowitski,

    JimBlowitski JimBlowitski Mar 8, 2016 9:48 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 9:48 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    I want to be able to do a search where if I search using the term "iCloud" it does NOT show any result that does NOT miss the word iCloud in it.  For example if I create an event that is titled "Jim's Birthday".  Now I create an event titled "iCloud Development Meeting".  I then do a spotlight search with the word "iCloud".  The only result I should see is "iCloud Development Meeting".  But I am currently seeing both meetings listed.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,Solvedanswer

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Mar 8, 2016 10:26 AM in response to JimBlowitski
    Level 6 (12,500 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 8, 2016 10:26 AM in response to JimBlowitski

    For example if I create an event that is titled "Jim's Birthday".  Now I create an event titled "iCloud Development Meeting".  I then do a spotlight search with the word "iCloud".  The only result I should see is "iCloud Development Meeting".  But I am currently seeing both meetings listed.

     

    That is how Spotlight works.

    You want Spotlight to behave differently than it does - you are free to provide feedback to Apple about it: http://www.apple.com/feedback

    but as I see it Spotlight is working as designed.


         content:iCloud


    produces material that has iCloud in its content; so it will show the second event but not the first.


        iCloud


    produces results that match iCloud in any way; including things that *are* in iCloud.


    Spotlight is very powerful, but it works the way it works. It does not read your mind


  • by JimBlowitski,

    JimBlowitski JimBlowitski Mar 8, 2016 10:03 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 10:03 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Luis,

     

    You showed me how to accomplish what I want to do, THANK YOU!

     

    Do you work for Apple?

     

    Also, how did you know about the content part of search?  Is there a manual I could read to better learn how it performs?

     

    I agree that it won't be able to read my mind, but Apple should make products that match how they perform i.e. Search in iOS and OS X should match how they perform in my opinion.  :-)

     

    Thank you,

    Jim

  • by JimBlowitski,

    JimBlowitski JimBlowitski Mar 8, 2016 10:16 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 10:16 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Do you know what the difference is query wise between kind:message Jim versus kind:message content:Jim

     

    Also, can I create and save searches?

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Mar 8, 2016 10:17 AM in response to JimBlowitski
    Level 6 (12,500 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 8, 2016 10:17 AM in response to JimBlowitski

    JimBlowitski wrote:

     

    Luis,

     

    You showed me how to accomplish what I want to do, THANK YOU!

     

    Do you work for Apple?

     

     

    NO. I am a regular mac user, since 1985 :-)

     

    Also, how did you know about the content part of search?  Is there a manual I could read to better learn how it performs?

     

     

    It was an educated guess. I knew about kind: so I figured that content: might work; then I tried it to confirm.

     

    By going to System Preferences->Spotlight and clicking on the Help menu and typing Spotlight you can get a help documents, including "Narrow the scope of your searches".

     

     

     

    I agree that it won't be able to read my mind, but Apple should make products that match how they perform i.e. Search in iOS and OS X should match how they perform in my opinion.  :-)

     

    Thank you,

    Jim

     

    You do have a point here.

    On the other hand there is so much more that one can do in the mac compared to an ios device, that some things may not be equivalent. Many different windows on the screen, direct access to the file system, are things that just do not make sense on an iPhone, but would have to be pried from my cold dead hands on the mac. The sheer number of results on a tiny screen may also be something to consider when searching. I don't know, just sayin'.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Mar 8, 2016 10:27 AM in response to JimBlowitski
    Level 6 (12,500 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 8, 2016 10:27 AM in response to JimBlowitski

    JimBlowitski wrote:

     

    Do you know what the difference is query wise between kind:message Jim versus kind:message content:Jim

     

     

    The second one will only look for Jim in the content (the text) of the message; the first one will look everywhere (sender, address...)

    You can also use kind:message from:Jim

    and more.

     

     

    Also, can I create and save searches?

     

    YES!!!

     

    At the bottom of the search there is a "Show all in Finder..." - double-click it and you can Save, have the saved search appear in the Finder sidebar, and you can also use the Finder interface to further tweak the search criteria. The power of this thing is immense.

     

    By the way, in trying to help you I have also learned a lot. Thank you for that.

  • by JimBlowitski,

    JimBlowitski JimBlowitski Mar 8, 2016 11:58 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 11:58 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    For some reason events are not showing up now.  Any idea why that might happen?  They are still checked under preferences.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Mar 9, 2016 12:36 AM in response to JimBlowitski
    Level 6 (12,500 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 9, 2016 12:36 AM in response to JimBlowitski

    No events at all? In any search? Like "iCloud"? Or on some searches with more specific  criteria?

  • by JimBlowitski,

    JimBlowitski JimBlowitski Mar 9, 2016 4:05 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 9, 2016 4:05 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    In Spotlight Search using "iCloud" shows everything regardless of contents.  Using "content:iCloud" works for everything except it shows no events.  Using a search like "content:McDonalds" correctly shows results for everything except calendar events.  There it shows some events that contain McDonalds in the Notes section of the event, but is missing other events that do as well.

     

    When I do a search within the Calendar application I get inconsistent results as well.

  • by JimBlowitski,

    JimBlowitski JimBlowitski Mar 9, 2016 12:02 PM in response to JimBlowitski
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 9, 2016 12:02 PM in response to JimBlowitski

    I'm still trying to figure out how Spotlight Search works.  I think Search in the Calendar works in the following way. 

    Single Events:

    - If a single event is created it will always show up in a Calendar search regardless of it’s date

     

    Repeating Events:
    - If a repeating event exists with no modification only times that are in the future will show up regardless of any attachments (notes, URLs, etc.) or no attachments (notes, URLs, etc.)

     

    - If a repeating event exists with no modification where the end date is before the current date no events will show up regardless of any attachments (notes, URLs, etc.) or no attachments (notes, URLs, etc.)

     

    - If a repeating event exists and a single event is modified that single event will always show up in a Calendar search regardless of its date even if it is saved and then later changed back to its origination (for example, a note may be added and then later deleted to that single event)

     

    I still don't know how to search for the word iCloud.  I am thinking Calendar just won't let me do it.

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