Spotlight a contact (to find related email, messages, etc) on Mac??!

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Level 1

8 points

Spotlight a contact (to find related email, messages, etc) on Mac??!

I've read on Apple's help pages regarding Contacts app on Mac that you can do a "spotlight" search on an individual contact (see below)

"Tip: Quickly search your Mac for emails, messages, events, and documents that mention a contact: Control-click the contact in the list, then choose the Spotlight command."

When I try this in Apple Contacts on my Mac (running Catalina), nothing happens. Help?

I'd really like to use this feature to find related emails and messages for particular contacts. Thanks for any suggestions.

Gary

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jan 16, 2020 10:21 AM

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Answer 1

Teddy_B

Community Specialist

Jan 22, 2020 9:47 AM in response to Pianoxcape

Pianoxcape,

Thanks for the clarification.

From here, it might be best to focus on the software to the Mac since the results aren't appearing as suggested. Make sure 'Learn from this App' and 'Show Siri Suggestions for Contacts' is selected in System Preferences > Siri.

If you're still having issues or they were already selected, try these:

Restart your Mac from the Apple () menu then Restart.
To narrow it down, also be sure to check your Mac in safe mode: Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac You can also try a new user as well: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac
- If it only happens in your user and not in safe mode, try removing login items: Open items automatically when you log in on Mac
- If it happens in both safe mode and a new user, back up your Mac and reinstall macOS using Recovery: How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery

If you still see the same issue, reach out to Apple Support directly: Contact Apple Support

Enjoy.

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Answer 2

chuck_3rd

Community Specialist

Jan 19, 2020 11:50 AM in response to Pianoxcape

Hello Pianoxcape,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities, and I understand there are issues using Spotlight for contacts. I'll do what I can to help.

Try rebuilding Spotlight: How to rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac

Have a great day.

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Answer 3

Pianoxcape Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 24, 2020 12:46 PM in response to chuck_3rd

Hey Alex,

Thanks for the suggestion - I tried the reindexing as you have suggested, but that doesn't help. To clarify the issue - from within the contacts app, when I select a contact and right click and choose "Spotlight: Contact Name" - no results are returned. I have attached a screenshot to show. When I click this button, I am expecting a search to return recent emails, texts, etc related to this contact. When I click "Spotlight: Dorothy G.", nothing happens.

[Edited by Moderator]

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Answer 4

Pianoxcape Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 24, 2020 9:40 AM in response to Teddy_B

Sorry, none of those things resolved the issue. In fact, re-installing the macOS caused my mail to crash. I had to rebuild my mail library and got that working - but still, when in Apple Contacts app in macOS, the "spotlight" a particular contact does not return anything. One additional item - I'm running the Catalina Beta and just unenrolled. I'm hoping that may have something to do with the contact/spotlight issue. We'll see.

Gary

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Answer 5

Leanne_68

Community Specialist

Jan 24, 2020 12:43 PM in response to Pianoxcape

Pianoxcape,

If you still have issues after uninstalling the beta, reach out to Apple Support: Contact Apple Support

Take care.

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Spotlight a contact (to find related email, messages, etc) on Mac??!

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