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I'm not getting the search results I want.

Why is it that when I search for a video file in my external harddrive on my mac I get limited results but I have several files of the same search and when I search the whole computer I get the results but in .pfl files?

MacBook Air 13″, 10.15

Posted on Oct 24, 2020 2:51 AM

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Posted on Oct 24, 2020 4:57 AM

Try reindexing the external drive.

How to rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support


I recently found my external drive wouldn’t search and normal reindexing didn’t help.

I ended up deleting the hidden .Spotlight-V100 folder from the drive to force it to start a new index. I had to eject and remount the drive to start the index on it, again, but it now searches fine.

1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Oct 24, 2020 4:57 AM in response to Albas99

Try reindexing the external drive.

How to rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support


I recently found my external drive wouldn’t search and normal reindexing didn’t help.

I ended up deleting the hidden .Spotlight-V100 folder from the drive to force it to start a new index. I had to eject and remount the drive to start the index on it, again, but it now searches fine.

I'm not getting the search results I want.

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