I have many files that I had tagged to sort later for different projects. Suddenly, when I search by tag, finder reveals nothing and when I find a file that I know I had tagged, the tag is gone. I have several projects that I have sorted via tags and now I have to blind search to find each individual file. I have tried -https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201716 . It did not help.
MacBook Air (2020 or later)
Hey again, yeah I’d say safe mode is a good test.
If you do think it’s a search malfunction though, besides the Spotlight re-indexing, I’d also try:
Quitting all apps.
Open the hidden/user library:
Finder, while holding Option, press Go > Library.
Open:
/Metadata/CoreSpotlight/,
Within that folder, select all, click File > New Folder (With Selection).
Restart, test the issue.
Otherwise, if you flag new files, does it retain and find the new changes?
Cheers.
Hey again, yeah I’d say safe mode is a good test.
If you do think it’s a search malfunction though, besides the Spotlight re-indexing, I’d also try:
Quitting all apps.
Open the hidden/user library:
Finder, while holding Option, press Go > Library.
Open:
/Metadata/CoreSpotlight/,
Within that folder, select all, click File > New Folder (With Selection).
Restart, test the issue.
Otherwise, if you flag new files, does it retain and find the new changes?
Cheers.
You are using the following syntax in a Finder search field, or Spotlight, correct?
tag:purple
or Germanic language countries:
kMDItemUserTags:purple
In the Finder Preferences > Tags panel, are all of the tags marked with a blue checkmark in the right column opposite the tag name? At any time, did you use select tags in the preceding panel and remove them via the [-] button?
Did the files that now are missing tags get moved on to a non-Apple Cloud service, a Linux or Windows filesystem, or onto an exFAT storage medium?
Hey there!
Can you say if this started after any event, as an update or software installation?
Did you happen to also try relaunching Finder?
Apple Logo > Force Quit > Finder Relaunch.
I may also try starting in safe mode, to test, restart, see if it’s fixed. Likewise testing in a new user is also a good step.
Otherwise, are all the tags missing from Finder? Or just some? Thanks!
I don't know what to tell you as I have not had any tag issues since Apple introduced them in Mavericks and I am now using Big Sur 11.3.1.
You can boot your Mac into Safe Boot mode by pressing the shift key on startup. Then reboot normally to see if the tag problem has disappeared.
Seems to have started after recent Big Sur update (5/3/2021). Yes. I will try safe mode. No, some tags, a few, 10-15 still appear. Some entire tag groups ie Blue or custom named tags show nothing. Purple returned 2. I have since manualy found 30 files that have a purple tag listed on the file but do not showup when purple tag was searched. Thanks
Yes, I have used tag:purple. Previously, if I began to type Purp... in the spotlight search, the tag would appear below and "Tag" would appear within the search field, on the left, as a dropdown. That does not always work now.
None of the files have moved in or out or on or off any local or remote drive(s)
I can not seem to start in safe mode. I have tried every fix that I could find on the web. Shift at power up, control-command-right shift at power up. Control at power up. Still cant start in safe mode. Well, if it is, I cant tell. When I look at apple icon>about this Mac>system report ...... boot mode is not an option in the pane.
Yes, new tags appear and are searchable
I will try the Meta tonight
Great questions! 👍
Several of the tags had - next to them. They worked before. Not sure how they got the - . I changed them to +. The change did not seem to change the current outcome
Sudden missing file tags.