Spotlight no longer indexes .rtf and .rtfd files. Notes came back. Lists don't match. Stickies still orphaned.
There are a number of questions and comments about Spotlight's inability to locate TextEdit / .rtf / .rtfd files. Let's clear up a few misconceptions.
• You can rebuild your index until the cows come home and it will make no difference. I've done this repeatedly in both my MacBook Pro 16" and my new Mac Pro (2019) rack mount with no increased benefit.
• The problem started in Big Sur – it did not. I am running the latest version of Catalina in both machines and I have the same this issue, an inability to locate searches in these types of files. Others have experienced this as well in Catalina.
• A particular text string can be found in the name of the file but not in its contents. It's quite remarkable to open a particular TextEdit / .rtf / .rtfd file with a specific, unique phrase, search for it using Spotlight and have it not appear in Spotlight's list.
• How do I know that indexing is the problem? I run a third party piece of software, Houdahspot, when I need more detailed search criteria than Spotlight offers, it cannot find the same type of files as well.
• Observation: after Notes vanished from the Spotlight index several years ago, it has reappeared at about the same time the TextEdit problem began. Where it used to be in the list as "external attachment' it is now listed as "other."
Here's where things get complex...
• I don't believe this problem started with an upgrade to Catalina or even a software update, a precondition for the problem have been there but some new condition triggered it after the upgrade. I did not begin to notice problem until about 3 to 6 months ago. What condition caused this problem is beyond my testing abilities.
• In this discussion thread, maximilian244 wrote, "More generally, the present situation concerning all rtf files is as follows: Finder and Spotlight can search the content of all old files; but as soon as you open them, the content search ceases to work and you have to find them by name. The same happens immediately with all new files."
I have found this to be true as well and it probably is the reason why people think it started in Big Sur, because the problem has a somewhat delayed effect, you will not notice it until you create or edit a file and then search for it later.
• In this discussion thread, EnhancedPineapple wrote, "I also believe, that memory has a part in this..." I also believe this. I would be the first to admit that I ride my Macs hard, I am an obsessive, anal retentive researcher, I open numerous Spaces, with multiple Safari windows and zillions of tabs, along with a horde of TextEdit docs and finder windows, I cannot be sure but it seemed that this problem came about after I managed to lock up the OS once to twice and had to restart. This could be a stretch.
• Another issue that appeared along with these other issues: when I execute a Spotlight search and then click the term, "Show all in Finder" at the bottom of the list, the list that appears in the finder no longer matches. Mail, Safari bookmarks & history and some other items vanish.
• Mail has been in and out of the index system as well.
• If you use Stickies, as I do, you will notice that the Mac OS ignores it completely from any found results. You have to open its own
Conclusion:
Apple needs to stop fiddling with search, stabilize it and make it reliable. Wether you call it Spotlight or search, it is not a minor feature, it is a fundamental component of any working operating system. These machines are not televisions, they are work horses. If you cannot find work, you cannot work.
Personally, I built an entire search system / archive on Apple Spotlight / Search but it is under serious threat now. I did this because it was powerful, detailed and trustworthy – that's kind of the bottomline with searching a system, confidence, if you can't trust it, you won't use it.
I did fill out a bug report at Apple Feedback, you should too. This helps Apple immensely to locate and repair these kinds of issues.
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15