Unable to Index Google Drive as External Volume

A few points of clarification:

1. It was apparently possible to have Big Sur in a configuration that didn't allow indexing/searching of google drive, but this could be remedied by changing the configuration using one of several methods. The problem did NOT exist for me when running Big Sur, nor does it exist today for a colleague sitting 6 feet away still running Big Sur and the same version of google drive as me.
2. The problem occurred upon upgrading to Monterey, with no change in the google drive version.
3. It is not "streamed content" that is being searched. The problem occurs even when the content is set for offline access, meaning in some form, a copy exists locally. Conversely, until Monterey, Spotlight searched google drive content whether or not stored locally--apparently it was able to index the google drive "short cuts"), and running Monterey, Spotlight can still search Dropbox content, whether set to be accessed locally or not.
4. A post in another forum indicated the poster had spoken with someone at google support and been told that they were aware of the problem, and in fact some support staff that worked on Macs were suffering from the problem, and they too were hoping for a fix from Apple.

In summary, it seems pretty clear that it was a change that occurred between Big Sur and Monterey that created the issue, and will require a further change to Monterey to remedy.

Not sure if I'm the last one figuring out this trick, but just to make sure you know this:

An alternative way to make this work is by clicking on the Google Drive icon on top, then the Magnifier icon. The search box works almost as good as Spotlight.

I know the extra click step is not ideal, but until Apple\Google decides to fix this, it may help. I have 400GB+ streamed storage, and this seems to work smoothly.

This is a new issue with Monterey. Seems it was possible for this to occur under previous MacOS but could be fixed using the mdutil command indicated by ramadhs. This, however, seems to clearly be a new issue introduced with Monterey (see the comments at the link above). I expect (hope) Apple is aware and working on this, because it really impacts productivity. I don't know the best way to make noise with Apple, but it was suggested on a google forum that the issue be posted at this link: https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html, and perhaps it would help to have as many squeaky wheels as possible.

[Link Edited by Moderator]

I believe that I may have just found the solution to what everyone has identified as the problem with indexing (i.e., non-indexing) the main Google drive folder on a Mac running Monterey.

Solution that worked for me:

Steps: I went to System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Full Disk Access -> then check the box adjacent to GoogleSoftwareUpdateDaemon

Here is a screenshot:

After I checked the box noted above (illustrated in the screenshot above), my Mac Pro 2013 running Monterey began indexing my main Google Drive folder, such that I could perform a search for files and folders within Finder.

Couple of notes:

1. I already previously had a box checked adjacent to Google Drive.App in the same location under Full Disk Access as described above (so you might want to make sure that box is checked on your computer).
2. Shown here:
3. Prior to the Steps noted above, I had also gone to System Preferences -> Spotlight -> Privacy … and then dragged the main Google Drive folder into area marked “Prevent spotlight from searching these locations” … I waited a minute … and then I highlighted that main Google Drive folder within that preferences spotlight box and clicked the minus button to remove it … because I had read in another forum that such removal would prompt the Mac to begin re-indexing that main Google Drive folder. I am not 100% sure if this preferences spotlight add/remove trick is what fixed it, or if the Steps noted above is what fixed it. I think it was the Steps noted above (at the top of my post) that fixed the indexing issue, but I am making note of this trick just in case you want to do this as well.
4. Screenshot here:

Hope this helps.

A few more points of clarification:

1. Worked perfectly with Catalina;
2. Still works with Catalina--a colleague who didn't update his OS has confirmed--so it was a change in MacOS, not in Google Drive, that caused the problem (colleague is running the same version of Google Drive as me);
3. Alfred doesn't solve the problem entirely for me, because I use the Spotlight search feature built into the standard application File-->Save as and File-->Open dialogs to quickly go to a nested folder on Google Drive without having to drill down multiple layers when saving or opening a file;
4. But, Alfred is able to index and search Google Drive, which means Apple should be able to fix whatever they broke as well (and if they can't figure it out, I bet the Alfred folks would be happy to share their expertise for the right price 😉).

I see the following Change log for Google Drive but can't seem to update to this version:

January 27, 2022 - Bug fix release

Windows and macOS: Version 55.0

• Windows and macOS: Users can now search all their Drive content from the Drive for desktop UI
• macOS: Resolved an issue when connecting a camera.
• Resolved an issue where a USB device can block Drive from loading. 
• Additional bug fixes and performance improvements.

Note: Drive for desktop native search requires version 50 or above.

Ending support for older versions: Support has ended for versions of Drive released more than 12 months ago. Users with Drive for desktop versions 40 through 46 must upgrade to remain supported.

Hi guys,

I just noticed the following setting. This needs to be enabled manually.

Spotlight integration

When this is enabled, search text you enter in Spotlight will be sent to Google in order to find matching Drive files.

I just tried it. It's not perfect as it takes long before I get any result. After typing and waiting, (maybe 30seconds or longer) you see the Google Drive icon spinning to search for results. After that, it show results in 'Other'.  

Please check and try!

They also have a new hotkey option allowing you to open the Google Drive search without extra clicks. Here is the default:

Seems like a tradeoff between the native Spotlight search (slower) and Google Drive search (not the native search anymore).

Unfortunately I couldn't find the .Spotlight-V100 folder in the google drive. Attached are the folders inside the google drive volume.

That's probably why it doesn't index. It can't make the folder it needs to write the index into.

I have no idea why it can't.

The previous question was auto locked after 30 days with no response.

There are no workarounds for indexing streamed content. The only options are to Mirror, or move the folders out of the stream to another location and then use Sync preferences in Folders from your computer.

All I can suggest is to use the app feedback to let Google know your thoughts.

Regards,

Peter

Perhaps this might be helpful to someone smarter than me. Running Monterey, I ran the following command with the following result:

Command:

sudo mdutil -i on /Volumes/GoogleDrive

Result:

/System/Volumes/Data/Volumes/GoogleDrive:

Indexing and searching disabled.

Is that folder really a mount point? Or, did they just create a folder inside /Volumes hoping the OS would think it is an external drive? Can you eject it? If you Go > Computer does it show up and does it have an eject symbol next to it?

I think it may not actually be a duck, but it certainly walks and quacks like one. There is an eject symbol and it can be "ejected." "Ejecting" results in the Google Drive desktop application signing out.

Spotlight very likely can only index physically mounted drives, and the Google Drive app is creating a convenience network mapping between Google's servers and its faux mount point in macOS. Although this gives the appearance of local files, it may not satisfy Spotlight's indexing criterion.

Once exception is iCloud Drive, which Spotlight does index because it is mirrored in ~/Library/Mobile Documents, and Apple has designed it to do this.