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ramadhs Author

Level 1

22 points

Unable to Index Google Drive as External Volume

Hi guys, I have a problem to get my Google Drive volume indexed by mac os.

There are several workaround I have tried without any luck such as:

Run terminal command sudo mdutil -i on /Volumes/GoogleDrive, only bring response:

/System/Volumes/Data/Volumes/GoogleDrive:
	Indexing and searching disabled.

Run terminal command sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SpotlightServer.plist ExternalVolumesIgnore -bool False, only bring response following code in the com.apple.SpotlightServer.plist

bplist00—_ExternalVolumesIgnore#$

Run terminal command sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/GoogleDrive, only bring response:

 mdutil disabling Spotlight: /System/Volumes/Data/Volumes/GoogleDrive -> kMDConfigSearchLevelOff
	Indexing and searching disabled.

Run terminal command sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist and sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
Upgrade to macOS Monterey
Look for .metadata_never_index, there is no such files found in the google drive volume
Reinstall google drive several times
Adding and removing google drive from spotlight preferences

Any advise will be very appreciated. Losing search ability means losing productivity for me.

Posted on Oct 28, 2021 5:30 PM

Best reply

jsameth

Level 1

11 points

Posted on Nov 9, 2021 8:24 AM

A few points of clarification:

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.
The problem occurred upon upgrading to Monterey, with no change in the google drive version.
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.
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.

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Unable to Index Google Drive as External Volume

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