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Level 1

4 points

Search function not finding files on Monterey

When I search files on Finder to find files on my external hard drive, it does not return any results.

The format of the drive is Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with Read & Write permissions.

I've tried reindexing by following the instructions on this link:

which was adding the volume to the privacy list on System Preferences Spotlight section, but it gave me an error saying:

"Privay List Error: The item couldn't be added or removed because of an unknown error."

I've also tried reindexing by using the terminal:

% sudo mdutil -E /

% sudo mdutil -i on /

which both returned:

Indexing enabled.

but didn't really seem to do anything.

Then I tried:

sudo mdutil -E "/Volumes/My Passport for Mac"

where My Passport for Mac is the name of the external hard drive that I'm trying to reindex,

but it returned:

Error: unknown indexing state.

It'd be great if I could get some help with this issue

Posted on Jan 3, 2022 4:17 PM

Best reply

Level 10

113,082 points

Posted on Jan 4, 2022 4:39 AM

Open the external drive in Finder and show hidden files using the cmd-opt-. Shortcut. Yes, the period key is part of the shortcut.

Delete the .Spotlight-v100 folder.

Try initiating the index again.

The same shortcut will toggle hidden files off.

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