Spotlight Search Problem

Question

Level 1

6 points

Spotlight Search Problem

Recently, I'm having difficulties searching for apps that came with my Mac through Spotlight Search. Whenever I open Spotlight, I can search for all the apps that I installed like Whatsapp and Office, but all the other Mac apps like Terminal, Activity Monitor, Maps, FaceTime, Calculator, App Store, etc don't show up on Spotlight... except for Safari.

Also, all the items in "System Preferences > Spotlight > Search Results" are checked!

I'm using M1 Macbook Pro on MacOS 12.2.1

I've had this problem since several updates ago.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.2

Posted on Feb 12, 2022 12:37 AM

Reply

Answer 1

DerekM87

Community Specialist

Feb 12, 2022 6:47 PM in response to amirsadegh

Hi amirsadegh,

We see Spotlight doesn't show all of your installed applications, namely a large number of your Apple apps.

To get started, we'd recommend you double check the steps and settings outlined below for if Spotlight doesn't return the results you're expecting.

If searching your Mac returns unexpected results

If that doesn't resolve the issue, next reindex Spotlight on your Mac.

Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac

Let us know if Spotlight works as expected after that.

Take care.

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Answer 2

DerekM87

Community Specialist

Feb 14, 2022 11:44 AM in response to amirsadegh

amirsadegh,

Understood. After confirming your settings and rebuilding the index, if you're still unable to search for Mac apps, we'd recommend reaching out to Apple Support directly for additional assistance.

Get Support

Take care.

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Answer 3

amirsadegh Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 12, 2022 10:46 PM in response to DerekM87

Thank you for your reply,

I tried both those methods, and unfortunately the Apple apps still don't show up. 😒

I guess in the end, I might have to factory reset my Mac, because there seems to be no way around it.

Thanks again

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Spotlight Search Problem

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