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Level 1

41 points

Photos search box no longer finds most files, but Smart Album does

MacOS version Big Sur 11.6.7 (20G630)

Photos Version 6.0 (361.0.100)

A month ago, when I used the MacOS Photos app general search box to look for a filename like “Box 10 z” it would show the 92 photos with filenames starting with that string (e.g. “Box 10 z 1981 Mexico.jpg”). But today, that stopped working. (I see 0 of the files, whereas a month ago I saw 92)…

However, today, if I do a “Smart Album” with the criteria

“filename” “Includes” “Box 10 z”

it shows the 92 photos. So they are there. Just not showing up when using the search box.

I submitted this to apple feedback, but I can’t do my job as efficiently anymore due to this issue, so any fixes would be greatly appreciated

(Since composing this, I did an update to “MacOS 11.6.8 (20G730)”, but it didn’t fix the issue)

MacBook Pro

Posted on Jul 28, 2022 3:48 PM

Best reply

Old Toad

Level 10

208,475 points

Posted on Jul 29, 2022 10:15 AM

The search field works for me and albums are in include:

So try the following: launch your library with the Option+Command keys held down to run a repair on the library.

If that doesn't work boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

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Photos search box no longer finds most files, but Smart Album does

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