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Finder Can't Find (like for real!)

So I have an M1 MacBook Air provided by my school (meaning that I don't have admin privileges). I'm on Monterey 12.6. I've found recently that Finder cannot find my files. I have heard it has issues with OneDrive, but even files that are on my computer's unified SSD can't be found. They aren't part of a blocked list or anything like that. What happens is I'll search up a word I know is in the name of the file (like a video, for example), and it will show about 30 Unix Executable Files (or just not show anything at all). I'll comb through the files and either eventually find my intended file or I won't find it. I'll then type in another word I know is in the name and it still won't show up. I'll then just go to the location where I know it is and then see that despite putting the name of the file into the search bar, it couldn't find the file that I had to find myself. I'll attach a photo, since explaining it is difficult.

You can see the folder is on my desktop, and yet putting the exact name into the search bar shows no results. This issue is really irritating. If you're going to have a nonfunctional file organizer then don't name it "Finder"

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Nov 1, 2022 6:18 PM

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Posted on Nov 1, 2022 6:51 PM

DasBubb wrote:

So I have an M1 MacBook Air provided by my school (meaning that I don't have admin privileges) ... even files that are on my computer's unified SSD can't be found.

"Unified SSD" -- what does "unified" mean here?


You are using a managed computer, so you can only do what your school allows you to do. Can you open System Preferences => Spotlight to check if some areas are excluded from the search function (or change what is excluded)?


Talk to your school about how you are being restricted; they, not you, control the computer.


On all our Macs, including the one I use for work which is managed by my employer, searching works fine.

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Question marked as Best reply

Nov 1, 2022 6:51 PM in response to DasBubb

DasBubb wrote:

So I have an M1 MacBook Air provided by my school (meaning that I don't have admin privileges) ... even files that are on my computer's unified SSD can't be found.

"Unified SSD" -- what does "unified" mean here?


You are using a managed computer, so you can only do what your school allows you to do. Can you open System Preferences => Spotlight to check if some areas are excluded from the search function (or change what is excluded)?


Talk to your school about how you are being restricted; they, not you, control the computer.


On all our Macs, including the one I use for work which is managed by my employer, searching works fine.

Finder Can't Find (like for real!)

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