How to fix Finder folder search Issues on MacBook Pro post Ventura update

Open Finder and go to Settings, Advanced and change 'When performing a search' to 'Search the Current Folder'.

I purchased a new MacBook Pro M3 and transferred my data from Time Machine. The spotlight issue persisted regardless all the recommendation that came from this thread. I end-up calling Apple.

I had conversations with 3 Apple tech support reps yesterday.

The first one was trying to convince me that everything is working as suppose to. When I refused to buy his story he escalated me to 2nd rep.

This one promised that he knows how to fix it and convinced me to jump through the hoops.

1) diskutil resetUserPermissions / 'id -u'

2) shutdown and start in recovery mode

3) while in recovery mode, start terminal and run: repairhomepermissions

4) quit terminal and reinstall operating system

The process took some time (1h 40 min), so he disconnected before its completion, promising that the issue will be fixed.

The issue was not resolved regardless. So I called Apple again.

The 3rd rep asked me to:

1) go to spotlight Privacy and add Macintosh HD

2) then close it.

3) wait 2 minutes (but it seemed we wanted 3 or 4)

4) go to spotlight Privacy and remove Macintosh HD

5) restart computer.

It worked !!! the spotlight start showing results for individual folders.

3rd time apparently has its charm.

Have you installed and run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN apps on your Mac?

Give this a try: 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 1: 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

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

Give this a try: 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 1: 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

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Spotlight.
2. Click the Privacy tab.
3. Drag the disk or folder that you want to index again to the list of locations that Spotlight is prevented from searching. Or click the add button (+) and select the disk or folder to add.
4. You can add an item to the Privacy tab only if you have ownership permissions for that item. To learn about permissions, choose Help from the Finder menu bar, then search for “permissions.”
5. From the same list of locations, select the disk or folder that you just added. Then click the remove button (–) to remove it from the list.
6. Quit System Preferences. Spotlight will reindex the contents of the disk or folder. This can take some time, depending on the amount of information being indexed.

This happens only in external usb drives.

Run this command in terminal

sudo mdutil -i on /Volumes/Your_external_drive

I fixed this by deleting the .Spotlight-V100 folder and restarting the index.

One person said it didn't work for them.

Another person just deleted it from /System/Volumes/Data without going into Recovery. I don't like to modify a live file system like that, but it didn't seem to hurt. Also, it was on an Apple Silicon Mac, so if yours is Intel, you just would go into normal Recovery.

Finder does not show files on current fol… - Apple Community

Did you try running DiskUtility? That fixed it for me.

The problem for me is that even when I search the current folder, I get zero results every time, even if I can see the actual file in the folder before searching. The only way I can find anything is to search the whole computer and then sort/filter the list - not ideal!

Have you attempted to use Disk Utility? I had trouble locating files during a search and discovered that my hard drive was not being scanned. To remedy this, I added the drive to Spotlight by following a specific process, but it didn't help. After an extensive search, I decided to run Disk Utility, and to my relief, it was able to locate all my files.

Did you use disc first aid to repair the disk? That helped me. Then add it and take it out again method. I found that my computer forgets it and I have to do it again and again.

You are not alone. There are a number of people, me included, who are experiencing this problem. A search on the whole mac works and a search on a specific folder produces no results - even if you are seeing the files right there, and they do appear in the search when you switch to On this Mac.

There was a reference to a thread with a purported solution but I can’t seem to find it.

This worked for me. Will work for most people. 1-minute fix.

https://www.signatureedits.com/how-to-fix-finder-search/

this worked for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4dUVdu6gJA