Bug in Finder search

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Level 1

5 points

Bug in Finder search

I want to find a file called...

SOL PROJECT - 1ST DIALOGUE PASS COMPLETE - AUG 2010 - 1

I can't remember the full name so I am just going to enter "dialogue pass" in the search box in the folder's window. So I start typing and results are popping up, and when I'm at "dialogue pas", I can see all the folders and files that match my search. But when I add one more "s", resulting in "dialogue pass", all the results disappear. Then when I had a space and a "c", resulting in "dialogue pass c", the results come back.

This process is shown in the screenshots here.

The only logical explanation is that this is a bug.

Mac mini, macOS 13.2

Posted on May 18, 2023 12:26 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

VikingOSX

Community+ 2024

Level 10

117,329 points

May 18, 2023 1:04 PM in response to carboncoffee

It is not a bug, but your misunderstanding of how to use Spotlight keywords to narrow your search results. Let's say that the search document is a PDF. The following will find your desired file, and not the folders:

kind:pdf (name:"sol project" OR name:"aug 2010 - 1")

The name strings are case-insensitive and if the document type were from MS Word, then you change pdf in the preceding search to word.

if you knew that document was created after Jan 1, 2023, you could further constrain the search:

kind:word created:>01/01/2023 (name:"sol project" OR name:"aug 2010 - 1")

Tested: macOS Ventura 13.3.1 (a).

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Answer 2

carboncoffee Author

Level 1

5 points

May 18, 2023 2:18 PM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks, I'm not familiar with the keywords, or that you could do boolean expressions. I just tried entering...

name: dialogue pass

...and that worked. That will be useful.

Nonetheless, what I showed must be a bug. Because it makes no sense that adding the last "s" to "pass" would make the results disappear, and then adding space plus "c" makes them come back.

But thanks for the tip!

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Bug in Finder search

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