Spotlight no longer showing file locations on my Mac

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Spotlight no longer showing file locations on my Mac

Only since upgrading to Ventura have I had a problem with not being able to see a file's location in the results list before selecting it to open as I have for years before. It hasn't ever worked since the upgrade. These instructions are given by Apple:

Show the location of a file on your Mac: Select the file, then press and hold the Command key. The file’s location appears at the bottom of the preview.

Selecting the file in the results and holding the Command key doesn't do a thing for me and shows no location at the bottom of the window.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 13.4

Posted on Jul 4, 2023 5:30 AM

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Answer 1

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leroydouglas

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Jul 4, 2023 5:54 AM in response to Michael Goettee

Michael Goettee wrote:

Only since upgrading to Ventura have I had a problem with not being able to see a file's location in the results list before selecting it to open as I have for years before. It hasn't ever worked since the upgrade. These instructions are given by Apple:

Show the location of a file on your Mac: • Select the file, then press and hold the Command key. The file’s location appears at the bottom of the preview.

Selecting the file in the results and holding the Command key doesn't do a thing for me and shows no location at the bottom of the window.

In Ventura it shows in-line

select your file & hold the Command key and click will then open the Finder location ...

notice—

if necessary you can rebuild the Spotlight index— no harm there

Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac

Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Jul 4, 2023 6:18 AM in response to leroydouglas

In Ventura 13.4.1, the Spotlight search shows:

And pressing the ⌘-key changes that in-line file information string to viking • Desktop.

Older versions of macOS used to show the file path at the bottom of the Spotlight window.

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Answer 3

Jul 4, 2023 6:50 AM in response to leroydouglas

To be clear, I don't want to open the finder window enclosing a file I've searched for right away from the Preview results window. I want to see what location a file I've selected in the Spotlight preview window is in so I'll know if it's the exact file I want to open before doing so. For example. My Spotlight searches are set up to include a back-up drive, so I don't want to search for and open a file on that drive, just on my Mac.

During my Spotlight search, I want to see the path similar to this example from the bottom of a Finder window search (not Spotlight). It's what I usually expect to see at the bottom of the Spotlight results window during my search and while a resulting file is selected. It just isn't showing up when I press "Command" while one of the resulting files is selected.

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Answer 4

Jul 4, 2023 6:56 AM in response to VikingOSX

I was typing a reply to another response when yours came through. So are you saying that path no longer shows in Spotlight when you press the ⌘-key? Apple's still saying it should in Ventura as I quoted in my initial post. If not, that's no improvement at all. I make great use of that feature to make sure I'm opening the correct file in the correct location.

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Spotlight no longer showing file locations on my Mac

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