Spotlight not working on macOS Ventura.

So Frustrating!!! Mail search stopped working, spent hours trying to fix it then realised Spotlight is not working at all!

Come on Apple, this is ridiculous.

Anyone got a fix?

Thanks in advance


[Re-Titled By Moderator]

iMac (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Feb 12, 2024 12:23 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 12, 2024 2:08 PM

You've install the Antivirus One app. It is not needed. You have Malwarebytes installed and that is more than enough to protect you from malware and adware. Uninstall Antivirus One according to the developer's instructions.


Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and reboot normally. Then try rebuilding the Spotight index 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.


9 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 12, 2024 2:08 PM in response to jonou

You've install the Antivirus One app. It is not needed. You have Malwarebytes installed and that is more than enough to protect you from malware and adware. Uninstall Antivirus One according to the developer's instructions.


Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and reboot normally. Then try rebuilding the Spotight index 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.


Feb 20, 2024 11:31 AM in response to jonou

Been having this same issue for a while now – literally just fixed it on my Macbook M1 Pro a couple minutes ago and it works fine once again (FINALLY)!


As @Luis Sequeiera1 recommended up above:

Open Terminal, and paste the following line

sudo mdutil -E /

enter your password (there is no feedback as you type) and press enter.


After doing this, I noticed Terminal returned "Indexing disabled".


From there, I typed in the following and pressed enter. This re-enabled the indexing.

sudo mdutil -i on /


At this point, I re-ran "sudo mdutil -E /" in Terminal and it returned "Indexing enabled" and I confirmed Spotlight began working almost immediately.


Hope this helps!

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Spotlight not working on macOS Ventura.

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