Spotlight doesn't find some apps on Mac os sequoia 15.1

I've been super annoyed by spotlight not finding apps since updating to Sequoia on both personal and work computers - after both reading this thread and a google search. I first tried unchecking and re-checking the applications checkbox as referenced here - it didn't seem to help.

I was able to resolve the problem by setting the applications folder to "excluded" in the spotlight privacy settings and then immediately removing it again. I followed this apple article to do so: Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support. Note that it took a few minutes to re-index (with no indication that it was doing so) before the apps started showing up in the results.

Safe Boot, when it finishes restart normally.

If still need be…

Open Terminal and run each of these one at a time

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

sudo will ask you for an Admin password that won't be echoed.

Carefully type your admin password when asked & hit enter.

sudo /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -seed -lint -r -f -v -dump -domain local -domain system -domain user -domain network

killall Dock

sudo mdutil -E /

sudo mdutil -i on /

Rebuilding a drive index can take a long time, so be prepared to wait whether you do it through the System Preference panel or the command line.

Got this from internet

this works with my case, after update to Sequoia i cant search documents and most application

Delete the Spotlight index folders

If the macOS Sequoia Spotlight is bloating system data, removing the hidden Spotlight index folders can help resolve this.

Follow these steps to clear the index files and free up space:

1. Open Finder.
2. Click Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar.
3. In the search box, type /System/Volumes/Data/ and press Return.

1. Press Command + Shift + . to reveal hidden files.
2. Locate the Spotlight folder (e.g., .Spotlight-V100), right-click it, and move it to Trash.

1. Next, go to Go > Go to Folder again and type ~/Library/Metadata/.

1. Delete the CoreSpotlight folder.

1. Empty the Trash to remove the directories permanently.

By clearing these Spotlight folders, you’ll force Spotlight to reindex from scratch, which often resolves any Spotlight issues. This method also helps reduce excessive system data consumption.

I had the same issue. This is what helped for me: Search for 'Spotlight' in 'System Settings'. In the Spotlight section, scroll to the bottom. Hit 'Search Privacy' button. Hit '+'. Add 'Apps'-folder. Then remove 'Apps' folder. Spotlight will reindex that specific folder. Wait a minute... and you're done! Now check Spotlight search.

I wanted to bring awareness to the fact that Parallels Toolbox "Energy Saver" has an option to disable Spotlight on battery. I had the same problems in this thread of spotlight sometimes finding apps and sometimes not and it was driving me crazy. Eventually I realized via mdutil -as that my indexing was disabled on battery. As there is no way to do this natively I started looking for solutions or something I may have done accidentally, when I stumbled across this page:

https://forum.parallels.com/threads/spotlight-disabled-by-energy-saver.348596/

Low and behold, I had enabled Energy Saver weeks ago without thinking about it and the option to Pause Spotlight is enabled by default... which prevents Applications from showing up in Search.

Hope this helps anyone that might be in the same boat!

None of this worked for me, but then I discovered that the following solves the problem:

sudo mdutil -i on /Applications

Disclaimer: I don't know whether this is correct or it will cause some other problems. Neither do I know what will happen after reboot. I just came up with it when I noticed that `sudo mdutil -s /` showed "Indexing enabled", while `sudo mdutil -s /Applications` showed "Indexing disabled".

It's pretty easy:

Open TERMINAL and:

sudo mdutil -Eai off [press Enter]

sudo mdutil -Eai on [press Enter]

mdutil -as [press Enter]

Restart and wait around 30 minutes, spotlight will be able to find files and applications

I had to close System Settings after each step to get it working.

1. Go System Settings->Spotlight and toggle Applications checkbox off and close System Setting
2. Go System Settings->Spotlight and toggle Applications checkbox on and close System Setting
3. See if it works.

@Carlotan's recipe above worked for me (get rid of /System/Volumes/Data/.Spotlight-V100 and ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight). Took about 30 mins before Spotlight started finding things again.

I also started to try @EdimarMartins recipe, and I suspect this would have worked too. I fired this off before trying @Carlotan's recipe, but wasn't patient and stopped it during the "mdutil -Eai on" step (see below).

sudo mdutil -Eai off [press Enter]
sudo mdutil -Eai on [press Enter]
mdutil -as [press Enter]

The other suggestions in this article didn't work for me, but they are useful (e.g. Privacy setting) to know about.

I had this problem also, I fixed it doing the following steps:

1. Go System Settings->Spotlight
2. Toggle Applications checkbox
3. Done

Now check it again.

Good luck everyone.

@Carlotan's solve worked for me – I also disabled all Spotlight categories except for Applications. I've tried other fixes over the last 6 months and nothing has worked and stayed working. Fingers crossed this time it holds!

I have the same issue. It seems that you can make the issue go away temporarily using some of the workarounds described (either using the mdutil command, or adding and removing folders from spotlight privacy).

For me, the issue re-surfaces as soon as I reboot my Mac. After a reboot, searching for apps that I could previously find via spotlight no longer appear. I can make this issue happen on command with a reboot and a search for one of my more frequently used apps - Adobe premiere pro. The issue seems to be localized to the Applications folder - as if MacOS deletes that index with every reboot.

Just for the record, I am working on 2023 Mac Studio that I have only owned since September of this year with a completely fresh install.

This seems to be a bug with Sequoia, as I have used spotlight to find and launch my apps as a matter of habit for the last 6-7 years on previous Macs - I have not had to rebuild the spotlight index after every reboot.

I have had the exact same issue. My attempt at unchecking “Applications” in Spotlight preferences, closing it, re-opening, rechecking it, and closing it did not work for me. However, the Terminal rebuild described in "Fix 1" from the link below DID fix it! 🥳

I kept Activity Monitor open while I did it, plus the optional “Show Activity Monitor,” which interestingly showed that my 4 leftmost cores fully maxed out during the process with nothing from the other 4 cores…I’ve never seen that before. Also, my menubar Spotlight icon did NOT have the “dot” inside that it used to have while it was indexing; I don’t know if Apple did away with that. I also had closed all my apps and unplugged anything that was in my USB ports. I don’t know if that helped, but I had a previous sleep/wake issue that only resolved when I unplugged an older USB cable with its USB-C—> USB-A adapter and replaced it with a newer all USB-C, so I took no chances. Anyway, after about 30-40 minutes, I noticed the Activity Monitor had quieted down and Spotlight immediately began showing Top Hits of any and all random applications that I typed into it. I hate these kinds of bugs, but for now, this worked for me. Please let me know if it helps anyone else, and good luck!!

https://iboysoft.com/tips/spotlight-search-not-showing-apps-sequoia.html

Disabling and enabling back again the Application's checkbox has fixed the issue in macOS 15.1.1 Sequoia for me.

Many thanks.