spotlight search not working properly

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Level 1

4 points

spotlight search not working properly

I used to use spotlight search all the time to open apps on my computer, but recently it hasn't been working the way it used to.

When I search for an app that I have on my computer (and one that I have used spotlight search to open many many times before) it no longer opens the app, but opens the app store page for that app.

I have tried going to system settings>spotlight and unselecting Applications from the list and then re-selecting it. It hasn't changed anything.

Sequoia 15.6

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Oct 27, 2025 3:30 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

iamshivam

Level 2

344 points

Oct 27, 2025 11:30 PM in response to not_mark

Your Spotlight index got broken in a way that it opens the App Store instead of launching installed apps. You can try these two quick fixes:

Go to System Settings > Spotlight, temporarily uncheck Applications, wait ~30 s, then re-check it, this forces Spotlight to re-index apps.

If that doesn’t work, open Terminal and run,

sudo mdutil -E /

This wipes the index and starts a full rebuild.

After doing one of those, give your Mac a minute to finish indexing and test launching apps via Command-Space again.

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Answer 2

6x6

Level 7

20,031 points

Oct 27, 2025 4:30 PM in response to not_mark

Try to update your Mac to macOS Sequoia 15.7.1.

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