Spotlight completely broken macOS Tahoe

mrchntmarine wrote:

....our IT guys have tried all of the fixes we could find but nothing worked

I have had issue with Spotlight in Tahoe macOS 26.3.1(a) build 25D771280a -yes.

My issue was I could not search System Setting, even though it was selected (tried toggled off and on) in the >System Settings>Spotlight.

Many many attempts by all the standard means to resolve this issue and no such luck.

What worked for me:

I added the MacintoshHD to Privacy.

Then from the terminal I ran each command to remove:

rm -rf ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight

rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Spotlight

rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.corespotlightd

I restarted in SafeBoot mode to remove System Cache files just because...(no need to login, just get some confirmation you are in Safeboot mode.)

Only then did I reboot as normal, remove the Macintosh HD from the Privacy pane, and let Spotlight re-index as new.

Seems to have sorted my issue, finally.

As an after though if you please

Computers that are managed by a Company often require some type of Security Software to be deployed and installed in-order to comply with HQs Mandate for Security

If so, that might be a good starting point to take up with your IT Department

I am running Tahoe 26.3.1 on my personal M4 Mac Mini Pro. I have no third-party anti-virus software, cleaning, or alternative search software installed. Clearly, mine is personally managed, and not under MDM control.

Spotlight has always worked correctly for me on this Mac, and all of my other Macs that still run Sequoia v15.7.4, or Parallel's guests with older versions of macOS.

It is worth reading about how to properly use Spotlight per the Apple Narrow your search results in Finder on Mac since artful usage does produce expected results.

If you haven't already, visit System Settings > Spotlight and ensure appropriate results from Apps, and System are set. Make certain that the drive you want Spotlight results from is not still in the Seach Privacy… box as that will prevent indexing and search results.

Your instructions worked perfectly for my M1 MacBook Air running Tahoe v26.2. Thanks so much for sharing your solution. (By the way, it was only necessary to delete the ~/Library/com.apple.Spotlight folder.)

OP wrote " My organisation bought me a new Mac mini, it has plenty of storage and, for the first couple of weeks Spotlight was working fine. However, it then stopped working. I and one of our IT guys have tried all of the fixes we could find but nothing worked beyond one search. "

Working in a " Managed Environment " ie MDM ( Mobile Digital Management ) will make this issue more problematic and is best left to those who Manage the Apple Computer

Unfortunately, may IT Departments are more familiar with the Microsoft Windows Environments and have limited to very little knowledge and experience in managing Apple Computers

As for Spotlight in general, on my Personal Computers, of which I Own and Operate 3 different M-

Class machines with Tahoe 26.2

I can ⌘ plus spacebar

First letter C and refer to image below

This is a Short list, not a complete list

I am running macOS Tahoe on an M1 MacBook Air and an M4 MacBook Air and am having no issues with Spotlight.

One suggestion I would make is in Spotlight Settings, at the bottom click "Search Privacy". See what, if any, items are in the exclusion list and remove them and see what happens.

Other than that, I would agree with others that if this is a managed system, there could be something installed that may be seeing Spotlight as a "threat" or is in some other way is just simply interfering with its operation.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

Although they share some of the underlying technology, Spotlight and Finder Search are not the same thing.

Thank you. Maybe off-topic: When one does File, Get Info and the sees the "Comments" section, that is the same as "Comment" I have above , yes?

The reason im asking is that the I do the above search in Finder I get 0 results. But when using Find Any File App., with the same search criteria, I get the expected return of 43 items.

I do notice that FAF App uses the term "Comments" with an "S". Maybe I need to go back and see if Mac Finder has that? Also guessing I need to start a new thread. Can you suggest appropriate posting area? Tks.

mrchntmarine wrote:

Also guessing I need to start a new thread. Can you suggest appropriate posting area? Tks.

That would be best. Post it under whatever operating system you're using. If it's Tahoe, you're already in the right forum.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

mrchntmarine wrote:

Also guessing I need to start a new thread. Can you suggest appropriate posting area? Tks.

That would be best. Post it under whatever operating system you're using. If it's Tahoe, you're already in the right forum.

So I was trying to update the community to TahoeOS and failed.... Here is the post:

Finder search issue.

How to search Finder's Comments section? - Apple Community

It would not change. sorry

mrchntmarine wrote:

IdrisSeabright wrote:

mrchntmarine wrote:

Also guessing I need to start a new thread. Can you suggest appropriate posting area? Tks.

That would be best. Post it under whatever operating system you're using. If it's Tahoe, you're already in the right forum.

So I was trying to update the community to TahoeOS and failed.... Here is the post:

Finder search issue.

How to search Finder's Comments section? - Apple Community

It would not change. sorry

They are in the Tahoe forum now.

Is by chance Spotlight the same application that preforms customizable searches from Finder - like this one?

Although they share some of the underlying technology, Spotlight and Finder Search are not the same thing.