Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 2

222 points

How can I force Spotlight to reindex a folder?

I know this has been put before, but for some reason I cannot fix my problem using the Spotlight "Privacy" tab in the support docs. I renamed the document it won't find, but the newly-named file still doesn't show in Spotlight. If I search for the old name for the file, it comes up and when I hover over the name it says "path: Trash" even though the Trash is empty. If I try to select the file, nothing happens.

Can anyone help please? Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 13" Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz

Posted on Aug 15, 2011 3:53 AM

20 replies

Jun 21, 2013 4:31 PM in response to Randy Zeitman

No, that is bad, especially if you want to use Time Machine, as Time Machine requires the Spotlight index to work.

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

Jun 22, 2013 4:54 AM in response to Randy Zeitman

It could be that your Spotlight has already been disabled.

Use

sudo mdutil -a -i on

Jun 22, 2013 12:39 PM in response to WZZZ

Ok, "sudo mdutil -a -i on" worked, Spotlight reindexed, and that absolutely solved that problem.

It now finds emails fast.

Now ... APPLE! .... What I want spotlight to do is show me not just a list of documents but the context in which it occurs. Right now you get the 'name' of the email but not the context... see my image below.

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

Jun 22, 2013 3:10 PM in response to Randy Zeitman

Randy, I think it's time to start a new topic of your own. This one is from 2011.

SoxFan33

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2014 10:58 AM in response to WZZZ

Thanks... worked great!

How can I force Spotlight to reindex a folder?