Stuart Luff

Q: El Capitan spotlight broken

I upgraded to El Capitan on my work iMac and immediately noticed Spotlight is now broken.

 

In the office we use a reference number system whereby we name our files in the format as xxxx-xx-xx. I've noticed that when I search using Spotlight, be it in the Spotlight window, Mail.app search box, Finder search box or wherever there is a search field and Spotlight is involved I get no search results if the search string is over 8 characters long and contains a special character like a dash, a period or forward slash for example. An @ symbol is fine however.

 

As an example if I run a search in Mail for an email containing '1234-56-78' I get NO results returned. If however I remove one of the dashes (doesn't matter which one) I get results appearing. The same happens if I remove both dashes.

 

Again in Mail; If I search for 'john.appleseed@apple.com' I get no results returned. If I remove the period between 'john' and 'appleseed' I get results.

 

While testing this as I type it does not seem fully related to 8 characters length although this is when is it most prevalent. It seems its mainly related to special characters and Spotlight not handling them very well.

 

Can someone create a folder on their desktop called '1234-56-78' and then try searching for it using both Spotlight and a search via a Finder window and let me know you're results? If you get no results try taking out a dash and see what happens.

 

I've reindexed Spotlight about 5 times and have now filed a bug report with Apple.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 16, 2015 3:23 AM

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Q: El Capitan spotlight broken

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  • by iTBotB,

    iTBotB iTBotB Dec 26, 2015 5:40 AM in response to Stuart Luff
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 26, 2015 5:40 AM in response to Stuart Luff

    I have a different Spotlight problem. When I search for a partial name of a file (File name: This is truly unbelievable; search phrase: truly), I get no results. The search by name function only works with an exact match of the entire file name. I can't get Spotlight to search by name contains. I also cannot get Spotlight to search contents.

     

    I used TinkerTools System and discovered that the Spotlight index is gone. I have no idea how that happened. I hope rebuilding it will end the problems.

  • by Hawkdive,

    Hawkdive Hawkdive Dec 26, 2015 6:54 AM in response to Stuart Luff
    Level 1 (41 points)
    Safari
    Dec 26, 2015 6:54 AM in response to Stuart Luff

    Try the following command

     

    Disable the spotlight indexing and then re enable to do the indexing using the following command...

     

     

    To disable the indexing of a volume /connected network drive:

    # mdutil /Volumes/name -i off


    To enable spotlight indexing on a volume /network drive:

    # mdutil /Volumes/name -i on

     

     

    To check the status of indexing on a volume /connected network drive:

    # mdutil /Volumes/name -s

  • by Stuart Luff,

    Stuart Luff Stuart Luff Dec 26, 2015 10:06 AM in response to Hawkdive
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Dec 26, 2015 10:06 AM in response to Hawkdive

    I've done that. I've done other terminal stuff that's been posted around the net and nothing fixes my problem. Not sure about the latest post regarding another problem.

     

    Spotlight is completely borked!! My issue is still an open ticket even after sending Apple diagnostics stuff they requested months ago. Worst thing I ever did was install Yosemite nothing but major problems from then on.

  • by iTBotB,

    iTBotB iTBotB Dec 27, 2015 5:16 AM in response to pinkstones
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 27, 2015 5:16 AM in response to pinkstones

    It's hard to be patient when some applications rely on the Spotlight index. I use Yep extensively, and it can't sort all my scanned PDF files.

  • by mixmaster456,

    mixmaster456 mixmaster456 Dec 29, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Hawkdive
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Hawkdive

    In my case I was getting absolutely zero results in search when searching for emails and files. This was after an upgrade to el capitan.  I tried all the usual stuff including disabling search and re-enabling it. I spent MANY hours doing this and finally i found one single file i deleted which does something with permissions i think.  Once I did that it finally reindexed and all search functionality was fully working.  This is the article I followed.  https://www.boxaid.com/blog/search-not-working-mac-el-capitan/

  • by Stuart Luff,

    Stuart Luff Stuart Luff Dec 29, 2015 11:18 AM in response to mixmaster456
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Dec 29, 2015 11:18 AM in response to mixmaster456

    Already done that too. No hidden file. Indexing is enabled. I've disabled, re-enabled hundreds of times. It reindexes fine. Its the search results that are borked. Still no fix, not a word from Apple. Usually I get a response from them after they request diagnostic files, they usually have an idea what the problem is and tell me it may be fixed in an upcoming update. I think this time they literally have no clue what the problem is. Seems to be happening more and more these days.

  • by iTBotB,

    iTBotB iTBotB Dec 29, 2015 12:39 PM in response to Hawkdive
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 29, 2015 12:39 PM in response to Hawkdive

    I was way beyond what you recommended. I did almost everything anyone had thought of except threaten Apple programmers. I solved the Spotlight and many other problems by erasing a drive, unmounting every other drive, doing a clean install of El Capitan from a recovery partition, and manually migrating files from one of three previous installation of El Capitan or from my Snow Leopard drive.

     

    I have advice for all: Apple decided to ignore customers using Snow Leopard. Apple claimed that El Capitan could be installed over Snow Leopard 10.6.8, but I can testify that it was a disaster. The biggest problem is that El Capitan changes permissions willy-nilly. It changes permissions of folders and documents from admin or "me" to "fetching…" or changes Read & Write to only Read for admin. When logged in as admin, I couldn't even change the names of files in my Documents folder without putting in a password. I'm not surprised that Spotlight couldn't work on my main drive. It worked on other drives because their permissions hadn't been screwed up.

  • by iTBotB,

    iTBotB iTBotB Jan 3, 2016 10:14 PM in response to iTBotB
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 3, 2016 10:14 PM in response to iTBotB

    After doing a clean install of El Capitan and blocking Spotlight access to all drives except the main one, Spotlight worked -- for a short while. The main drive is fully indexed, but I can't retrieve anything when searching via Finder windows because Spotlight requires exact name matches again. At best, Spotlight can find one file. When I click on the Spotlight icon in the menu bar, searches bring up some results, but they never show applications despite having Applications checked in the preference pane. I'm trying to figure out how Spotlight can fail in so many ways. It seems as though a team of programmers would require a year to deliberately cause such failures. I regret downgrading from Snow Leopard. The only improvement I've seen is that the Calendar font is bigger. The list of items that are worse requires at least three sheets of paper. Spotlight is near the top.

  • by Stuart Luff,

    Stuart Luff Stuart Luff Jan 20, 2016 1:55 AM in response to Stuart Luff
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Jan 20, 2016 1:55 AM in response to Stuart Luff

    10.11.3 update STILL has NOT fixed this issue!!!! I'm having to use an old MacMini running Snow Leopard to do my work now. I think thats where I'm going to stay.

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jan 20, 2016 2:12 AM in response to Stuart Luff
    Level 5 (5,890 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jan 20, 2016 2:12 AM in response to Stuart Luff

    Stuart Luff wrote:

     

    10.11.3 update STILL has NOT fixed this issue!!!! I'm having to use an old MacMini running Snow Leopard to do my work now. I think thats where I'm going to stay.

    FWIW, I didn't see this post until I had already updated to OSX 10.11.3 so I don't know about any previous problems with Spotlight. I went back and read all your posts and tried what you suggested, creating a folder labeled 1234-56-78 on the desktop. Spotlight had no problem finding it.

    Screen Shot 2016-01-20 at 5.06.25 AM.png

  • by Stuart Luff,

    Stuart Luff Stuart Luff Jan 20, 2016 2:41 AM in response to dialabrain
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Jan 20, 2016 2:41 AM in response to dialabrain

    Have you tried doing the search in a Finder window or searching for something in Mail? Thats where it fails every time. The Spotlight window is hit and miss. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Mostly it doesn't.

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jan 20, 2016 2:54 AM in response to Stuart Luff
    Level 5 (5,890 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jan 20, 2016 2:54 AM in response to Stuart Luff

    I see. Seems to be working for me.

    Search.png

  • by Stuart Luff,

    Stuart Luff Stuart Luff Jan 20, 2016 3:08 AM in response to dialabrain
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Jan 20, 2016 3:08 AM in response to dialabrain

    I can sometimes get it when I use the options in the drop down menu. i.e. 'Name' , 'File name matches' etc but If i don't select anything then I get nothing. I can type 12345678 and the file '1234-56-78' appears. If I search for the actual name '1234-56-78' I get nothing. Oddly enough I can though search for '123456-78' and the file '1234-56-78' appears. Its completely borked on all 3 macs I have. One is at work and the other two are at home. 27" 4 year old iMac, a new 21" iMac and a relatively new MacMini.

     

    I keep updating in the hope that it will get fixed, along with loads of other bugs introduced since Mavericks. I'm that far away now though from Mountain Lion (which was stable) I can't get back with out major effort but I'm looking into it and if I sort it out thats where I will be staying.

     

    Federighi needs to go.

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jan 20, 2016 3:26 AM in response to Stuart Luff
    Level 5 (5,890 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jan 20, 2016 3:26 AM in response to Stuart Luff

    I don't remember what Mountain Lion did. Much too long ago for me. I think what you are seeing is you now  have to be more specific in the Finder when doing a search, versus just bringing up Spotlight with Cmd-Space or clicking on its icon in the menu bar. It's not a bug, it's a function change decision I would think.

  • by Stuart Luff,

    Stuart Luff Stuart Luff Jan 20, 2016 3:58 AM in response to dialabrain
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Jan 20, 2016 3:58 AM in response to dialabrain

    If its by design then Spotlight has just taken a MASSIVE step backwards. The whole point of spotlight was speed. If its by design as you say, I now have to tell it the name of the file, the type of the file and give it a hint at where it may reside. Whats the point in that? I may as well just navigate to it as its less clicks.

     

    I really don't think it is by design though because of the strange results I get i.e. sometimes showing up, sometimes not. Alpha numeric and special character stopping things appearing etc.

     

    Its just plain broken and they don't know how to fix it.

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