Spotlight won't index

Question

Level 1

9 points

Spotlight won't index

Hi,

I've been running El Capitan fine since release without any issues, and Spotlight had been working fine. In the past few weeks, all of a sudden Spotlight no longer indexes. I have no idea what changed - I did not install any new software or make any changes. The "Indexing" bar is about 5% of the way complete, and has been there for >2 weeks. Some files show up in Spotlight searches, such as apps, but most do not. As a result, I am unable to search for files, and in particular unable to search old emails in Outlook 2016, which is a major issue for me.

Things I have tried (some multiple times):

-Adding my HD to the "Privacy" tab under Spotlight preferences, then removing it

-Rebooting

-Reinstalling El Capitan

-Deleting com.apple.Spotlight.plist, rebooting

-Removing FileVault

-Rebooting in Safe Mode, running Disk Utilities

This is getting so frustrating, and has made my Mac all but unusable, as Outlook mail is my main app. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, iOS 9.3.3, null

Posted on Jul 25, 2016 3:22 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 25, 2016 3:24 PM in response to warrax

Follow the instructions for reindexing Spotlight here > Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

warrax Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 25, 2016 3:25 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thank you, but I've tried that multiple times, as noted in my posting.

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

136,325 points

Jul 25, 2016 3:49 PM in response to warrax

Try running the combo updater.

Download OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Combo Update

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Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 26, 2016 11:53 AM in response to warrax

This is a diagnostic procedure. It makes no changes and therefore will not, in itself, solve the problem.

I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. That's what I suggest you use, even if your preferred browser is something else.

The instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

Step 1

Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

{ mdutil -as 2>&-; echo; mdimport -L 2>&1; echo; syslog -F \$Message -k Sender mdworker -o -k Message Rne Norm -k Sender mds -o -k Sender sandboxd -k Message Seq mdutil | tail -100 | sort | uniq | tail -50; } | pbcopy

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the built-in Terminal application in any one of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.

The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear.

The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.

The Terminal window doesn't show the output. Please don't copy anything from there.

If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

Step 2

Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Terminal. In the Console window, look under the heading DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION on the left for crash reports related to Spotlight. If you don't see that heading, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar. A Spotlight crash report has a name beginning in "mds," "mdworker," or "mdwrite," and ending in ".crash". Select the most recent such report, if any, from the System and User subcategories and post the entire contents—the text, please, not a screenshot. In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.)

Please don’t post any other kind of diagnostic report, such as hang logs—they're very long and not helpful.

When you post the results, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

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Answer 5

warrax Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 26, 2016 11:51 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you, Linc. I've pasted the first output below. I replaced my name with XXX.

Step 1

/:

Indexing enabled.

/.MobileBackups:

No index.

/Volumes/MobileBackups:

Index is read-only.

/Volumes/MobileBackups/Backups.backupdb:

Index is read-only.

2016-07-26 11:47:23.568 mdimport[761:18789] Paths: id(503) (

"/Users/XXX/Library/Spotlight/mailTags.mdimporter",

"/Library/Spotlight/GBSpotlightImporter.mdimporter",

"/Library/Spotlight/iBooksAuthor.mdimporter",

"/Library/Spotlight/iWork.mdimporter",

"/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Entourage.mdimporter",

"/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Office.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Application.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Archives.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Audio.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Automator.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Bookmarks.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Chat.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/CoreMedia.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/iCal.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Image.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/iPhoto.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/iPhoto8.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/MIDI.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/Notes.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/PDF.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/PS.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/QuartzComposer.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/RichText.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/SystemPrefs.mdimporter",

"/System/Library/Spotlight/vCard.mdimporter",

"/Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GarageBandSpotlightImp orter.mdimporter",

"/Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/LogicX_MDImport.mdimpo rter",

"/Applications/OmniFocus.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/OmniFocusMetadataImport er.mdimporter",

"/Applications/OmniGraffle Professional 5.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/OmniGraffle.mdimporter",

"/Applications/Things.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/ThingsSpotlightImporter.md importer",

"/Applications/Billings.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/BillingsMetaDataImporter .mdimporter",

"/Applications/Evernote.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/EvernoteSpotlightImporte r.mdimporter",

"/Applications/Google Earth.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Google Earth.mdimporter",

"/Applications/OmniFocus.localized/OmniFocus.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Omn iFocusMetadataImporter.mdimporter",

"/Applications/Papers.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/MTSpotlightImporter.mdimpo rter",

"/Applications/Microsoft Outlook.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Outlook Spotlight Importer.mdimporter",

"/Applications/GarageBand 6.0.5/GarageBand 6.0.5.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/GBSpotlightImporter.mdimporter"

)

(Server.Warning:445) No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputer"

(Server.Warning:445) No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputerIndexed"

(Volume.Error:930) sysctl_queryfs failed: No such file or directory

CGSConnectionByID: 0 is not a valid connection ID.

IORegisterForSystemPower failed

In -[NSApplication(NSQuietSafeQuit) _updateCanQuitQuietlyAndSafely], _LSSetApplicationInformationItem(NSCanQuitQuietlyAndSafely) returned error -50

Invalid Connection ID 0

LaunchServices: disconnect event received for service com.apple.lsd.mapdb

LaunchServices: disconnect event received for service com.apple.lsd.modifydb

Messages Importer couldn't import file:///System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SetupAssistantSupport.framework/Versio ns/A/Resources/AppleConnect.chat

Messages Importer couldn't import file:///System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SetupAssistantSupport.framework/Versio ns/A/Resources/AppleDebug.chat

SecStaticCode: verification failed (trust result 5, error -2147409622)

code validation failed in the process of getting signing information: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-67062 "(null)" UserInfo={SecCSArchitecture=i386}

iWork MDI raised an exception: Could not find the end of central directory record

iWork MDI raised an exception: Could not read: Is a directory

libcoreservices: _dirhelper: 400: mkdir: path=/var/folders/7f/mmj7mnsj3wz1gyjghlmctcnr0000gs/0/ modes[0]=0755: Operation not permitted

mdworker(638) deny mach-lookup com.apple.nsurlstorage-cache (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:public.html plugin:/Library/Spotlight/RichText.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 113922836)

mdworker(72315) deny file-read-data /Users/XXX/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:410000025E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.application-bundle plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Application.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 61334486)

zip importer encountered an error (2) scanning "/Users/XXX/Desktop/USB Backup/Marvell/Netware/nw4.2/yukonnw_4_v608.zip".

zip importer encountered an error (2) scanning "/Users/XXX/Desktop/USB Backup/Marvell/Netware/nw6/yukonnw_6_v608.zip".

Step 2:

7/26/16 11:49:43.765 AM Spotlight[508]: com.apple.message.domain: com.apple.coreservices.applaunch

com.apple.message.path_bucket: 0

com.apple.message.volume_is_network: no

com.apple.message.quarantined: no

com.apple.message.volume_is_removable: no

com.apple.message.volume_is_ejectable: no

com.apple.message.volume_is_root: yes

com.apple.message.volume_is_disk_image: no

com.apple.message.bundle_identifier: com.apple.Console

com.apple.message.bundle_version: 544

com.apple.message.bundle_short_version: 10.11

SenderMachUUID: XXX

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Answer 6

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Jul 26, 2016 12:42 PM in response to warrax

Spotlight not working see post by Linc Davis

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Answer 7

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 26, 2016 1:06 PM in response to warrax

Please review the instructions for Step 2 and try again. What you posted is not a crash report. There may not be any crash reports; in that case, just say so.

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Answer 8

warrax Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 26, 2016 3:06 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hi Linc,

Thank you. There are many. I just posted a few:

Process: SpotlightNetHelper [23819]

Path: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ParsecUI.framework/Versions/A/Support/Spotlig htNetHelper.app/Contents/MacOS/SpotlightNetHelper

Identifier: SpotlightNetHelper

Responsible: SpotlightNetHelper [23819]

12 SpotlightNetHelper 0x000000010a5bdd42 SpotlightNetHelper + 19778

13 SpotlightNetHelper 0x000000010a5bec61 SpotlightNetHelper + 23649

22 SpotlightNetHelper 0x000000010a5c0c79 SpotlightNetHelper + 31865

7 com.apple.metadata.SpotlightNetHelper 0x000000010a5c208b 0x10a5b9000 + 37003

0x10a5b9000 - 0x10a5c6fff com.apple.metadata.SpotlightNetHelper (1.0 - 972.34) <CC6944A9-CCAB-3D9E-B1C0-F132DBC224BC> /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ParsecUI.framework/Versions/A/Support/Spotlig htNetHelper.app/Contents/MacOS/SpotlightNetHelper

7/26/16 3:03:17.079 PM mdworker32[3701]: Error loading /System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/Mail: dlopen(/System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/Mail, 262): no suitable image found. Did find:

/System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/Mail: mach-o, but wrong architecture

7/26/16 3:03:17.080 PM mdworker32[3701]: Cannot find function pointer MailImporterPlugInFactory for factory 142C071E-A837-11D8-A224-0003930A8D8C in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x7ad5eb10 </System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter> (bundle, not loaded)

7/26/16 3:03:17.100 PM mdworker32[3700]: Error loading /System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/Mail: dlopen(/System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/Mail, 262): no suitable image found. Did find:

/System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/Mail: mach-o, but wrong architecture

7/26/16 3:00:16.049 PM Spotlight[508]: XPC connection was invalidated

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Answer 9

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 26, 2016 3:13 PM in response to warrax

That's not a crash report either, but it does show that your OS installation is corrupt. You wrote that you reinstalled it. How exactly did you do that?

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Answer 10

warrax Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 26, 2016 3:15 PM in response to Linc Davis

From Safe Mode, I reinstalled it.

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Answer 11

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 26, 2016 3:50 PM in response to warrax

This is odd. Please post the output of yet another command:

file /S*/*/Sp*/Mail.*/*/*/Mail | pbcopy

The output will again be on the Clipboard.

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Answer 12

warrax Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 26, 2016 3:52 PM in response to Linc Davis

/System/Library/Spotlight/Mail.mdimporter/Contents/MacOS/Mail: Mach-O 64-bit bundle x86_64

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Answer 13

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 26, 2016 4:26 PM in response to warrax

That's OK. You have several third-party or obsolete Spotlight plugins that could be causing the problem. I suggest that you back up all data and move the following item to the Desktop:

~/Library/Spotlight/mailTags.mdimporter

To do that, triple-click anywhere in the line above to select it, then copy the line to the Clipboard. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

The following items are obsolete and should be deleted:

/Library/Spotlight/GBSpotlightImporter.mdimporter

/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Entourage.mdimporter

/Applications/GarageBand 6.0.5

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Answer 14

warrax Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 26, 2016 4:54 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you, Linc. When I go to that Folder, there is only one item: mailTags.mdimporter. Should I delete that one? There are no other files.

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Answer 15

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 27, 2016 9:42 AM in response to warrax

Should I delete that one?

Move it to the Desktop. Delete the other items. Log out or restart the computer and test. If you find that the problem is resolved, you can experiment with putting back the first item. If the problem is restored, delete it.

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