Spotlight keeps indexing

Question

Level 1

9 points

Spotlight keeps indexing

For the past several days, I have noticed that every time I open Spotlight, it keeps on indexing my hard drive. I know indexing can take a while, but it seems to be taking days. Even when it seems it's about to finish indexing, it starts over again. I tried to have my Mac build the index from scratch by adding it to and then removing it from the privacy section in the system preferences. This hasn't seemed to work either. I've run first aid on disk utility and the hard drive appears to be in good health. Any ideas on a cause or fix?

I run the latest version of El Capitan on a 2013 retina macbook pro with a 512 GB SSD.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Aug 24, 2016 7:36 PM

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Answer 1

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Sep 2, 2016 6:00 PM in response to Prussian360

Please open system preferences , and open application spotlight .

Click on privacy , click on plus sign that is on the bottom side , then again click on hut shaped icon .

Select macintosh HD and click on choose .

Window will appear do you want to prevent to spotlight from indexing in Macintosh HD , Click on ok and close the window .

Suggested article : Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Aug 24, 2016 7:46 PM in response to Prussian360

Hi,

See if you can force quit mdworker (Spotlight process in the Activity Monitor app).

You can use Activity Monitor to quit a process, even if it’s in a loop or not responding. Open the Activity Monitor app located in /Applications/Utilities

In the process list, select the app or process you want to quit. An unresponsive process is marked with (Not Responding).
Click the Force quit button in the upper-left corner of the Activity Monitor window.
Choose one of the following options:
- Quit: This is the same as choosing File > Quit within an app. The process quits when it’s safe to do so. If quitting the process could cause data loss or interfere with another app, the process doesn’t quit.
- Force Quit: The process quits immediately. If the process has files open, you may lose data. If the process is used by other apps or processes, those apps or processes could experience problems.To see if a process is used by another process, choose View > All Processes, Hierarchically.

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Answer 3

cdhw

Level 4

3,594 points

Sep 2, 2016 5:22 PM in response to Prussian360

I recommend patience and not messing with it for a day or two: indexing a disk can indeed take many hours.

It's possible that your Mac is sleeping when you are not using it; this will suspend indexing. Running Disk Utility, etc. is likely to restart the process from scratch. Depending on how you have your energy saving settings set, leaving the Mac plugged into a mains supply with its lid open overnight may give it a chance to complete the job.

C.

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Answer 4

Prussian360 Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 2, 2016 5:30 PM in response to cdhw

Okay, I'll give your suggestion a try. I had no idea Disk Utility could cause a restart of the process. Maybe I have been unknowingly causing Spotlight to keep indexing. I assumed the process wouldn't take that long because I only have roughly half of my 512GB SSD used up now. By the way, is there any chance this indexing issue could cause complications when upgrading to Mac OS Sierra?

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Answer 5

Sep 2, 2016 6:06 PM in response to Prussian360

You may have to replace the machine or at least get yourself a new logic board. I had the same problem and "smart" dudes from Apple Store recommended. I did and since they installed the new logic board my Spotlight works acceptable.

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