Spotlight won't index Numbers spreadsheet files

Dear All:

I have updated to Sierra; Spotlight won't find Numbers spreadsheet files even though I can see the folders on my Desktop. What's happening? I have dragged Desktop file containing the Numbers spreadsheet file into Spotlight and then removed it as recommended, so that it will re-index it, but it still doesn't seem to find any Numbers spreadsheet files. Any solutions out there? Thanks.

iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Oct 11, 2016 5:03 PM

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10 replies

Oct 11, 2016 6:12 PM in response to Barbara Smits

You need to rebuild the Spotlight index for the entire drive, not just the desktop folder. Go to System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy, click on the "plus" symbol on the bottom left and choose the drive labeled "Macintosh HD". Next remove it from the list using the "minus" symbol. Close system preferences. Give it some time to reindex. If you want to see the progress you can bring up Spotlight.

Oct 11, 2016 6:38 PM in response to dialabrain

Dear dialabrain,

I have found the file and have typed in the exact file name, but Spotlight still doesn't find it -- this was before I tried to rebuild, so we'll see if that helps. I know that the file is there because I have found it by means other than Spotlight and then did the search using the exact name, but Spotlight still doesn't find it. Strange. Could it be because Numbers, Pages and Keynote were just updated through the App Store to work with Sierra? I just tried without a new rebuild and it is finding Pages files...


and Siri can find the Numbers file, but not the search (without the rebuild).

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Spotlight won't index Numbers spreadsheet files

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