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User profile for user: jeffsyrop
jeffsyrop Author
User level: Level 1
37 points

Spotlight fails to index Word docs, but Siri DOES!!

I have the very latest Sierra 10.12.1 and Spotlight still isn't indexing my .docx files! This is a huge problem.


Re-indexing doesn't work. The posts in a 2013 discussion in Support Communities/Mac OS & System Software/OS X/Mountain Lion have been really helpful in troubleshooting this problem and putting it right at Apple's doorstep where it belongs. The posts in that old discussion, which continues on unsolved into 2016, are worth reading. Apple seems to be ignoring this HUGE problem, which effects the search experience of millions of users, whether they've realized it or not, so I made a new post under the current OS.


But get this: Siri DOES find my search word in new Word docs! But of course I have to have wi-fi turned on and have a connection to the Internet. That's kind of scary! Has Apple already indexed all my files on the Cloud? I don't even use the Cloud, and my Cloud usage is shown and nothing. I hope Apple hasn't merged with the NSA.


Please help!!!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Oct 28, 2016 11:11 AM

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20 replies
User profile for user: jeffsyrop
jeffsyrop Author
User level: Level 1
37 points

Oct 30, 2016 11:53 AM in response to dialabrain

I did some more testing this morning as well. About "cantaloupe" in .doc vs .docx, I had noticed that too. Several posts mentioned that Spotlight indexed SOME .doc files but NO .docx files. And somebody mentioned that a save-as would allow a .docx file to be temporarily indexed and "cantaloupe" could be instantly found.


This morning I verified that my Pages document would be instantly indexed and "abracadabra" could instantly be found in both Spotlight and Siri. BUT IF I PASSWORD PROTECTED IT, THE WORD COULDN'T BE FOUND.


Next, I noticed that THIS MORNING, if I removed the password from my Word .docx file, "abracadabra" could be found. I had already tried this test a few days ago, and it didn't work, but today it did, so now I'm confusing things with mixed results.


I think that with more testing, you or I might actually solve this problem with an acceptable workaround. What I plan to do is to open my 1,000 page Word .docx journal first thing, remove its password, and save the file. Then it will be instantly indexed and it will be included in my Spotlight and Siri searches. When I'm done writing for the day, I'll just put the password back on the file and close it. Hopefully this will continue to work. But it DIDN'T work a couple of days ago, before I'd done a save-as to this file with a slightly altered file name. So that might be part of it, too. There was a good post about changing file names . . .

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User profile for user: jeffsyrop
jeffsyrop Author
User level: Level 1
37 points

Oct 30, 2016 12:04 PM in response to jeffsyrop

Note: I tested carefully, and for a few moments, searching with Spotlight found the large .docx file with "abracadabra" in it, as long as the file wasn't password protected. But now, just a few minutes later, this isn't working, even though I've not only removed the password but done a save-as with a slightly changed file name. So now I'm back to having to use an unprotected Pages document of my big journal on my hard drive in order to have its contents indexed. If I want to keep that file secure, I'll have to remember to password protect it at the end of the day! Wow.

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User profile for user: jpdemers
jpdemers
User level: Level 1
89 points

Dec 17, 2016 8:26 PM in response to jeffsyrop

The issue seems to be rare - the howling would be deafening if it affected all users of Office for Mac - but it's a huge aggravation for those of us who have the problem. I had this issue for years, starting with Mountain Lion and continuing all the way through to El Capitan, before I found a fix. I have since upgraded to Sierra, and the fix from El Capitan seems to have held up: old and new docx files are being fully indexed.


The fix was to go into [boot drive]/Library/Spotlight and make sure Microsoft Office.mdimporter is present.

Then go into [boot drive]/System/Library/Spotlight and make sure RichText.mdimporter is present.

Only one of each, and only in those designated folders: delete or move mis-located mdimporters, and if either is missing, grab a copy from another Mac running the same OS. Re-boot if you make any changes.


Now enter in Terminal the following command:

mdimport -d1 /Users/YourUserName/FolderName/DocName.docx

You can just type "mdimport -d1 " (the final space is important), and then drag the file icon of any docx file in your user directory into the terminal window to create the pathname. Hit return.


The output of the command should look like this:

yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.mss mdimport[nnnn:nnnnnn] Imported '/Users/YourUserName/FolderName/DocName.docx' of type 'org.openxmlformats.wordprocessingml.document' with plugIn /System/Library/Spotlight/RichText.mdimporter.


This verifies that Spotlight (a) recognizes the file as an openxml word processing document, and (b) uses RichText.mdimporter to read it. (Microsoft Office.mdimporter works on the old .doc files, and probably on older Outlook, Excel, and/or Powerpoint files as well.)


Force Spotlight to re-index, and cross your fingers. It worked for me, but ymmv.

If no joy, or if the mdimport command generates an error message in Terminal, you can try replacing RichText.mdimporter with a copy from another Mac running the same OS. (You may have to remove it, reboot, replace it, and reboot again.)


Good luck - this is a real PITA problem, and I hope this helps!

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Spotlight fails to index Word docs, but Siri DOES!!

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