Spotlight crashes after typing a few letters since Safari 12 update

I have updated to Safari 12.0.1 and the issue is resolved for me. If people are still experiencing the same problem can they check the update to Safari did in fact install, the App Store can be a bit flaky.

Click on About This Mac> System Report> Software> Installations. Click on Install Date twice so this list is ordered with most recent first. And if downloading via App Store use a cabled connection rather than WiFi.

I just had the same problem too on Sierra (10.12.6). I think I found a workaround that may be more flexible.

To me it looked like the crash happened only when searching for *a few* letters. For instance, I was searching for "It" (the name of the movie), and that's when it would crash systematically when I just typed these two letters and waited for the results. But first typing a longer word (e.g. "Itunes"), wait 1-2 seconds for the results, and then remove the extra letters, got me my results and prevented it from crashing.

HTH

No, I'm running Safari 12.0.1 within Sierra on a late 2011 MBP and 12.0.2 on a late 2009 iMac, and both still have the Spotlight bug. However, the workaround of unchecking Bookmarks & History from Spotlight Preferences' Search Results tab works fine.

I would upgrade to High Sierra as a permanent fix except that I have multiple backup problems that I'm fixing. Apple don't advise upgrading until you have a current backup.

All I did was to rerun the 10.12.6 Combo Installer over the current install and it fixed everything without having to change any settings that would take away features. I do the rerun/refresh every so often anyway, it refreshes the install and things run a lot better afterwards. Been doing for years. Have had to do it several times as newer versions of Safari touting "bug fixes" got installed. I have now "Hidden" the Safari update. I don't use it anyway.

I saw an update including Safari come through yesterday and hid the Safari update. I don't use Safari and its latter versions are impacting the everyday operation of the OS. So I will not be installing anything Safari, unless I have time to do the "recovery" process that I have discovered is the only was to return from the damage that the installs have and will create.

Thank you so much for this post! This has been driving me insane.

It's unfortunate that Sierra is not very old, and many corporate IT groups don't support anything newer; yet Apple has neglected this release.

You're right, it is a fix rather than a solution but I'm glad it worked for me.

I personally think Apple need to focus on making their operating systems stable and just settle on one version rather than continuously updating them every year, requiring them to maintain at least 3OS which are buggy. The reality is, I need to use 32bit apps and they don't run on Mojave unless I run virtualisation software which I'm looking into but backwards compatibility is very useful in other OSs. They also need to focus on price point and usability/upgradeability. The new products are too expensive and locked in... who can afford £1K+ phones every one to two years? Same with the insane notebook prices especially once the dongles and other peripherals are included, without the option to upgrade the hardware. It's a false economy, Apple has been greedy and are now paying the price for it.

Since this "newer and improved" version was released I have had major issues across the board that was fixed by rerunning the current macOS version over the install to "normally refresh it", which I do often these days, but, which I have found, to fix whatever Safari does to the OS to make it unstable. I have stopped using it all together, "Hide" the update and will not even go near it anymore.

BUT rerunning your current OS version updater, must be the "Combo", over your install will clean things up and fix the damage. Or so I have found the three times I was forced to use it before abandoning Safari.

I had the same problem, and your solution worked for me: unchecking "Bookmarks & History" in the Spotlight Preferences Pane.

Wow, never had a problem fixed so easily. I rarely search Bookmarks anyway and always do it from the Bookmarks menu

Thanks

Thanks! This was driving me crazy, and all I had to do was follow this and I'm back to normal now! Appreciate it!

ME

10-3-18

This issue getting some publicity now:

“Tidbits- Safari 12 Crashes Spotlight in Sierra—Here’s the Fix”

https://tidbits.com/2018/10/01/safari-12-crashes-spotlight-in-sierra-heres-the-f ix/

I can confirm that El Capitan, Sierra and Mojave are also affected

Worked for me. I tried reindexing first and for the first time in ages Spotlight actually gave me relevant results . So I guess something good came from this 🙂