spotlight disappear while typing: Not Solved

I've been searching for what is causing my searches to disappear mid query. Oddly, I have not updated to the latest OSX10.13.6 on the machine that is experiencing this issue.

I suspect this may be related to the latest security updates rather than an OS upgrade as I've updated several machines from a 2010MBP SSD, 2016 iMac Rotational, and a 2017 iMac hybrid drive. The only one that has this issue is my 2013 iMac27 inch (10.12.6 (16G1510) iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) that also has a hybrid drive but I do not want to upgraded the OS just yet.

I cannot figure out what or which startup apps or applications that I'm running may be diverting the OS attention but I have identified movement in the top right menu icons and it looks like the spotlight icon disappears at the same time and just after my search is gone, the icon returns to the menu. They seem to shuffle at the exact moment the search disappears. It is frustrating as spotlight is an essential part of my workflows as a CS lab teacher.

It would be nice if someone could figure it out.

Thanks,

Jeff

3.5 GHz Intel Core i7

32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4096 MB