Nothing comes up in Finder search, even for files I can see that are present

[A.Mathias]

Absolutely nothing comes up when I search in the finder window, even if I search for files that I can see in another window. I'm running Ventura 13.0.1

How can I fix this?

 

[halledise]

command+space will yield spotlight.
type your query and voila…

 

[chabig]

Absolutely nothing comes up when I search in the finder window, even if I search for files that I can see in another window. I'm running Ventura 13.0.1

How can I fix this?

Show us a screenshot of your search window. There are too many variables for us to answer without knowing what you're trying to do. Most likely...you're searching in the wrong location.

 

[A.Mathias]

Thank you for replying. I'm searching in the right location. I've attached a screenshot. Even if I'm looking for a file in a location, I've got that location window open separately so I can see what's in there. I can see the file and if I enter part of the file name, nothing comes up. I've tried entering variations on a partial file name and the exact file name and I still get 0 results.

I used to be able to search for a term, and even if it wasn't in the file name but in a layer within a file, it would turn up. Now, nothing. I'd appreciate any recommendations on how to remedy this issue. Thanks again, and have a good week.

 

[chabig]

Thanks for the picture. Everything you said looks right. What happens if you change the search attribute to Name instead of Any? Perhaps searching everything for any instance of "4637" is too taxing.

 

[A.Mathias]

Thanks for the picture. Everything you said looks right. What happens if you change the search attribute to Name instead of Any? Perhaps searching everything for any instance of "4637" is too taxing.

Same results.

 

[A.Mathias]

If I search in "This Mac", I get two files: a jpeg and a folder, but not the one I'm looking for. So weird.

 

[fisherking]

do things show up in spotlight? might be useful to know. and did it work in ventura at any point?

and have you rebooted??

 

[A.Mathias]

No, I don't recall it working in Ventura at all, ever. It worked excellently before. I've restarted, but haven't rebooted. This is what shows up in Spotlight:

 

[A.Mathias]

And when I select the option to search in Finder from Spotlight, this is the result:

 

[gilby101]

Looks like (your first screenshot) there is no Spotlight index for that folder or, or more likely, for the whole disk where that folder is located.
Your Cases folder is on the disk called: HD3 2TB. So I am pretty sure you have no index for that disk.

The GUI way to enable this is System Settings > Siri & Spotlight > Spotlight Privacy (at the bottom). If your HD3 2TB is listed, remove it. If not listed, add it (wait a minute or two) and remove it. That should start a reindex. Be patient while that happens.

If that doesn't work open Terminal. The command "mdutil -sav" (without the ") will give current status of indexing on each disk. What does it show?

Edit: And what is the format of HD3 2TB?

 

[A.Mathias]

The format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

 

[satcomer]

The current is APFS though! I was wondering is this new or an Upgrade version?

 

[A.Mathias]

What's APFS? The computer is new, running Ventura 13.0.1. The external HD is where I keep all my major files. I see that indexing and searching is disabled, how do I enable it? You can answer tomorrow, I've been dealing with this for a while, obviously it won't kill me! 😅 I would like to get this issue resolved. Amidst meeting my deadlines.

 

[fisherking]

What's APFS? The computer is new, running Ventura 13.0.1. The external HD is where I keep all my major files. I see that indexing and searching is disabled, how do I enable it? You can answer tomorrow, I've been dealing with this for a while, obviously it won't kill me! 😅 I would like to get this issue resolved. Amidst meeting my deadlines.

did you try gilby101's suggestion about indexing? let us know if that helps.

APFS is the newer mac format, but your OS extended drive should work just fine. try the spotlight index suggestion.

 

[kroboz]

This happened to me on my Mac Studio. It literally took 45 seconds+ to see files on external drives. Totally unacceptable. I had to roll back to Mac OS 12 just to get my work done again. Hopefully they fix this issue – you're not the only one who's experienced this. Lots of stories from Reddit and around the web with this happening too.

 

[A.Mathias]

did you try gilby101's suggestion about indexing? let us know if that helps.

APFS is the newer mac format, but your OS extended drive should work just fine. try the spotlight index suggestion.

I tried that spotlight index technique, but it didn't work. So really what I need to do is enable indexing and searching for my external hard drive. What's the best way to do that?

 

[gilby101]

In Terminal:

mdutil -sav (this will show current state of indexing on all drive). Please show us the output.

sudo mdutil -i on /Volumes/<diskname> Replace <diskname> with the volume name. It will ask for your password. This will enable indexing for the disk.

mdutil -sav (to show that something has changed).

 

[A.Mathias]

Thank you, this is what happened:

 

[gilby101]

Sorry, I knew from earlier posts that your disk name has a space and should have covered that. Type this (including the "s) in Terminal:

sudo mdutil -i on "/Volumes/HD3 2TB"

Terminal commands treat spaces as separating items, adding the quotes overrides that.

 

[A.Mathias]

Sorry, I knew from earlier posts that your disk name has a space and should have covered that. Type this (including the "s) in Terminal:

sudo mdutil -i on "/Volumes/HD3 2TB"

Terminal commands treat spaces as separating items, adding the quotes overrides that.

Man, it just does not want to enable indexing or searching!

 

[gilby101]

Man, it just does not want to enable indexing or searching!

Let's go a back a bit. Can you do this in Terminal:

diskutil list

and show the output. I want to know the disk format and how full it is.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Update to 13.1 before you do any further troubleshooting.

 

[halledise]

kext utility is your friend.
run it, restart then have a stress free mac …
works with ventura, monterey and all previous macOS.

 

[halledise]

voila