Spotlight / Finder window search won't find content in " "

[mcentreville]

Running 12.3.1 (really hoped that the most recent update would have fixed it). For some time now (only with Monterey) I have not been able to do a search of a text string (sequence of words), where the search criteria is contained within quotation marks "..." . In Spotlight, the moment I type a quotation mark, Spotlight immediately closes (almost crash-like). In Finder, nothing comes up in the search box if I use quotation marks (and I am typing in word strings which I KNOW exist in documents in that folder, and for which I have successfully searched before using the exact same method and search criteria). I have turned off indexing and turned it back on, in the hopes that re-indexing will fix it. Alas, no success. I am not seeing anybody else report a problem with this, so it's looking like a random problem with my machine. Any other ideas as to how to reset or fix Spotlight/Finder search? Thanks!

Note: I am aware that networked drives are not indexed. This is for the built-in, OEM SSD.

 

[george_i]

Same here on two M1 Machines.
Bug or default ?. 🤔
Does anyone experiencing the same on an older version ?.

 

[mcentreville]

Same here on two M1 Machines.
Bug or default ?. 🤔
Does anyone experiencing the same on an older version ?.

That's a good question (about older machines). I know that at one point it worked on my M1 MacBook Pro, as I regularly search(ed) for strings of text in order to find a particular document.

 

[WebHead]

I just replaced my HD, restored via Time Machine, and while Spotlight is still working system-wide via the top right icon, I can't get *any* results in Finder searches, quote marks or not. Also running 12.3.1 but on Intel (iMac i9).

 

[Omega Mac]

Having similar issue on Catalina the last few days.

Trying the spotlight method to force an indexing - search in finder is till not working after an index.

Next reboot.

 

[Omega Mac]

Ok a reboot has worked for me in this instance!

 

[mcentreville]

Ok a reboot has worked for me in this instance!

I have found the same, although it only seems to last a day or two and then it’s back to the way it was before. I hope you have better success!

 

[Omega Mac]

I have found the same, although it only seems to last a day or two and then it’s back to the way it was before. I hope you have better success!

Yea I'm doing ok so far. I tend to leave machine in sleep a lot, so a reset every now and again sorts out problems.

Still on a MM 2012 with Dos Dude Catalina... iMessage still not working, that I can not solve. Common problem. I find message on a computer easier to parse and deal with... but not since Mojave has that been stable.

 

[debudebu]

I had a similar issue on Monterey and after a long time figured out it was Dropbox. Deleted it and searching on externals was normal again. If you have it or similar that's worth a try.