Those running Mac OS X Mavericks and earlier will see a slightly different Spotlight search than pictured above. You can still search for things, as well as use it as a calculator, but you won't get Wikipedia, Maps, and other more extensive sources in your search results. Jul 12, 2018 You can accidentally delete your entire hard drive, as this command is not safe! Type your password, and let it run. Give your Mac 15-30 seconds to start re-indexing all your files, apps, and images. Try searching for 'Safari' with Spotlight ( Command + Spacebar ). Nov 30, 2019 Install Software Updates. If you have current software updates that you haven’t installed on your Mac, installing them might fix the issue with Spotlight. If your software is out of date, then there may be a bug in the Macintosh HD drive that stops your WIFI from working.
For a while now I’ve seen my poor Spotlight Search disappear on all my Macs disappear after typing only two or three letters. This has never been a problem since I’ve been using macOS. I have 4 systems in total, running Sierra and High Sierra, and all of them exhibit this problem.
However, my wife’s MacBook Air is still running Mavericks and – not having been updated for a while – is NOT experiencing this issue. So what’s going on there?
After some digging, I am not the only user who has an issue with Spotlight Search. Some suggest we all have to re-index Spotlight (which does take a while, multiplied by all the computers you’re using), but they report that the issue will come back sooner or later.
The most efficient way to make Spotlight Search operational again is to simply disable one of the items it’s searching when we use it – namely the Bookmarks and History option.
To access the above menu, head over to the Apple Icon and select System Preferences. From here, either click the Spotlight Logo (top right corner) or search for Spotlight. Un-tick the second box from the top, close the dialogue and – voila – Spotlight is working again!!
This thread on the Apple Forums suggests that the culprit is Safari 12 (I’m using 12.0.1 at the time of writing). Disabling Bookmarks and History means Spotlight is not accessing Safari’s (changed / faulty / updated / whatever) database and seems to work fine as a result.
Worked great for me – I hope it’ll work for you just as well 🙂
Search with Spotlight
- Click in the upper-right corner of the menu bar, or press Command-Space bar.
- Enter what you want to find. You can search for something like “apple store” or “emails from emily”.
- To open an item from the results list, double-click the item. Or to quickly look through the results, use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.
Search by file type or location
- To search by file type, use the word “kind” and the file type. For example, type “kind:folders” or “kind:audio”.
- To show the location of a file on your Mac, choose the file from the results list, then press and hold Command. The file’s location appears at the bottom of the preview. To open the file’s location, press Command-R.
- To see all the results from your Mac in the Finder, scroll to the bottom of the results list, then double-click “Show all in Finder.”
Get definitions, calculations, and conversions
Spotlight can show you dictionary definitions, calculations, measurement conversions, and more. Find out more ways to search with Spotlight.
Here are examples of what you can do:
- To get a definition, enter a word or phrase, then click the result in the Definition section.
- To get a calculation, enter something like “2+2” in the search field.
- To convert measurements, enter something like 25 lbs or “32 ft to meters”.
Find movie showtimes, weather, and nearby places
You can use Spotlight to search for movie showtimes, weather, and places near you.
Here are examples of what you can do:
- To get showtimes, enter the name of the movie that you want to see. To see what's playing near you, enter “showtimes.”
- To get local weather information, enter “weather.”
- To find restaurants near you, enter something like “places to eat,” then click a result in the Maps section.
Learn more
- Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac.
- Use Search on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Why Won't My Spotlight Search Find Apps On My Mac Pc
Spotlight features might vary by country or region.