Finder or Spotlight search not working on Mac

Finder search and Spotlight both read the same Spotlight index. When a file you know exists doesn't show up, the cause is almost always one of the seven below. Work through them in order.

1. Check where Finder is searching

After you press ⌘ F, Finder searches either This Mac or only the current folder. Click This Mac at the top of the window. To change the default, open Finder › Settings › Advanced and set When performing a search to Search This Mac.

2. Check how you are matching

Typing a word and pressing Return searches file contents as well as names, which buries the file you want. Type the name and pick Name matches: … from the suggestions instead.

3. Look at Spotlight's privacy list

Open System Settings › Spotlight (on some versions Siri & Spotlight) and click Spotlight Privacy or Search Privacy. Any folder or disk in that list is never searched. Remove the ones you want back.

4. Wait for indexing to finish

After a macOS update, a migration or connecting a new disk, Spotlight re-indexes in the background. Results stay incomplete until it is done. Check its status in the Terminal:

mdutil -s /                  # "Indexing enabled." is what you want
mdutil -s /Volumes/MyDisk     # an external disk

While indexing runs, Activity Monitor shows mds and mds_stores using CPU.

5. Some places are never indexed

• Hidden files and folders, and system locations.
• Network shares and many external disks, depending on their format.
• Files inside app bundles and other packages.

Finder can still show these if you open the folder, but search won't find them.

6. Rebuild the Spotlight index

If files are missing from folders that should be indexed, the index may be damaged. The simplest rebuild: add your disk to the Spotlight privacy list, wait a few seconds, then remove it again. Or use the Terminal:

sudo mdutil -E /     # erase and rebuild the index for the startup disk
sudo mdutil -i on /  # turn indexing back on if it was off

Rebuilding can take a few hours on a large disk, and search results stay incomplete until it finishes.

7. Restart Finder

If the search window itself misbehaves, hold ⌥ Option, right-click the Finder icon in the Dock and choose Relaunch, or run killall Finder.

Or use a search that doesn't depend on Spotlight

Everything Locator builds its own index of the folders you choose, keeps it current with file system events, and never waits for Spotlight. It finds hidden files, files in folders Spotlight skips and files on external drives you add, by name, as you type.

Search without waiting for Spotlight

Everything Locator keeps its own live index and finds files by name on every keystroke.

Mac App Store