In macOS Mojave, Apple changed the way that Spotlight indexes the contents of plain text files. That introduced a bug that prevents indexing of any of the contents of files starting with certain characters. For many Macs, that bug won’t ever be fixed.
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From Ventura (if not earlier) to Tahoe, Spotlight appears unable to index text files that start with two specific letters. Although those are exceedingly rare, this could still catch you out.
How to combine the time of interest with waypoints to reduce 100,000 log entries to just a handful, and discover what you’re looking for in the log.
Notes on how search depends on index structure, effects of language on different types of search term, and the benefits and limitations of search methods.
This can now test and search any regular volume that’s connected to your Mac and mounted in /Volumes, using either NSMetadataQuery in the API, or mdfind instead.
New app tests Spotlight indexing and search of local files across 15 test files and two search methods. This should provide valuable clues for diagnosis.
Looks at how Spotlight adds a batch of new files to its volume indexes, and how it handles and answers queries.
A meta-search for Apple’s patents on search, and turning the incessant log chatter of RunningBoard to our advantage in following uninstrumented apps.
Supported by some of the many patents awarded to Apple’s engineers, a year-by-year account of the development of Spotlight from 1994 to 2019.
How a long-deprecated extended attribute can stop files such as images from being found in Spotlight search, and how to fix it.
The Eclectic Light Company 