Indexing and search diagrammed, leading to the diagnosis of problems with Spotlight, and their resolution.
Spotlight
Adds further features to diagnose Spotlight indexing and search problems. First full release at last.
Global in the menu bar, Local in the Finder, Core in-app, and Third-party for other developers. Spotlight is a chimera, and each finds different items.
Why can’t my Macs find text in Rich Text files? This explains how to diagnose the cause – which here is a bug in Big Sur’s Spotlight importer for RTF.
New version of free utility Mints includes a powerful new feature for checking Spotlight’s indexing and search. Here’s how to use it.
Apple’s Mail, Notes ad other apps now use Core Spotlight, which protects the privacy of their data, but stops search apps from doing their job. And worse.
EasyFind, Find Any File and HoudahSpot compared, and tested against a wide range of search targets. The results are surprising.
Fifteen years ago, when we first got Spotlight search, we were more concerned with finding our documents rather than preventing others from reading their contents. Why?
Details the contents of files which are built into Spotlight’s index, its reliance on keys, how apps can perform Spotlight searches, and the three bundled tools for users.
Almost 16 years old, many think it has grown steadily worse. It has faced new challenges such as iCloud, privacy, and APFS backups. Here’s how it works, and how to get the most from it.
The Eclectic Light Company 