When Spotlight can’t find the files you expect it to, it could be that they weren’t indexed, or that Spotlight’s search has failed to find their index entries. Here’s how to tell those apart and work out what went wrong.
SpotTest
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.
Running the basic test on a folder in your Home folder, extending that to documents that use a custom mdimporter, to other volumes and locations, and other search terms.
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.
The Eclectic Light Company 