How to fix Spotlight stuck at indexing on macOS

Fix Spotlight stuck at indexing

1. Fix Spotlight stuck at indexing. Open System Preferences and select the Spotlight preference. ...
2. Select your Mac's hard drive or SSD, whichever you have. Do not select any of its sub-folders. ...
3. Once it's been added, give it a few minutes so that Spotlight can purge the files from its index.

1. How do I fix indexing on my Mac?
2. How do I stop Spotlight from indexing Mac?
3. Why does my Mac keep indexing?
4. What do I do if my Mac is stuck on the loading screen?
5. Why is spotlight not working on my Mac?
6. Does spotlight slow down Mac?
7. What does Spotlight indexing mean on Mac?
8. What is Spotlight on Mac?
9. How do I enable Spotlight search on my Mac?
10. How do I know if my Mac is indexing?
11. How do I check my indexing status?
12. What is the shortcut for Spotlight search on Mac?

How do I fix indexing on my Mac?

Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac

1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Spotlight.
2. Click the Privacy tab.
3. Drag the disk or folder that you want to index again to the list of locations that Spotlight is prevented from searching. ...
4. From the same list of locations, select the disk or folder that you just added. ...
5. Quit System Preferences.

How do I stop Spotlight from indexing Mac?

Launch System Preferences, and then select the Spotlight preference pane. Select the Privacy tab. The Privacy tab holds a list of volumes and folders that have had indexing turned off. Add a volume to the list, and the indexing process is turned off; no new indexing is performed for that volume.

Why does my Mac keep indexing?

It's possible that your Mac is sleeping when you are not using it; this will suspend indexing. Running Disk Utility, etc. is likely to restart the process from scratch.

What do I do if my Mac is stuck on the loading screen?

How to fix a Mac stuck on the loading screen?

1. Shut the Mac down, usually by pressing the power button.
2. Now press the Shift, Control, Option keys at the same time.
3. Then while still pressing those keys, hold the Power button at the same time for 10 seconds.

Why is spotlight not working on my Mac?

Spotlight Search Not Working on MacBook: Check Your SpotLight Preferences. It is also important that you confirm your Spotlight Search preferences. Click on the Apple Menu at the top and choose System Preferences > Spotlight. ... Quit System Preferences and Spotlight will start re-indexing this folder/drive.

Does spotlight slow down Mac?

Spotlight is the search engine built into OS X, and anytime it indexes drive data it can slow down a Mac. This is typically worse after reboots between major file system changes when the index is rebuilt, a major system update, or when another hard drive full of stuff is connected to the Mac.

What does Spotlight indexing mean on Mac?

Spotlight is a system-wide desktop search feature of Apple's macOS and iOS operating systems. Spotlight is a selection-based search system, which creates an index of all items and files on the system. ... There are also command-line tools to perform functions such as Spotlight searches.

What is Spotlight on Mac?

Spotlight can help you quickly find apps, documents, and other files on your Mac. With Siri Suggestions, you can also get the latest news, sports scores, weather conditions, and more. Spotlight can even perform calculations and conversions for you.

How do I enable Spotlight search on my Mac?

How to access and use Spotlight in macOS

1. Click on the Spotlight button in the menu bar; it looks like a magnifying glass. Or, use the Command + Space keyboard shortcut. The Spotlight search field will appear in the middle of your screen.
2. Type in your search query. Spotlight will return results as you type. Source: iMore.

How do I know if my Mac is indexing?

OS X tries to help you out by telling you how much time is left in the indexing operation—just click the Spotlight icon in the top right corner of the menu bar, and you'll see both a progress indicator and a written estimate of the time remaining (“About two hours remaining”).

How do I check my indexing status?

To check the indexing progress:

1. Return to the Search Tools > Search tab (by clicking in the search bar).
2. Select the Search Tools button on the toolbar.
3. Select Indexing Status.

What is the shortcut for Spotlight search on Mac?

Command–Space bar: Show or hide the Spotlight search field. To perform a Spotlight search from a Finder window, press Command–Option–Space bar. (If you use multiple input sources to type in different languages, these shortcuts change input sources instead of showing Spotlight.