
Where /path_to_volume is the path of the volume being indexed. Open Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.Īt the Terminal prompt, type the following command, exactly as written: Disabling Spotlight indexing while indexing is in progressĪdding a volume to Privacy while it is being indexed is not the best method for stopping the indexing of that volume.
Easyfind indexing mac os x#
Nevertheless, using Privacy to stop indexing on a volume works best in Mac OS X 10.6 and later: it is sometimes problematic under Mac OS X 10.5, especially when used for external hard drives that are moved between different Macs. These anomalies have been corrected in Mac OS X 10.5 and later Under Mac OS X 10.4, using Privacy to stop indexing can cause a variety of anomalous behaviors which are the result of inconsistencies in how the Privacy tab works vs.
Easyfind indexing how to#
See the AppleCare Knowledge Base document "Spotlight: How to re-index files and folders."Īssuming indexing is enabled on the volume in question:Īt the Terminal prompt, type exit and press Return.Ī common practice to stop Spotlight from indexing volumes is to add the volume to the Privacy while the volume is being indexed. There are two approaches to rebuilding the Spotlight indices on a given volume: Via Privacy:Īdd, then remove, the volume whose Spotlight indices you wish to rebuild to the System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy tab (hereafter abbreviated as "Privacy").


Spotlight saves all its index-related files in the.These are indexed and can be searched under Mac OS X 10.5 and later. Under Mac OS X 10.4, System-related files or folders.Files within hidden or invisible folders.Invisible files: Files whose invisible file-system attribute has been enabled.Hidden files: Files whose names begin with a period (.).Furthermore, Spotlight will neither index nor search:.By default, Spotlight indexes and searches a limited number of folders, specifically those listed in the AppleCare® Knowledge Base document "Mac OS X 10.4: Where does Spotlight search?".By volume we mean either a hard drive with a single partition, or a specific partition on a hard drive with multiple partitions.


Spotlight was introduced in Mac OS X 10.4 and significantly improved in later versions of Mac OS X.Preventing Spotlight from indexing backup volumes.Ī comprehensive treatment of Spotlight, including extensive troubleshooting information, can be found in the "Spotlight" chapters of our Troubleshooting Mac OS Xe-books.Disabling Spotlight indexing while indexing is in progress.This FAQ, derived from information in the "Spotlight" chapters of our book Troubleshooting Mac OS X, addresses the following topics related to Spotlight® in Mac OS X:
