Unable to select application from alfred

[Doug]

It's not all the time, but it's been happening more frequently lately.  When I go in to alfred to open an application it shows up with the icon missing and when I select it from the alfred list it does nothing.

[vitor]

Welcome @Doug,

 

Try:

1. Rebooting.
2. Alfred Preferences → Advanced → Clear Application Cache.
3. Alfred Preferences → Advanced → Rebuild macOS Metadata.

[Doug]

I did do the clear app cache and rebuild mac os metadata, but it doesn't fix it unless I reboot.  The problem is that this happens fairly regularly now and I can't always restart my machine.  I do web dev so I have a lot running.  This hasn't been happening for that long, either.  Maybe in the last month or so it's been a problem.

[Vero]

Hi @Doug and welcome to the forum. 

 

Alfred relies on the metadata index, which is created and maintained by macOS itself. Could you be more specific on what kind of file types are found, then later not found, and at what frequency it occurs? Are the applications moved/relocated, and are any drives on which the apps are stored unplugged?

 

Here's the usual Indexing Troubleshooting guide:

https://www.alfredapp.com/help/troubleshooting/

 

You mentioned you rebuilt the macOS metadata, but could you please do it once more and ensure that you check the "Delete /.Spotlight-V100" box to get the most complete reindex?

 

 

If the issue persists, next time it happens, please install the Alfred Metadata tool and drag an app that isn't found. Copy the results of the metadata tool into your reply here so that I can take a further look.

 

The metadata tool can be downloaded here:

https://cachefly.alfredapp.com/tools/AlfredMetadataTool_v1.1.zip

 

Cheers,
Vero

[Doug]

The more I research this I think it might actually be an issue within the Apple ecosystem.  Going into finder and viewing the applications provides the same results, but using spotlight to open the apps works for some reason?  This is really weird behavior for my system.  I did hdd tests and everything seems ok, but i'm going to try the new update and see if they silently fix something.

[deanishe]

4 hours ago, Doug said:

The more I research this I think it might actually be an issue within the Apple ecosystem

 

It is.

 

If it's only applications you're having issues with, it might be worth trying rebuilding your Launch Services database:

 

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain u -domain s -domain l -v