Folders not showing up in search

[moritz]

hi, when searching for a folder name it is not showing up in the results. some pdfs within the folder, starting with the same letters as the search, however, do show up.

 

is there any way to declare folders a priority in search?

 

the folder is located in dropbox, in a subfolder called pdfs, in a subfolder a, b, c, d, ...

all folders AND subfolders I have added to the search catalog. yet it didn't help.

[deanishe]

11 hours ago, moritz said:

all folders AND subfolders

 

There's no need to add subfolders: they're included automatically.

 

11 hours ago, moritz said:

is there any way to declare folders a priority in search?

 

No. Alfred will learn to associate particular items with particular queries (Alfred's "knowledge"), but it doesn't really have a concept of priority beyond that. It uses a simple binary match/no-match system and sorts results by time of last modification.

 

Can you find the folder in Spotlight (Alfred uses the same index)?

 

Have you tried a more specific query (if possible)?

 

Should the folder be appearing in the results? Like, are you only getting a few results, but the folder isn't among them? Or are you getting loads and loads of results, and the folder isn't among them?

If it's the latter, it's possible that it is being found, but is so low down the list of results that it's below the cut-off point (Alfred limits the maximum number of results it will show). As Alfred sorts results by their modification time, you can try to "bump" the folder up the results by creating a new subfolder or file within it.

[moritz]

14 hours ago, deanishe said:

Can you find the folder in Spotlight (Alfred uses the same index)?

yes, it's the third result in the list, when I search for it in finder (name matching)

 

14 hours ago, deanishe said:

Have you tried a more specific query (if possible)?

it's not possible. it is the complete name of the folder.

 

14 hours ago, deanishe said:

Should the folder be appearing in the results? Like, are you only getting a few results, but the folder isn't among them? Or are you getting loads and loads of results, and the folder isn't among them?

 

yes, I get 40 results (since I set the limit to the maximum); some of the results are even files WITHIN the folder I want to get as a result. 

 

14 hours ago, deanishe said:

As Alfred sorts results by their modification time, you can try to "bump" the folder up the results by creating a new subfolder or file within it.

unfortunately this would be ridiculous. I have a huge library of pdfs within a folder called pdfs, subfolders a-z and within these subfolders again subdfolders named after the last name of the author(s). those folders I want to find. and there are hundreds of them. 

 

this task should really be the easiest task for an app like alfred! how is it possible that a simple finder query is almost every time preferable? 

if I am looking for a name in alfred I want to know wether I have a folder called after that person or not. how hard can it be?

if there is no way to teach alfred this simplest of simple tasks, then I am stunned.

 

have you any idea how I could do it - besides changing hundreds of folders regularly, just to keep the modification date up to date....?

[deanishe]

8 hours ago, moritz said:

changing hundreds of folders regularly

 

You don’t have to change the folders regularly. Just once if they’re not showing up in the results at all.

 

Like I said, Alfred primarily sorts by its “knowledge”, which is its memory of which item you selected for which query.

 

Modifying the folder is just a way to get an item into the results list in the first place so you can “train” Alfred.

 

8 hours ago, moritz said:

how is it possible that a simple finder query is almost every time preferable?

 

Alfred is tuned for performance, while Finder and Spotlight are tuned for comprehensiveness.

 

You get much better results from Alfred by keeping searches focussed. So if you want to find folders, you configure your File Filter to only search for folders instead of any type of file.

 

It’s fairly straightforward to set up a two-step search that first filters folders and then the files within the folder you selected. I believe one of the built-in example workflows demonstrates this technique.

Edited August 15, 2019 by deanishe
typo

[Gabrielizalo]

Have you tested with the Workflows "Simple Folder Search" or "Dynamic File Search"?

Here you can read about it and and the end how to install these workflows: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/264542/alfred-searching-through-directories-and-filenames-at-the-same-time

 

 

[bo123x]

I have the same problem with folders showing in my spotlight but not in Alfred. I have tried configuring Default Results in various different ways but I can seem to get anything useful show other than apps and search. I need a specific folder to be indexed. I have had in included in the list. I have also enabled full disk access and privacy setting. Any suggestions would be welcome

[Vero]

@bo123x Please don't bump threads about indexing from two years ago, as your issue is unlikely to be related.

 

Are you using macOS Monterey? If so, please take a look at this thread, as you're likely encountering the same issue as other Monterey users who have migrated their preferences from a previous Mac.

 

 

Cheers,
Vero