File Search issue in MacOS Monterey after Migration Assistant

[Vero]

Summarising the recent email exchanges with @Drabideaux

 

He added the following two paths to his index, and rebuilt the metadata index including deleting checking the box to "Delete .Spotlight-V100" during the process.

 

/Applications
/System/Applications

 

A few days later, on following up, I suggested resetting the search scope to defaults (using the Reset Search Scope button in Features > Default Results), and drabideaux is still finding all files. I have a suspicion that if just an index rebuild had been done, macOS would've eventually sorted itself out. 

 

At this point, I think everyone who has mentioned they're having indexing issues after migrating settings to their new Monterey Mac is all sorted. 

 

I'll leave this thread open, should anyone else be encountering this issue, but the conclusion is rebuild your Mac's index from Alfred's Advanced preferences, check the box to delete Spotlight-V100, and the issue should be resolved shortly thereafter. Keep in mind this is a brand new version of macOS, with quirks of its own.  

 

Cheers,
Vero

[Xage]

I am currently having this issue and non of the steps seem to work. This is what I’ve done:

 

-set up a new user and added main user under search. Was not able to search anything on main user. 
-rebuilt macOS metadata

Not being able to find files is totally

killing my workflow. I’ll have to get used to spotlight. Any help would be appreciated. 
 

edit: I can find files in spotlight. I did try resetting the search scope but Alfred still cannot find anything outside of applications, contacts and URLs from history. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Xage

[Vero]

@Xage Can I confirm that you've done a full rebuild as per the instructions in my earlier post, including granting Terminal Full Disk Access and deleting the Spotlight-V100?

 

https://www.alfredforum.com/topic/17462-file-search-in-macos-monterey/?do=findComment&comment=90299

 

Next, please follow Andrew's instructions to add paths to your search scope:

https://www.alfredforum.com/topic/17462-file-search-in-macos-monterey/?do=findComment&comment=90398

 

If the issue persists, could you please be more specific as to what apps aren't found, what location they're in, etc, as the instructions above seem to have resolved everyone else's issues, so it's possible you've just missed a step.

 

Cheers,
Vero

[JackC]

I have tried all the solutions from Vero and Andrew for a few times and even reinstalled my Alfred. I am sure I followed all the instructions given. Still I can only find the files in my ~ folder in spotlight but not Alfred. It seems that some users have the issue due to a system migration. 

 

But thanks to the information provided by rdj, I resolved the issue.

 

So for those of you who migrated your system and find the issue, try my solution: Create a new user account in system preference -> Users & Groups, login to that account and come back to your account, then reindex following the instructions provided by Vero.

 

On 11/5/2021 at 6:23 PM, Vero said:

For anyone who hasn't done so yet, please rebuild your Mac's index properly, as this may be all that's needed, as seems to have been the case with some users.

 

Even if you believe you've already reindexed, please follow the steps below specifically (as it involves deleting a cache first and ensuring Terminal has suitable permissions).

• First, please pop open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access and add Terminal
• Once you've done this, go to Alfred's Advanced preferences, choose "Rebuild macOS Metadata"
• Ensure that you check "Delete .Spotlight-V100 before reindex"
• Follow the steps in Terminal, and keep a close eye for any error messages relating to your index.

Please let me know if there are any errors. Otherwise, if it proceeds smoothly, you may need to wait up to an hour for the reindex to complete. Once this is done, make your searches again and see if your results are more as expected.

 

Do let us know how you get on

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by JackC

[dayaa]

I have used Transfer Assistant and transfered to my new macbook on Monterey. But I have a similar issue that I could not search any files but succeed in searching APP. Spotlight is totally ok and usable. I've tried meta-rebuild, and everything else in Alfred. Here is the report, thanks so much for help.

Starting Diagnostics...

File: 'Network Governance Alliances, Cooperatives and Franchise Chains.pdf'
Path: '/Users/dayaalei/My Drive/Dayaa/Berkeley'

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check file cache database...

✅ File cache integrity is ok

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check if file is readable...

✅ Alfred has permissions to read this file.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check if volume '/' is indexed by macOS...

✅ Indexing is enabled on this drive

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check direct file metadata...

⚠️ Direct metadata is missing, this file is likely not indexed by macOS

Display Name: 
 Other Names: 
Content Type: 
   Last Used: 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check mdls file metadata...

❌ macOS metadata missing essential items

kMDItemFSContentChangeDate = (null)
kMDItemFSCreationDate      = (null)
kMDItemFSCreatorCode       = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags       = (null)
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon     = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible         = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden = (null)
kMDItemFSIsStationery      = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel             = (null)
kMDItemFSName              = (null)
kMDItemFSNodeCount         = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID      = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID       = (null)
kMDItemFSSize              = (null)
kMDItemFSTypeCode          = ""

-----------------------------------------------------------

❌ Troubleshooting failed
 

[Vero]

28 minutes ago, dayaa said:

Spotlight is totally ok and usable.

 

The troubleshooting report you've provided indicates that your Mac's metadata is completely missing, so Spotlight might be working off a temporary cache for now, but will eventually also exhibit the same issue of files not being found.

 

The first steps to follow when results seem unexpected is to rebuild your Mac's metadata. It's usually because the data being provided by macOS is incorrect (even if it appears correct in the current Spotlight cache), and rebuilding ensures that all this information is refreshed by the OS.

 

Even if you believe you've already reindexed, please follow the steps below specifically (as it involves deleting a cache first and ensuring Terminal has suitable permissions).

• First, please pop open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access and add Terminal
• Once you've done this, go to Alfred's Advanced preferences, choose "Rebuild macOS Metadata"
• Ensure that you check "Delete .Spotlight-V100 before reindex"
• Follow the steps in Terminal, and keep a close eye for any error messages relating to your index.

Please let me know if there are any errors. Otherwise, if it proceeds smoothly, you may need to wait up to an hour for the reindex to complete. Once this is done, make your searches again and see if your results are more as expected.

 

If your issue persists, please provide the following information:

• Your diagnostics file, by typing ?diagnostics into Alfred (which you can email to our info@ address)
• Examples of the File Troubleshooting reports for the files you cannot find using Alfred and whether they still show the broken metadata

Cheers,

Vero

[Myra]

VICTORY

 

I was also having this issue (Alfred file searching not working) after transferring my macos Monterey via their Migration Assistant. (Which in itself was a huge pain and Monterey is filled with bugs but ignoring that for now...)

 

Using the wonderful suggestions here, I was able to do this to solve the issue:

1. Switch to another user on the machine, play around with Alfred, then switch back and it magically works. (Per this post

)

2. Rebuild the index following instructions from this post 

 

[dayaa]

14 hours ago, Vero said:

 

The troubleshooting report you've provided indicates that your Mac's metadata is completely missing, so Spotlight might be working off a temporary cache for now, but will eventually also exhibit the same issue of files not being found.

 

The first steps to follow when results seem unexpected is to rebuild your Mac's metadata. It's usually because the data being provided by macOS is incorrect (even if it appears correct in the current Spotlight cache), and rebuilding ensures that all this information is refreshed by the OS.

 

Even if you believe you've already reindexed, please follow the steps below specifically (as it involves deleting a cache first and ensuring Terminal has suitable permissions).

• First, please pop open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access and add Terminal
• Once you've done this, go to Alfred's Advanced preferences, choose "Rebuild macOS Metadata"
• Ensure that you check "Delete .Spotlight-V100 before reindex"
• Follow the steps in Terminal, and keep a close eye for any error messages relating to your index.

Please let me know if there are any errors. Otherwise, if it proceeds smoothly, you may need to wait up to an hour for the reindex to complete. Once this is done, make your searches again and see if your results are more as expected.

 

If your issue persists, please provide the following information:

• Your diagnostics file, by typing ?diagnostics into Alfred (which you can email to our info@ address)
• Examples of the File Troubleshooting reports for the files you cannot find using Alfred and whether they still show the broken metadata

Cheers,

Vero

Thanks so much for your help and it worked!

 

Thanks again and add Terminal into the Full disk access was the step I missed. 

[iclark]

I have also tried the above methods and cannot seem to get it working either. Spotlight works fine but nothing from Google Drive.

 

The only way I can get it to work is if I change my Google Drive settings from "Stream Files" to "Mirror Files" where all of the drive files are copied onto the mac.

Edited November 19, 2021 by iclark

[Vero]

11 hours ago, iclark said:

I have also tried the above methods and cannot seem to get it working either. Spotlight works fine but nothing from Google Drive.

 

Aside from Google Drive, is everything else found in your searches? Google Drive is a completely different beast and unrelated to this thread.

 

An update to Google Drive in recent months has caused Spotlight and macOS to stop indexing the files. 

 

Google is very opaque about what's happening under the hood with Google Drive so we don't know whether they intend to re-enable indexing in the future. If you take a look at this thread, @vitor has created an excellent Google Drive search workflow:

 

 

Cheers,
Vero

 

[thartley]

I was also having this issue after upgrading to MacOS Monterey via migration assistant. 

 

This comment helped me. Make sure that terminal has full disk access as that's where I went wrong. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this forum! 

 

[cthulhu]

Solved this issue per @Vero's instructions, but wanted to share in case it helps. 

 

1. I got a new Apple Silicon, used Migration assistant, updated to 12.0.1
2. Saw the same issues as everyone here - all searches worked fine except files, but Spotlight worked fine, and diagnostics were all good
3. Rebuilt the index, still no luck

I did the new user account even though I cannot see how that could matter, still no luck. 

 

Then I realized ... I did not click "delete .Spotlight-V100". So...

 

Went back to Advanced -> ReBuild MacOS Metadata, made sure to check that option - success!

 

Whereas Spotlight still found all files during the index, Alfred slowly found more and more, and after about 20 mins, it found anything I could think of. So it does seem Spotlight can use some sort of cache. 

 

I believe the people who created another account and then came back and saw it work were likely just burning the time the index needed to complete.

[geirg]

Same here - @Vero's instructions in post 5th November solved this issue for me.  

 

1) Migrated from my 2018 MacBook Pro to 14-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip (Running macOS Monterey 12.0.1)

2) File search not working

3) Followed the procedure described by @Vero (i.e. rebuilding metadata etc.)

4) Had two cups of coffee

 

Alfred --> Find now locates files just like it should. 

 

👍 

 

[Hhuang]

I created a new user profile, but same result, search is still not working.

[vitor]

3 hours ago, Hhuang said:

I created a new user profile, but same result, search is still not working.

Do the steps posted November 5th. That’s what has been working for most people.

 

I understand you want your problem solved, but you also have to put in a bit of effort to search for the resolution and read the thread. We help those who help themselves. This was a problem caused by Apple that doesn’t affect everyone, so different solutions may work for different people.

[JeffreyAutomation]

Just to chime in, following the advice of creating a different user account, searching Alfred there, and rebuilding the meta-data while deleting the prior one worked for me. I had to try each about two or three times but then it worked and now Alfred is performing as usual. Thankfully. Glad the solutions were available. 

[LiuLin]

The same problem on MacOS Monterey 12.0.1😱

[Stephen_C]

3 hours ago, LiuLin said:

The same problem on MacOS Monterey 12.0.1😱

Have you followed the instructions in this post?

 

Stephen

[LiuLin]

5 hours ago, Stephen_C said:

Have you followed the instructions in this post?

 

Stephen

Congratulations, update MacOS to Monterey 12.1 (21C52) solved😂

[vitor]

@Skorpion Hope you don’t mind. Some users are not finding this post and making duplicates, so I have edited the title to be more search friendly and added a link to the post with the solution. I strived to make it as clear as possible where my edit starts and ends. The rest of your post was unaltered.

[Westin]

Are there any other version Alfreds in your Boot Options. Del them,and working.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Westin

[Koen_73]

On 10/27/2021 at 8:30 PM, Skorpion said:

Moderator’s note: If you are facing this issue check the November 5^th post, it has the solution. The original post follows, unedited.

 

Please, remove this Moderator's note. It is not true. See post by @Vero here: 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Koen_73

[vitor]

Moderator’s note update to link to Troubleshooting File Indexing Issues on macOS Monterey instead.

[Lei Yang]

So hope this helps someone,

 

What i realized is that when Alfred fails to look into subfolders, spotlight fails as well (when a search is scoped to subfolders)

 

using Rebuild macOS metadata didn't help (the command line method, which seems to only kick of a partial reindex)

but, adding / to privacy tab (then wait for indexing to update by checking spotlight), and removing it later (and wait for a potentially really long reindexing process) eventually helped

 

 

 

[wei]

Hi there

I've tried follow the step rebuild metadata delete spotlight-V100 , create a new account, delete all search scope folder and add macintosh HD, but still no luck, plz help

I used time machine transferred macbook pro m1 monterar 12.1

Edited February 12, 2022 by wei