Revitalizing searching in iCal-- thanks to Thierry R.

Searching was not working in iCal-- it would show certain events and not others. It would not show new events.
Thierry R. in an archived thread found an easy solution-- export the calendar and then import it. Voila! Searching now working great.
As he found, iCal does not duplicate your entries. In my case, it did prompt me--and said you have new events and gave me a choice of which calendar to import into. I did so and everything is back to working like a charm!
Well-- not everything as iCal doesn't permit font resizing, has limited snoozing options, you can't minimize the alerts, etc. Oh, Apple, just go study what Palm did and the Palm Desktop did, and improve iCal. It's the basics that really matter!
Thanks, Thierry!

There is a search field at top right of iCal - of course it's pretty basic and will apply across all calendars. if you want something more configurable you could have a look at MacJournal:
https://www.marinersoftware.com/products/macjournal/
I've not tried this but it looks interesting.

Similar Messages

Search in iCal in 10.5.2 Not Working?

I upgraded to 10.5.2 this week and was posting a future event in iCal (several years out) and wanted to see if it posted correctly. So, I clicked in the search field in the upper right corner of the window and typed in the text I entered for the event. The columnar listing area appeared at the bottom of the window, but displayed no contents. I then manually went to the future date and found the event just fine.
In Tiger when I entered text in the search field, the columnar area at the bottom of the screen actually listed the results of my search, but I can get no results in Leopard.
I searched this forum for comments on this issue and found a similar thread from last fall, but none of the suggestions made at that time work for me in 10.5.2.
Can anyone here confirm that iCal is not displaying search results for them? I'd like to know if it's my system, or the application itself.
I find it's working on my upgraded G5 iMac, but not on this new Intel iMac.
Thanks for listening...

I had a similar problem. The symptoms were:
- Search in iCal did not work at all (no result, what so ever, returned)
- Search in Spotlight worked (the same search that did not return anything in iCal would return To-Dos and events in Spotlight)
I started by backing up and restoring, but this did not work.
I then read a lot about potential solutions involving quite extreme things (such as reinstalling Leopard). I then found out that I could solve this issue by simply exporting each calendar and then reimporting them without deleting anything.
For example, I had a "Home" calendar that I exported. I then chose "Import" then picked the exported "Home" calendar and chose my "Home" calendar in iCal as destination calendar. I feared that I would end up with duplicate events and to-dos, but no, iCal is smart.
Once this is done, my search in iCal started to work again and searching items on this calendar would return correct results (as did spotlight).
I then did the same with all my other calendars, and voilà!
Hope this helps

The function "Search" of iCal doesn't find (iMac)

Hello.
Since a few days, the function "Search" inside iCal, on my desktop iMac, doesn't work. I get no answer or 1 or 2 occurences of a name or a word, even if , when checking by myself day by day, I find the item much more than 2 times.
Though, it seems to work on my iPad (sharing the same iCal's database).

Hello michelorl
If the calendars are not performing the way it should, check out the articles below for troubleshooting. If you are not using iCloud, the advanced troubleshooting has some steps for backing up the calendar, exporting and importing them in to see if any change happen.
iCloud: Troubleshooting iCloud Calendar
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3999
iCloud: Advanced Calendar and iCal troubleshooting
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4337
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Regards,
-Norm G.

How do i do a wildcard search in iCal

Hi,
Can anyone advise on how to do a wild card search using iCal find functionality.
Thank you.
Gerry.

You can't. However if you type eg P in the search box it will list all items with any word in the Title (assuming that is the type selected) that starts with P. Adding more letters reduces the number of items in the list.
AK

Why spotlight is not able to perform searches on iCal events older than 365 days?

why spotlight is not able to perform searches on iCal events older than 365 days? I really do not understand why if iCal can sync all events, even the very old, the spotlight will not be able to search on events older than 365 days; why? is absurd; let's say I want to search for a person contained in an old appointment: iCal in your Mac with a few key words, I find it right away, but this important feature on the iPhone is locked; we have in our pockets phones are very sophisticated, but it does not manage to make things really trivial.

Submit your feedback directly to Apple using the appropriate link on the Feedback page:
http://www.apple.com/feedback

Search in ical?

i believe i am supposed to be able to do a search within applications including ical. but i can't find a way to make the search field come up in ical. and, in the system wide search, i only get one or two ical things....any idea?

I had a similar problem. The symptoms were:
- Search in iCal did not work at all (no result, what so ever, returned)
- Search in Spotlight worked (the same search that did not return anything in iCal would return To-Dos and events in Spotlight)
I started by backing up and restoring, but this did not work.
I then read a lot about potential solutions involving quite extreme things (such as reinstalling Leopard). I then found out that I could solve this issue by simply exporting each calendar and then reimporting them without deleting anything.
For example, I had a "Home" calendar that I exported. I then chose "Import" then picked the exported "Home" calendar and chose my "Home" calendar in iCal as destination calendar. I feared that I would end up with duplicate events and to-dos, but no, iCal is smart.
Once this is done, my search in iCal started to work again and searching items on this calendar would return correct results (as did spotlight).
I then did the same with all my other calendars, and voilà!
Hope this helps

Lion 10.7.1. Searching on iCal does not work

I have Lion 10.7.1. Searching on iCal does not work. Also, I tried searching form the spotlight search , it does not retrieve calendar entries. Note: my calendar files are on an encrypted disk image (but I enable the disk image , I can see the calendar).
Any advice ?
Dag

I have been searching for an answer to this problem for about 6 months. I took it to 2 genius'! Neither could find the problem and suggested I completely wipe my hard drive and reinstall all the software. There ahs to be another way!

Advanced Search inside iCal

Hi there.
I'm looking for advanced keywords to make complex search inside my calendars.
I found the keywords AND and OR that enable me to find multiple events in a single search. Are there similar keywords to search only events until certain date and some more keywords?
For example ... I need to find all events until 10/10/2009 (something like : * _UNITIL 10/10/2009_
Thank you so much!
Gabriele

FaLc[ON]2,
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Enter the " character in the iCal Search field. The results pane will have four columns at the top (Calendar/Date/Type/Title). Click on the "Date" column to see the results organized by specific dates.
;~)

Search in ical doesn't work

I am using 10.7.4 and my iCal search doesn't work. When I type in a search term, the results pane is blank.
Help, please.

Brentbin,
Notice other posts, but where's the fix?
What have you tried?
Have you tried to...quit iCal, open System Preferences>Spotlight>Privacy, and add your Macintosh HD to the list?
Wait a couple of minutes, and then remove your Macintosh HD from the Privacy list. You should notice (after a short delay) that Spotlight is reindexing your HD. After Spotlight completes the index, open iCal and see if your search works.
;~)

HT1338 Need Download Page to update dated iCal after upgrade to 10.6.8 from 10.5.8. Current version of iCal is on with 10.6.8 and would like to determine on my own if it is the latest version. Searching for iCal Downloads is beyond any useful outcome.

Trying to find URL for iCal version downloads.
Need to verify correct version of iCal for recent upgrade to OS 10.6.8.
Current version of iCal is 4.0.4.
Would prefer web address for downloads and not just a: "You've got the right version" "You need to download to" type of response to thread entry.
Reason: iCal is spazing and duplicating current entrys on iPhone 4S iOS 6.3, and Quadrupeling and more current entrys as well as notifying me of calendar events that occurred seven years ago (random years) on my laptop running OS 10.6.8.
Thinking that an update to iCal might be cure to refresh iCloud web address syncing and correct crazy notifications and doubling and tripling.. of iCal entrys.
Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

4.0.4 is the version of iCal for 10.6.8. You could try downloading and applying the combo updater for 10.6.8 -
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
However Snow Leopard is not compatible with iCloud, so if you are somehow managing to make iCal sync with it it's a fudge and likely not to be reliable. Also, if you are syncing with iCloud you must avoid also trying to sync using iTunes - mixing two syncing methods is a quick way to problems.
If your Mac is capable of upgrading to Lion or Mountain LIon that would give you proper access to iCloud and a higher version of iCal.
The requirements for Lion are:
Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor
2GB of memory
OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
7GB of available space
To purchase it you will have to ring Apple at the number given at the bottom left of this page.
The requirements for Mountain Lion are listed here:
http://www.apple.com/osx/specs/
It is available from the Mac App Store (in Applications). (If you are currently pre-Snow Leopard you will have to upgrade to that to access the Mac App Store: it's available in the online Apple Store.)
You should be aware that PPC programs (such as AppleWorks) will not run on Lion or above; and some other applications may not be compatible - there is a useful compatibility checklist at http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

When I initialize Firefox Bing comes up as he Search Engine in the Search box. How can I change this to initialize with a different search engine? Thank you.

When I initialize Firefox Bing comes up as the Search Engine in the Search box. I know I can pull down to get others. Is there someway for me to specify Google as the one displayed when Firefox initializes? Thank you.

Remove Install Mac / Genieo/ Bing from Safari search
http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-genieo/
Best.

Hi.. I have a new apple computer and have no idea how to find stuff on here... Can someone tell me how to find my search history? Thanks

Hi.. I have a new apple computer and have no idea how to find stuff on here... Can someone tell me how to find my search history? Thanks

In addition to Japib's suggestion check out
OS X Yosemite: See your files in the Finder
OS X Yosemite: Finder preferences
OS X Yosemite: Ways to quickly see and open items
OS X Yosemite: Search with Spotlight
OS X Yosemite: Rename files, folders, and disks
OS X Yosemite: Folder basics
OS X Yosemite: Ways to organize files on your desktop
One more thing:
Search history is a term generally referring to what sites you have visited via your browser (e.g. Safari)
To see your Safari search history just open Safari and go to the top menu and select from Show History from the History
See two pics below

Search for ical years

How do I search previous years w/out clicking on the back or forward arrows to get to the desired year?

r-mor,
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Type a search string in the "Search" field (magnifying glass icon) if you have an idea of what you are looking for.
If you want a more general search type the " character into the search field, and click on column headings to vary the calendar/date/type/title parameters.

Safari is giving me a pop up that says "Safari doesn't identify this website". It comes up every time I search. please advise. thanks

Safari is giving me a pop up that says "Safari doesn't identify this website". It comes up every time I search and when i press continue the webpage doesn't load properly. please advise. thanks

1. From the Safari menu bar, select
Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Extensions
Turn all extensions OFF and test. If the problem is resolved, turn extensions back ON and then disable them one or a few at a time until you find the culprit.
2. Select
Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Privacy ▹ Remove All Website Data
and confirm. Test.

Ical search won't find events

Just upgraded to a G5-awesome. All calendars seem to have transferred & synced no problem- but today when I tried to search in events & to do's for an event ical came up with with no matches...even when I'm looking at an event with the same title I'm typing in. any suggestions? searches worked fine on my old imac & ibook G3
thanks
Carolyn

Thanks for the reply. Sorry if I have hijacked another thread but my problem seemed so similar......
Anyway, changing the seach criteria such as events, titles etc has no effect.
What is strange is that the more info put into the search box the greater the spread of possibles.
For instance 'whidbourne' will give a single match. 'Whidbourne close' will include all those entries with close in the title. 3 whidbourne close will include all those with 3 and so on. These hits are listed by date so the most accurate match '3 Whidbourne Close' is lost in a huge list.
Spotlight works the other way. The more info in the seach box the less the matches as one would expect.
Is this normal? If so Is it just me that finds it strange?
OK, If I remember to omit numbers and common words such as Mr, road, close etc it will be workable ...... but why?
Our emac runs Panther with ical synced via .mac with the G5 imac that behaves (to me) strangely and a search in ical will behave as you expect:
'3'.. gives all the possible matches with 3 in them....by the time 3 Whid is typed in the box there is only one match.

Revitalizing searching in iCal-- thanks to Thierry R.

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