Spotlight missing files/folders/apps

Not sure why, but spotlight has started missing files/folder/apps from searches.
I have tried rebuilding the index using all the sudo commands, and third party apps like Onxy with no success. I have also deleted the .plist file- still with no luck.
Spotlight will find some folder/files within a directory, but not others in the same dir. App have started not showing up now too.
Any help or advice is appreciated as this is causing productivity problems at work now!

I read it, but there's nothing in the mdutil manpage about blowing away the entire Spotlight directory. That's why it leads the pack. Alternatively, boot with the install disc, select your language, select Terminal from the Utilities menu in the next window, and do this command:
*sudo rm -R /Volumes/"name of original boot volume"/.Spotlight-V100*
quit the Terminal app, and reinstall Snow Leopard. See if that fixes the issue.

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Spotlight missing files and folders?

Spotlight consistently misses certain files and entire folders, which I can find by rummaging through my finder, but can't find by searching in Spotlight. No these are not hidden files or library folders. Yes I have checked my privacy settings and used the privacy options to re-index spotlight. Why would Spotlight miss certain folders? Does it only search to a certain depth? How can I get Spotlight to search these folders?

Step 1
These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
syslog -F '$Time $Message' -k Sender mdworker -o -k Message Rne Norm -k Sender mds | tail | pbcopy
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear.
The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.
The Terminal window doesn't show the output. Please don't copy anything from there.
If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.
Step 2
Enter the following command as in Step 1 and post the output:
mdutil -as 2>&- | pbcopy
You can then quit Terminal.
Step 3
Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Terminal. In the Console window, look under the heading DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION on the left for crash reports related to Spotlight. If you don't see that heading, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar. A Spotlight crash report has a name beginning in "mds" or "mdworker" and ending in ".crash". Select the most recent such report, if any, from the System and User subcategories and post the entire contents—the text, please, not a screenshot. In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.)
Please don’t post any other kind of diagnostic report, such as hang logs—they're very long and not helpful.

Numerous missing files/folders in photoshop elements 11.0

numerous missing files/folders programdata folder in photoshop elements 11.0
What is the best way to renew the folder - ? delete all information about 11.0?

Why does spotlight find files & folders that i've deleted?

i have several external drives connected to my g4/os 10.3.9 housing my music collection
when i connect them to my intel mac mini/ os 10.4.10 and delete a file or folder it still shows up if i search for it in spotlight (or using the search in the top right of the finder window). it shows up with a blank icon, uses zero k, does not give any location, is "read only", and if you double-click it a message comes up saying that it is an alias and the original can no longer be found. it then gives me 3 options "delete", "fix alias" or "ok". none of these achieve anything.
any ideas? it is annoying as it makes searching for anything really annoying as half of the results are these meaningless "aliases". this problem only occurs with files & folders originally created on the drives by my g4/ 10.3.9
if i create and delete a file or folder on the drive from my mac mini it behaves as normal (ie: once deleted it isn't found by searching.
aaaagh!!! help!

is there a way to force tiger to build an index for this drive? there was in panther (under disk info...you could see whether it was indexed, and start indexing if it wasn't) - couldn't see it in tiger (only had a quick look)

Spotlight Missing Files

Hi folks. I'm not sure why this is happening but no matter how many times I rebuild the index, Spotlight invariably misses some things. For instance, I have a file called passwords.doc. This was created a long time ago, and is obviously a Word file. Spotlight will not find this if I type password, but will if I make it plural. Yet there is a "2007 passwords" rtf file on the computer that it will find as soon as i type pas or pass. Another is a saved html page, called something like "social circles blah blah blah" ... if i type social, nothing. Social circle, nothing. social circles, and it pops up.
Is this a permissions issue? Is there a way to fix this? I just want the tool to be reliable, and I thought I had lost the old password file for days before I found it manually.
Thanks all.
John Tracey

Spotlight is missing files.... I have a file "DSC_2000.jpg" - nothing found although there is a file with name in folder "pictures" - and it does not appear in my today or yesterday finder folder - even though it was created today.
The weird thing if I look up "DSC_1" I get files - if I look up "DSC_" I get files but not any "DSC_2"
"000.jpg" gets nothing.
Does it take time for files to get indexed for Spotlight or placed into the "Today folder " --- the files are about 1 hour old...?

Spotlight misses files

In a sub-folder of my Documents folder, there is a new file - a new file that Spotlight refuses to recognize / scan. I erased its index and re-indexed yesterday because it wasn't reliable (using ONYX http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/11582. Now it's the same again.
I have already tried this trick with the Documents folder and its sub-folder: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301562; didn't help.
???

Thanks for posting, now I can mark it as "answered".
(I forgot it, and when I had hit "post message", there was no way to do so.)

Spotlight Indexing, Systemstats, Missing File, All After Mavericks Upgrade

Dear Mac Support Communities,
The upgrade to OS X 10.9.4 has crippled my computer.
My main question is: should I reformat, or should I wait for a patch to come out to solve whatever is wrong with Mavericks? I explain below.
Spotlight is constantly indexing. The mdworker is all over the place on the Activity Monitor—4% and then it explodes to 85% of CPU usage. Systemstats kicks in randomly (connected to spotlight perhaps?) and eats up 90% of my CPU and 3gigs of RAM. Time Machine takes AGES to backup.
I have not been able to stop Spotlight's endless indexing. I have moved my hard drive and my Time Machine backup into the 'private' filter in 'Spotlight Preferences.' I have also tried the "sudo mdutil -a -i off" trick to stop indexing altogether. But Spotlight Indexing goes "off" and then automatically turns "on" in Terminal. Spotlight carries on, and the computer performance is choppy.
I've run disk repair. First, I repaired permissions. Then I verified and attempted to repair the the hard drive. There is a missing file apparently, and I therefore must reformat. This is very first issue I've ever had with the hard drive since I bought the computer. Considering how awful Mavericks has been—I have been reading other Support Communities posts—I'm nervous about something going wrong, or that all these problems will persist after the reformat.
All of this has occurred three days after my upgrade to to OS X 10.9.4. I have heard of numerous people having problems with Mavericks. All similar problems concerning missing files, haywire spotlight, systemstats devouring any remaining CPU power and memory space, and slow Time Machine back-ups.
Anyone with the same problems? Care to theorize some solutions?
I have a late 2008, 15inch MacBook Pro., 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3, running OS X 10.9.4 (13E28).
Cheers! I appreciate the help.

Older Macs have more troubles under Mavericks. Considering the age of your Mac, it's not uncommon to start have hardware issues like drive failure.
To repair the drive you must boot from the Recovery Drive.
Boot into the Recovery Drive by holding down Command R when restarting.
Run Repair Drive and Repair Permissions using Disk Utility in Recovery.***
Next Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs following directions here This will serve two purposes. It will reset YOUR permissions. Not the same as Disk Utility reset permissions and it will cause Spotlight to re-index your drive when restarting.
Restart
Download and run the combo updater to refresh your OS X files.
OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 Update (Combo)
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1755
MORE INFO ON WHY RUNNING COMBO FIXES ISSUES
Apple updates available from the Software Update application are incremental updates. Delta updates are also incremental updates and are available from Apple Downloads (software updates are generally smaller than delta updates). The Combo updates contain all incremental updates and will update files that could have become corrupted.
Combo updaters will install on the same version as they're applying--no need to roll back or do a clean install.
"Delta" updaters can only take you from one version to the next. For example: 10.9.3 to 10.9.4. If somehow the 10.9.3 is missing something it should have, and that something isn't changed between 10.9.3 and 10.9.4 it will still be stale after the delta update.
***If Disk Utility is unable to repair you will have to copy your data to an external drive first. Reformatting will erase the drive. You should have a backup regardless, if your data is important to you. Just like a seat belt and an air bag protect you in different ways when driving, you need both Time Machine and a clone for full protection. If you don't have an external drive for backup, I can give you some suggestions to get you started.
Both of these applications can be used to create a clone.
SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/
CCC http://www.bombich.com/download.html

Some videos are semi-missing - they do not show up in File Manager apps or another app

I have what I will call three FILER apps: File Browser, Air Browser and File Commander. I also have MovieSRTPlayer. Those apps appear to not register the presence of some video files that I have definitely copied to my PB. The MovieSRTPlayer will overlay a .srt file's text over a video allowing the pb to show subtitles. It works as long as it can find the video and srt files.
I am definitely transferring a series of video files to the pb's video folder. I am also transferring a companion file to that folder. The companion file is a subtitle file in the form of an .SRT file.
THREE file manager type apps do NOT show those files as present in the video folder. The Video app itself does show and play those video files.
I have copied the files using both wifi-sharing and when they did not show up that way, I copied them using the usb cable to the pb's Z: drive and the video folder.
As stated the dam! files play in the video app. But they do not appear in the various filer apps. And they also do not show in another app, one that will display the subtitle (.srt file) file overlaying the video. In all instances it is as if the pb does not register the presence of those files on the pb.
Now, what is interesting is that when this first cropped up, 7 files were missing - just a mix of video (no .srt files involved). That is they showed in the video app and played but the filer programs did not show them. I managed last night and this morning to get 7 of those to finally show by copying/moving/deleting and recopying. But now I'm running into this brick wall again. I have repeatedly copied two video (avi files) and their companion .srt files to the video folder. They are in that folder (I've looked using usb and wifi-sharing) and they play in the PB's video app. They are most certainly on my pb.
Oh, and yes, I've rebooted a number of times.
Ideas?

I have what I call 3 file manager apps. File Browser, Air Browser and File Commander (the older free version).
They all show or don't show the same thing. So files are missing. And SIZE is not the sole determining factor. When I was testing MovieSRT and "lost" some files I copied and renamed avi and .srt files. So there are two extra .srt files in the Video folder. But while they are 32kb (kilobytes) and 58kb respectively, they do NOT show up in the File managers. The other two identical files with the names matching the .avi files do show up. The one very large mp4 (2gb) does not show up. A subfolder I created just as a test does not show up. But the large mp4 and subfolder were showing up while I was actively copying the 2gb file - they would show up as the file was being copied - the filemanagers showed the file getting larger and larger and while doing so the "missing" subfolder also kept showing up. Then once the large file was completely copied, both it and the subfolder "disappeared" - again, the large mp4 does show in the Video app and it plays.
My persistence probably is based on the fact I was a computer programmer many eons ago! Also, I was trying to get YOUR app to work and the avi files were not showing up in your listing but they were showing and playing in Video app (but no subtitles). Finally, after copying/moving/re-copying over and over including moving and copying to the PB's Print folder (just since it was empty) and copying it back to the video folder (now 2 copies), the files would finally show up. Peculiar - yup!
Oh, one other thing - the 3 file managers all show what I will call the virtual Playbook-Demo video in their listings - your app does NOT show it. Obviously, it is not located in the Video Folder but somewhere in the bowels of the PB. So, the filemanagers are relying on some "file structure" that is not fully correct. But your app does not appear to show it.

Looking for an app to toggle "Invisibility" on certain files/folders (without moving)

Hello! I'm looking for an app (OSX Mavericks 10.9.5) that can allow me to easily right-click on any file or folder and make it invisible or hidden
I have my MacBook Pro setup in a way that just makes things easier for me with music production.. I would like to be able to "Hide" a bunch of folders/files that have to do with my music directories..
The reason for this is that some of these files/folders may only be used once a year (if that).. but they're critical enough to what I do that I need to be sure that they're always on-hand and available when I need them.. I'm pretty good with computers and already have an Alfred 2 workflow set up to toggle "Show/Hide Hidden Files/Folders", so I'm not the type to "Hide" something and then freak out when I can't find it, without at least knowing to check "Show Hidden Files/Folders" first lol..
I *DO NOT* want an app that will be physically moving the files or folders anywhere else but their current locations!
I need recommendations for an app that can meet the following criteria (for those too lazy to read so far):
-Quick and Simple
-Does not require me to drag my selection to the dock or have any extra windows open
-Does not move files or folders from current location
-Does not cause interference with program/system files
-Can be accessed via right-clicking on what it is you want hidden/invisible
Any suggestions?

Hi,
I am reading this as it has been tagged with the iMessages & Messages tag.
The actions you want to undertake are not something I know about.
8:27 pm Wednesday; October 8, 2014
 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad

I bought garage band from the app store and downloaded it to my mac mini. When i try to open a screen comes up explaining i need to down load missing files. I do this but when try to open GB again the same thing keeps happening! Can anyone help.

I bought garage band from the app store and downloaded it to my mac mini. When i try to open a screen comes up explaining i need to down load missing files. I do this but when try to open GB again the same thing keeps happening! Can anyone help.
Thanks
Hugh Lockwood

Hi, Hugo,
In similar cases it helped to remove the GarageBand "Preferences" file from the User Library.
Open the folder
your home folder > Library > Preferences
and move the file "com.apple.garageband.plist" to the Desktop.
Then try again to launch GarageBand.
Regards
Léonie

Hundreds of Identical Files & Folders Show In All Spotlight Searches

Hundreds of Identical Files & Folders Show In All Spotlight Searches
Hi,
I had this issue posted in September and didn't get back to it 'till today so I found it archived. I don't think I got any answers the first time around. When a post is archived, are replies archived also?
Here's the problem:
Spotlight works for me the way it’s designed to work. It finds what I’m looking for if the item is in the computer.
But what are showing up in most of my searches, are long columns of files, all with the same names, sometimes as many as forty or fifty identical items. These files have the same dates and sizes. Some are located in different folders, including Trash, but most are complete duplicates
I do occasionally save as the same document in different places, or make a duplicate/copy to put in more than one location. But I have never created more than a few duplicates. In Spolight, there are hundreds
Any suggestions?
Rafael
ibook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I rebooted the machine. Now all the files show up in Finder. But when I repeat the exporting procedure I get the same problems again. Files are not showing up in Finder as they are supposed to.

I moved my FCP events and projects folder onto my external hard drive and now everything is gone on FCP. When I tried to reload those folders onto FCP nothing happened. I still get the missing files image.

I moved my FCP events and projects folder onto my external hard drive and now everything is gone on FCP. When I tried to reload those folders onto FCP nothing happened. I still get the missing files image. When I try to import the folders manually something pops up that says it is incompatable. It is possible to retrieve everything that was lost?

"When I tried to reload those folders onto FCP nothing happened"
Brownale6 how can u reload folder in to FCP.
As you said folders are moved to external disk but have you checked it should be like this
For Event
external disk>Final Cut Events>your event folder.
For project
external disk>Final Cut Projects>your project folder.

Mail in Lion: missing sub-folders in file cabinet

After a problem with my "old" MacBook Pro, I have just bought a new one with OSX 10.7.3 Lion and Mail 5.2. I was able to move almost everything over with the Migration Assistant and recovered almost all the remaining from my cloud backup at Carbonite. So far so good.
However, in mail, some (not all) sub-folders in the file cabinet do not appear. I redid the restore from Carbonite but they still do not appear. Tried doing a rebuild of the File Cabinet and the folders within it but aparently that does nothing.
My assumption is that the are there in the folders of mboxes but, since the Library is now hidden from view, I can not look to verify if the mailboxes are there.
What do I do to get them visable?
Thanks in advance.

Ernie,
I have completed my recovery of the missing sub-folders. The only change that I would make in my procedure is to not delete the mbox from the original location in the folder - because then I had to move it back from the desktop. (Not sure what is going on here.)
So my procedure was:
In user/Library/Mail, find the mbox that is not appearing in the Mail File Cabinet list.
Drag it onto the desktop. (That wil be a copy. It will remain in the Library.)
In Mail, use the Import Mailbox option to import it.
Move the imported folder or sub-folder into place - to where it should be on the list.
Delete the mbox copy from the desktop (validate).
It works. But, in a word - UGLY!
Since nothing more elegant has been suggested and since I have recovered the folders, I am now going to give you credit for solving the problem.
Thanks for your help.

ITunes linking to JPGs in strange folders & missing files

I was using iTunes on a PC, via a NAS drive where I keep my music. I want to start using iTunes on a MacBook so pointed iTunes on the Mac to the shared music folder on the NAS. I had the usual exclamation marks on some of the tracks, so went in to the folders to locate the files. A lot are now missing from the folders - i.e. half the albums are gone or complete artists are missing.
The second and most strangest part that I cannot understand is that when I look on some tracks in 'Get Info' and 'Where', some of the files have been moved to obscure locations and are showing as jpgs. When I go into the folder, all there is is JPGs! The music plays fine for these files, however I can't locate the rest of my missing files as they no longer have the correct filenames or even extensions. Example below.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

Somehow they got deleted from the PC's hard drive, but iTunes didn't get told about it.
Just find those podcasts in iTunes and delete them.

Missing CF-dvc app-720x480 file won't load

When opening my FCP project, I get a message referencing a missing CF-dvc app-720x480 file and prompts a search. I can find the file, but am unable to select it as it is ghosted. Now I can't open the project, or even the FCP program itself. Any ideas?

Make sure your computer is compatible:
For 64-bit installations of Windows 10 Enterprise Technical Preview, a small number of older PCs will be blocked from installing the preview because they don't support CMPXCHG16b,
PrefetchW, and LAHF/SAHF.
You can not install 64 bit from a 32bit installtion.
You may want to try a USB key: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool

Spotlight missing files/folders/apps

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