Spotlight search yields no results

Every now and then Spotlight searches fail and nothing appears. This happens fairly often but seem unpredictable.
I've tried various remedies suggested by others, like turning off everything in the Spotlight settings and turning them back on, etc.
I thought that this problem had been resolved with iOS 8.2.

I'm also getting blank results from time to time. It has gotten better i.e less blank results with 8.2. However the issues still exists. It's annoying. I hope it's solved in 8.3.

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Spotlight search return no results on fileserver

Spotlight is giving me fits. I had it working at one point, then it spontaneously stopped returning search results.
When clients (all osx10.5.5) perform a search on the file server they only get results for files that have been modified since the last re indexing.
I have tried deleting the spotlight indexes using mdutil -E /
i have tried turning indexing off, rebooting, and then back on .... all with no results.
After the most recent reindexing, i get some results ... but only files that were modified since the last reindexing.
Any suggestions? Or are there any references to spotlight that would explain how this thing works ... or how its suppose to work at least.
btw ... if you log into the server locally, searches results are as you would expect.
permissions on the server is wide open ... all registered uses and see and change all files ... so i don't think its a permissions issue.

Rathelm,
contacting you directly for some help as I'm in the midst of a spotlight issue....
I recent deployed 10.6.6 server, the last Xserve...
10.5+ & 10.6+ clients connect via AFP to sharepoints
In the 1st week clients complained that they cannot find files on server.
I rebuilt all spotlight indexes on all clients macs and on all volumes on the server
Clients were happy and were able to quickly search server....
Approx. 4 days later clients complained again that they cannot find files on server.
Asked manager for specifics and he found that only new files added to the server after the spotlight index rebuild cannot be found.
Clients not happy again..
Have any ideas?
Big thanks

The "power search" yields no results whatsoever when i attempt to search. Is this a problem with itunes or my computer? Everything else seems to load just fine involving the itunes store.

I am attempting to search for artists on itunes and for some reason it keeps telling me there are no results when I know I am tying in the correct artist. I have been trying this repeatedly and using different artists and song names and I am still getting no results. Is this a problem with itunes?

The only thing I would be concerned about is.
1st, Where did the media come from.
2nd, Was it clean and free of scratches.
Most of the CD&DVD Drives in Powerbooks seem to be very very picky about the media they like to play with.
Always be carefull of the Source from where it came.
Commercially produced Media is rarely a problem.
It doesn't take much eiter to make them act silly.
Good Luck....Don

Image searches yield unwanted results

Say for example, i type in sandal and click search. It takes me to the search results, i find a picture i like, and click on it. when i go to the link that says "see full size image" safari pauses, the url jumps around and then it brings me to some site that sells sandals. in between those two pages, there is a white screen and a little button that says "continue" flashes in the top left corner, then it goes to the ad site.
I must've installed something that I shouldn't have. what are the steps i can take to fix this?

well it probably wont happen to you because I believe it is because of some software that is on my computer. However I can post a URL that appears on my browser when the search image link takes me to an unwanted page, if you think that would help. But, im pretty certain that it is software that is controling safari rather than safari itself. Maybe i shouldn't have posted in the safari section.

Find or Search yields no results

When I search for a word in an Adobe PDF file, I get no results.

Could be that it was created from a scan. If so, there is no actual text to search for.

10.5.5 Client Getting No Results with Spotlight Search

Hi -
My company is slow to change. We are just now getting some Leopard workstations in our enterprise. The thing my users noticed right away was that under 10.5.5, they are unable to get any results from Spotlight searches on our Tiger Xserves over AFP. The Tiger workstation users can get search results from share points but not Leopard ones.
The Xserves all have 10.4.9 Server installed. The XServes and workstations are all bound to AD with SSO turned on. I limited the servers 10.4.9 Server because with 10.4.11 Server I get AD issues. 10.4.9 is stable for us.
I am forced to use Leopard as the new MacPros demand it
My question - What should I do so the Leopard workstations (10.5.5) can get real Spotlight results from my share points?
I have looked at the other Apple Support Boards and I don't get understand what they are talking about.
Thanks in advance.

I am an IT manager in a similar situation. However, I have shelled out the thousands to upgrade everything to the latest OS with my xserve running 10.5.5, and users running 10.5.5 or 10.5.6. Spotlight is totally useless. I have talked to tech "supportless" several times - no help. I have installed and reinstalled 10.5 on the server, reformatted drives, copied and deleted hundreds of gigs of data, done all kinds of terminal commands that were supposed to fix it, but it still just doesn't work. I wish Apple would stop coming out with new stuff for a while and fix this basic computer function. For now I use "Better Search". Better Search is Freeware from http://www.fornextsoft.com. Its ok - at least it finds stuff, but it is still not 100% accurate sometimes.

How do I copy text from a Spotlight search result quicklook window?

Is it possible to copy text from the quicklook windows that appear when you hover over a Spotlight search result? It would be useful to be able to copy, say, a phone number or email address straight from the address book card that appears in Spotlight. The only options I see are to display the text in large type and to Facetime (for phone numbers) and to perform mapping functions for addresses; simple copying seems to be disabled for some reason.
I am using Spotlight in OS 10.7.5.
Michel Chaouli

Try this:
set the clipboard to item 1 of (get name of (static text of group 104 of UI element 1 of scroll area 1 of group 4 of window "Account Summary" of application process "Safari"))
(10906)

BUG in iOS7: Post iOS7 upgrade, search option does not work for "Messages". If you want to search a contact name in Messages who is way below the list, the search will not yield any result.

BUG in iOS7: Post iOS7 upgrade, search option does not work for "Messages". If you want to search a contact name in Messages who is way below the list, the search will not yield any result.

These are user forums. You are not speaking to Apple here. Report your problem at Apple Feedback.

ITunes, App Store and Bing results in Spotlight Search?

Hi there
iOS 8 was supposed to bring new levels of richness to Spotlight search results on iOS, including iTunes, App Store and Bing results (amongst others?). But none of my iOS 8 devices are showing me these results in Spotlight searches. I'm looking at an iPad Mini with Retina Display, iPhone 5, iPhone 6 and an iPad Air here, none of which are showing results any different to iOS 7.
What gives here? Are these features limited to certain geographic locations? I'm in Denmark, for what it's worth.

Hi drdaz,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
Please refer to the attached weblink for information on the changes to Spotlight search in iOS 8.
Apple - iOS 8 - Spotlight
Have a great day,
Joe

Viewing multiple results in Spotlight search in messages

When I perform a spotlight search for certain words in Messages it returns multiple results with multiple people. How do I view each conversation? I have 18 results with one person but can only view one conversation out of the 18 when I click? Thanks!

Hi,
I am confused as to where you are starting from.
Spotlight is the Search App that can be accessed top right in the Menu Bar with the spyglass type icon.
It does not matter which app is "front" it will Search all the allowed places (mostly the Mac User account info and on other Mounted Drives).
There is a Search option in the Main Window of the Messages App
This will change the list to show those Chats with the word in them.
It will highlight one when you View that Chat.
Using the Edit Menu > Find > Next (or Use the Keystrokes CMD+ F) will cycle the found word through as many chats as have been found.
Same List of Chats without the Search Criteria listed
(No Highlighted Text).
8:25 pm Monday; September 22, 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

No wikipedia results on Spotlight search

Yosemite issue here:
In all the demos made for the Yosemite presentation of the its new features it's shown the ability of getting wikipedia results via the spotlight search.
In my case i just get a lot of results relatives to my local files but no links to wikipedia or any webpages at all.
I have tried selecting all options in SYSTEM PREFERENCES>SPOTLIGHT with no success.
Thanks,

I have the same problem over here, even though the Netherlands is listed for iOS8 Spotlight Suggestions (https://www.apple.com/ios/feature-av...ht-suggestions). The Spotlight suggestions are working fine on my iPad and iPhone (both iOS8).
Maybe OSX 10.10 Spotlight Suggestions is only working in the USA for now .

Spotlight search results for a contact no longer display details

3GS software ver 3.1.3
new problem with spotlight/search/contacts/results:
I use spotlight to search on a contact, select the result.
Normally it would display the details of the contact I have chosen. I like this.
Now it is going to the All Contacts function. This is a problem for me.
I have looked in this forum and the user guide for an answer.

Actually there have been complaints off and on for ages that keyword search doesn't work at all, though you say that it was working for you. Certainly it isn't producing a result now, though searching on your title does. I'm afraid that all this is internal to the Store - the ranking and search methods are opaque and despite various websites claiming to explain them, nobody really knows except Apple, and as usual they aren't talking. There isn't really anything you can do about this.

Spotlight search results window columns frozen

Spotlight search results window columns "Name", "Kind", "Last Opened" are sometimes "frozen" and cannot be clicked. Sometimes can be clicked.

HI,
Try deleting this file.
com.apple.spotlight.plist
~/Library/Preferences.
Move that file to the Trash and restart your Mac.
Carolyn

Spotlight Search Results - Sort by Date Modified

Running 10.5.2 on a Mac Pro.
Is there a way to sort Spotlight search results by date modified?
Am I missing something really basic or is Apple kinda going insane?
I also don't like that I can't search my files by filename without also allowing Spotlight to index the contents of my hard drive. I don't want my content indexed.
Why does Apple use AES encryption for FileVault? It has an NSA backdoor...
And while I'm at it, I can't network with my PB180 running System 7.5.5 anymore (OSX 10.2 let me).
GRRR! I hate when progress gets senile.

Rants will get you nowhere on these forums except banned.
If you want to report this to Apple, send Feedback and send bug reports and enhancement requests via its Bug Reporter system. To do the latter, join the Apple Developer Connection (ADC)—it's free and available for all Mac users and gets you a look at some development software. Since you already have an Apple username/ID, use that. Once a member, go to Apple BugReporter and file your bug report/enhancement request. The nice thing with this procedure over submitting feedback is that you get a response and a follow-up number; thus, starting a dialog with engineering.

Spotlight Comments do not appear in Spotlight search results

I have a .png file on my desktop.
Right click >> Get Info
Spotlight Comments has the string 'Fruit' saved.
If I search for 'Fruit' in Spotlight I get no results, why?

Hi TD
Yes and no.
Yes it worked the way you mentioned but if I change the Spotlight Comment: on the same file to something else I can still find it via 'Fruit'. I much prefer command-space bar to call Spotlight.
How long does it take a change to a Spotlight Comment: to filter into Spotlight?
Its not the end of the world its just I was finding Spotlight really useful until I came up against this.

Spotlight search yields no results

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