Spotlight won't stop indexing mail

i have unchecked messages and chats in the spotlight search results but i still get these cluttering up my search efforts. any idea how to stop this or why it is happening?
thanks.

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Spotlight won't stop indexing in Lion 10.7.3

I read several other posts and think I have a fix.

I read several other posts and think I have a fix.

Spotlight does not stop indexing

I need help: Just started the brand new MacPro 2x 2.66. The long desired spotlight (I run osx 1.3.9 before) does not work. Spotlight never stop to index. It runs and runs. If I add the hard drive to privacy in the system preferences it stops, but as soon as I get it back it just continues to index. So I've never been able to use Spotlight. Another harddrive in the machine (one without just data, no system) is swiftly indexed. But as soon as I have the main HD open for indexing, Spotlight continues to index for ever.
The harddrive causing the prooblem has previously been used in another computer under 1.3.9
Any ideas for fixing this would be much appreciated.
MacPro 2x 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hello,
I'm seeing the same kind of problem. Here are the symptoms:
-Some or all data from a Mac previously running 10.3, is migrated to a Mac using 10.4. The Migration Assistant is used.
-Spotlight will continuously re-index, stop for a brief period, and repeat, either by itself, or when a search is attempted.
-Erasing the indices with mdutil -E, running fsck, fixing permissions and stopping/starting Spotlight doesn't resolve the problem.
-Excluding the migrated user directory will stop the madness. I.e., other users and shared directories like Applications, are searchable, and Spotlight will stop the continuous re-indexing.
-Recreating the user directory from scratch, and then copying in data from a backup, may once again start the madness.
The big question is, what, exactly, causes the indexing cycle?
The client affected by the problem is very disappointed, and had cause to wonder "how is this any better than Vista? I would have been better off with a Windows PC". I really need to resolve this, but I'm not sure of the best way to get Apple Tech involved with this bug.
Many Macs Mac OS X (10.4.8)

IPad won't stop checking mail

iPad won't stop checking for mail - it has been over an hour and still checking. Also my primary email does not pick up all my mail.

Thanks so much for your reply!
I should have also mentioned that I've deleted the account, did a reset, and even a restore (at apple's suggestion) and nothing has helped. I just finished reentering all the account info after the restore and it still has the "checking for mail wheel spinning". I have 15 iPads in this office and haven't had an issue with any of them expect this one.
It also has the "Load More Messages..." 29 messages total, 0 unread - at the bottom of the inbox, but it won't let me select it or "load" any more messages. It does send and receive emails just fine though. Slow, but fine.
Any other thoughts?!

Spotlight doesn't stop indexing

Hi guys,
Every time I start my iMac (everything up to date, Mac OS X 10.8.2) Spotlight starts calculating the time it will take to complete the indexing. And it takes many, many hours until it actually starts indexing - today I waited 15 hours, then shut the indexing of, restarted the SystemUIServer and waited again maybe 6 hours of calculating the time. Now Spotlight actually startet the indexing; I had that one or two times but then shut my computer off since I had to go to bed, now I'll keep it on to see what happens. I'll post tomorrow what happened, but that Spotlight takes so long to start indexing is a problem that shouldn't be and that should be mentioned and fixed.
Greetings,
Jannis

Please read this whole message before doing anything. This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it. The purpose of this test is to determine whether your problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.
When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.
If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.
*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode. Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs. The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin. Test while in safe mode. Same problem? After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Time capsule not backing up - spotlight doesn't stop indexing!

I have asked Spotlight not to index the backup drive however it ignores this and continues to try and do so. However it continues to estimate index time without providing a time, and hence the backup never proceeds.
Rebooting hasn't helped, and I'm even pluggintg the MBP into the TC via ethernet.
Any ideas please?

I'm having the same problem. Added the time capsule to the privacy list but this doesn't appear to prevent indexing. Basically every time time machine backup kicks off it indexes the time capsule, which is of no value to me. I believe this is a recent issue, but I can't say for certain what changed. Recent software update? Anyway, did you ever get to the bottom of it? My backups do complete, however it slows down the process and of course i can't use spotlight while its "estimating/completing" index of time capsule.

Macbook Pro won't stop indexing!

Hey yall ive had my MBP for right around 15 months and lately it was beachballing alot so i installed Onyx. Then it started freezing and BB'ing even more with Firefox. So i completly uninstalled Onyx and firefox. That solved the problem for the most part. Then it kept on BB'ing some more when using safari. So i did the repair permissions thing and now my MBP has been indexing for like 2 days and hasnt made in progress. I just want my computer back to where it was quick and did BB every five minutes. What do i need to do?

I am in almost the same situation.
The only differences are that I had gone in and tried to repair my volume. I did this once and it seemed to solve the problem. Then the symptoms came back and I did it again, but the second time it couldn't repair. So I reformated and reinstalled Lion, brought my system back with a time machine transfer. However the symptoms are back again now.
I also did NOT uninstall Onyx or Firefox.
Someone please help us both.

Why won't it stop indexing

Everything is indexing...spotlight is indexing...then my usb drive-with all my DISSERTATION work is indexing...my seagate backup took what felt like the time it took the **** moon to form to just process...Why is this fresh **** upon me? I am not tech savy-I can't "command" the indexing to stop. I am literally being driven insane by this.

You are indeed. It did it a few days ago. But the odd part seems to be that it is repeating itself. Or, rather, won't stop? It hasn't done a full on "indexing all night long" session, it just does it long enough (say, 45 minutes) to make me want to punch my own face inside out, as it prevents me for doing the one tiny thing I need to be doing-searching for files...Then it ceases its madness for a while, or so I believe, until I realize it has shifted to needlessly indexing my USB drive! It's like nanobots out to repair things in no need of repair!
If I just leave it alone, if I don't won't on my computer (the mere suggestion is madness!)... and just step away from it, just become one with my frustration and grade student papers or something, will it just index itself into pure bliss and stop the madness eventually?
Thank you for the reply and direction which moves me away from self-harm.

Mail won't stop checking some accounts

Anyone have this happen before? Mail won't stop checking a couple accounts I have. They are accounts we use every single day, run off our own server. They will check fine on other macs, but not this iMac starting a few hours ago. I have rebuilt the boxes, deleted all mail from the servers and updated to 10.5.4 just in case. Still the same thing.
I have to force quit, then once restarted it will grab new e-mails before it craps out and just sits there spinning on accounts again.
Ideas? Thx.

I'm experiencing the same issue with one of my POP accounts as well.
I've tried the "Rebuild" command in the Mailbox menu as well as rebuilding the Apple Mail Envelope Index, but it's still attempting to sync.
Has anyone found a resolution to this issue?

Spotlight trouble indexing mail in Lion

Having a terrible time with Spotlight perpetually indexing mail.
system log shows
Jul 11 17:01:26 xxxxx com.apple.mdworker.lsb.0[2660]: [Assigning new unique identifiers to all messages]
Jul 11 17:01:26: --- last message repeated 249 times ---
and of course All messages shows every one of those.
also plenty of messages like
Jul 11 17:03:02 xxxxx com.apple.mdworker.lsb.0[2660]: %Unterminated mailbox: [email protected].
Jul 11 17:03:02 xxxxx com.apple.mdworker.lsb.0[2660]: %Unexpected characters at end of address: :;>
Jul 11 17:03:02 xxxxx com.apple.mdworker.lsb.0[2660]: %Unterminated mailbox: [email protected].
Jul 11 17:03:02 xxxxx com.apple.mdworker.lsb.0[2660]: %Unexpected characters at end of address: :;>
Jul 11 17:03:04 xxxxx com.apple.mdworker.lsb.0[2660]: %Missing parameter value: NAME
Jul 11 17:03:04 xxxxx com.apple.mdworker.lsb.0[2660]: %Missing parameter value: FILENAME
-- those seem to be ridiculous errors for Spotlight -- if it can't figure out how to parse some of the info, it should ignore that info.
This continues until the disk cache gets totally overloaded, and the machine slows down.
Only help is to reboot.
I have tried turning off spotlight indexing to delete the spotlight cache (and used Cocktail to delete the Spotlight index)
That was no help.
Also rebuilt all of the mailboxes within the Mail program.
Then turned indexing off and back on.
Still no help.
Just tried deleting a couple of old mailbox entries in ~/Library/Mail
There was an old Unix mailbox there from an early version of OS X, and another one that I could not identify, and should have been deleted long ago.
I know I can turn off the indexing for mail, but that is one area where I would like to keep it.
I haven't tried a reboot since the latest deletes, but seeing the same messages flowing in the logs does not give me much hope.
It may be possible that 1 or 2 bad emails are causing all the trouble, but I am at a loss to find them.
Have 18 different accounts that are active ( I do web work so have webmaster, and other accounts on a number of servers).
Those are a mix of IMAP and POP.
INBOX total is usually kept around 100 emails - almost never goes above 200 unless I am away for an extended time.
Most mail ends up in folders ON MY MAC.
Largest of those has about 1500 messages.
Do not have extra folders on the servers with any of the IMAP accounts.
It is about time I archive some of the older messages, and that may help, but it will take me a while to get to that, and then flush the messages.
Problem occurred after update to Lion.
Did not seem to have the problem with Snow Leopard
Anyone have any other ideas?

I thought I had posted a follow up to this posting, but I guess not.
Soooo, here it is.
The problem was not with Apple Mail.app as it seemed, but actually with Mailsmith.app.
I use it for a number of mail accounts that I want to handle separately from my other mail accounts.
Within that application there is a Spotlight helper/worker
-- /Applications/Mailsmith.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/MailsmithImporter.mdimporter/ --
That is what was causing the problem for me.
Some users remove that section from the application, or do as I did -
Set the folders for Mailsmith mail for privacy in Spotlight.
Note: also set any backups of the Mailsmith mail for privacy also.
I filed a bug report with Mailsmith, but it is still open.
There appear to be a lot of issues with their Spotlight helper through the various versions of OS and Mailsmith.
see their discussion groups -
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!searchin/mailsmith-talk/spotlight$ 20indexing
The problem may be with certain emails, attachments, or addresses, don't know.
I am happy excluding that mail from Spotlight, and now my logs don't overflow and crash, the machine goes into deep sleep, and runs much cooler.

Just used Migration Assistant but spotlight won't index files on new iMac computer.

I just used Migration Assistant to move files from my old 2008 Mac Pro to a new 2013 iMac 27" both Intel based. Files and applications all moved over fine and I can access them in Finder but Spotlight won't index the files. Should I be reindexing something or do I need to do somethign for spotlight to recognize the new filez I migrated?
Thanks!

You can force a Spotlight index, just let it run and your migration should be just fine. Instructions are in:
Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes located at: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409

Spotlight won't index iPhoto 7 files

It seems spotlight won't index the iPhoto Library for iPhoto 7 (iLife '08) automatically.
I manually issued the following command in Terminal and it worked. But will it work automatically when I add more pics?
mdimport -f "/Users/ibrian/Pictures/iPhoto Library"

Step one to ascertain whether the .Spotlight-V100 folder exists.
$ ls -al / | grep .Spotlight-V100
If so, then remove it, and restart:
$ sudo rm -R /.Spotlight-V100
That should restart indexing. If not, then try the mdutil commands again.
If that doesn't do the trick, create a new admin user account, log into it, and try there.

Spotlight wont stop indexing

My Spotlight wont stop indexing. It says (and has always said) there is about 2000 hrs left until it has finished indexing... hence I cant use. Any idea of how I can fix this? THANKS!

Launch the Terminal app in /Applications/Utilities/, copy & paste this command into the window that pops up, and hit the return key:
*sudo mdutil -E /*
When the Password: prompt pops up, enter your admin password, carefully, since nothing shows up on the screen, and hit the return key. When the prompt returns, quit the Terminal app.
The command +causes the local store for the boot volume to be erased. The store will be rebuilt.+ The store is what contains the index and supporting items.

Mail - Won't stop recovering messages!

A couple days ago, I was trying to email some .zip files (they were photos that I put in a .zip) to my friend. However, they were too big so it didn't send. So I ended up just not emailing them at all and quit out of Mail.
Now, whenever I open Mail, there's a new folder called "ON MY MAC" and under it is "Recovered Messages." The messages under the "Recovered Messages" folder is all the emails that I tried to send to my friend a few days ago. I tried deleting these messages from the folder, but they keep coming back! Mail keeps recovering these messages, but I don't need them anymore. I just want to delete them. How do I stop it from automatically recovering these unnecessary messages?
Also, the spinning circle next to my inboxes won't stop spinning. Which I think slows down Mail entirely... I tried going to Window > Activity and tried to stop the activity, but then it would just start up again. So now I usually just get frustrated with Mail lagging all the time and just quit out of it.

HI and Welcome to Apple Discussions...
Check out this thread ...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10465676&#10465676
Carolyn

Spotlight won't search mail with more than one account enabled

Just upgraded to iPhone OS 3. On the whole good.
I have a .Mac mail account for my personal stuff and I have an IMAP account set up for my work email.
When both are active Spotlight on the iPhone won't find any Mail messages. Turn off the work account and it then works OK.
Anyone else seeing this?

I had added the email account manually on the iPhone.
I just tried deleting it then setting it up on my Mac, then syncing it via iTunes
Same thing. If the work email is enabled then spotlight doesn't find emails in my .Mac account.
If I disable the .Mac account it doesn't find work emails, so I think it's not multiple accounts per-se but something to do with my work account - that said we do run a very antiquated Sun mail server, so my eyebrows are definitely not moving in an upward direction.
Paul

Spotlight won't stop indexing mail

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