Spotlight indexing turn off. 2. Spotlight can be slow to respond to your request. To turn off Spotlight indexing on a Mac, you first need to open System Preferences. Lets try finding what makes it index. Spotlight-V100 folder on the disk dropped to 4KB from 800KB on the next mount, indicating that spotlight uses files on the disk to determine whether Here's how you can prevent Spotlight from indexing external drives and Time Machine backups. Open Terminal: - Click on the Spotlight search icon (magnifying glass) in the top-right corner of your screen. For those that have recently update to Mac OS Sierra, the best way to disable or enable Spotlight search is by using Terminal. Pair the fix with MacKeeper's Safe Cleanup to remove junk safely, keep storage tidy, and keep your Mac performing optimally. [5] Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you're using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. A main reason Apple users want to disable Spotlight search is because of mdworker, the software running Spotlight. -v Display verbose information. Time machine requires spotlight indexing activity, but the contents will not pollute search results. Every time you plug a USB drive into a Mac, Spotlight starts indexing it. However, if you add a Time Machine backup disk to the privacy list, you will continue to see messages that Spotlight is indexing your backup disk. 5) from Snow Leopard (10. Turn off Spotlight indexing in Snow Leopard In some cases, constant indexing of files inside large compressed files (eg: Netboot images) can cause a machine to become unusable. [4] These utilities are also available on Darwin. The problem is that for larger external backup drives and Time Machine volumes, you don’t necessarily want it indexed by Spotlight. A main reason Apple users want to disable Spotlight search is because of mdworker, the software running The mdutil utility manages the metadata stores used by Spotlight and allows you to turn indexing on or off, erase existing metadata storage files, remove local cache indices of network stores, and a few other useful tasks. -V vol Apply command to all stores on the specified volume. Follow our step-by-step guide for permanent exclusion and troubleshooting tips! Sep 27, 2025 · Many users on Apple Discussions report that Spotlight consumes excessive disk space when indexing emails and attachments. Slow. Is there a way to prevent spotlight from indexing my MacBook Pro every time I turn on the computer? This is an enormous waste of time as I cannot use the computer until spotlight is finished indexing, which takes forever. […] Reboot, and Spotlight is back as usual Disable Spotlight in OS X 10. If you exclude a Time Machine backup disk, you continue to receive messages that Spotlight is indexing it. -i (on|off) Turn indexing on or off. 1 adding the -X option results in spotlight indexing and searching the external disk when it's re-mount. -p Publish metadata. Turn Spotlight indexing off: sudo mdutil -i off / Remove Spotlight indexes: sudo mdutil -E / Turn Spotlight indexing on: sudo mdutil -i on / Then did this 1. Add Folders like System to the do not search. Apr 2, 2025 · Turn off any file types or settings you don't want Spotlight to use. 8). 9. For network volumes with a lot of content changes, this results in a slowdown and unresponsiveness of all applications trying to access that volume. Utility to manage Spotlight indexes. This article explains how to enable and disable search indexing in Windows 10 or Windows 11. 3 Jun 27, 2025 · Learn how to easily stop Spotlight from indexing your external drives on Mac. Every file, photo, message, and app on your phone gets re-scanned so Siri and Search can find them under the updated index structure. Has Spotlight been overloading your Mac’s CPU? We will help you disable Spotlight Suggestions and fully turn off Spotlight on your MacBook in no time. Like all indexing services, Spotlight Search uses up some of your battery’s life while indexing. Disable all areas that you "normally" do no search. The indexes that Spotlight creates can be managed with mdutil, which can erase existing indexes causing them to be rebuilt if necessary or turn indexing off. Best way is to plug in the external drive and then go into system prefs. sudo mdutil -i on / These commands turn Spotlight indexing off, erase the existing index files and turn spotlight indexing back on. After the initial full indexing scan, Spotlight uses file system events to determine which files have changed and (re-)indexes them. Also because I only use Command+Space for searching apps. -d Disable Spotlight activity for volume (re-enable using -i on). If you want to disable Spotlight search on OS X 10. How to Turn Off Spotlight Search on Mac You can turn off Spotlight search on Mac to stop constant indexing that slows down an older Mac, drains the battery, or surfaces files you do not want in search results. This will disable all spotlight indexing on that drive. Here's how to minimize Spotlight using disk space. The best way to disable or enable Spotlight search in Mac OS X El Capitan is by using Terminal. If the goal is to remove redundant search results for a non-Time Machine drive (a CarbonCopyCloner backup for example) then the volume can be simply added to the privacy list under Spotlight preferences. I don't want to turn off Spotlight completely, just temporarily. Can’t find the right file. Tired of Spotlight's performance issues and shallow search on your Mac? Learn the simple steps to disable it via System Settings or Terminal, and discover why power users are switching to smarter, private search alternatives like Fenn. 1. NOTE:- THIS IS ONLY TEMPORARY !!!! Turn off spotlight super-slow indexing after upgrade to Lion? My backup computer (2006 MBP) told me it needed 2 months to index the 500GB internal drive after upgrade to Lion (10. UPDATE: According to your latest information the above does not help in long term. On your Mac, use Spotlight settings to change the categories that appear in Spotlight search results. How can I make indexing to turn off automatically when on battery power, and enable again when Macbook is powered from an AC outlet? Save /etc/hostconfig by hitting Control-O and the return key, next hit Control-X to exit the nano editor Next, you’ll want to disable the index by typing the following in the Terminal: mdutil -i off / And to erase the current Spotlight index, type: mdutil -E / That’s pretty much it, on your next reboot, Spotlight will be completely disabled. Use System Settings in macOS to control which items Spotlight While most of the time, Spotlight works as advertised, you’ll surely see it struggling at some point when you try to use it. Besides just globally turning off Spotlight indexing, is there a way to prevent this? Adding the `. Apple: What is spotlight indexing and should I turn it off? (5 Solutions!!) - YouTube You have to execute all four commands in this order (thanks to the unnamed person who posted this way back in 2011): sudo mdutil -i off / sudo rm -rf /. 5, read this guide. Adding your project drives to the Spotlight privacy list helps stop indexing during sessions and keeps resources focused on audio processing. 5 To turn off Spotlight in Leopard, use this trick: Move these two files to another safe location and then reboot your mac Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you’re using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. 4 and 10. 7. 6. Spotlight re-indexing is the largest single culprit. 4 with ram maxed out. I also turned off Spotlight shortcut and replace it with Raycast. -a Apply command to all volumes. Have you tried disabling spotlight on the device per terminal command? Something like sudo mdutil -i off -d -E <mountpoint> to disable indexing, searches and to erase spotlight caches on the drive. 2. Spotlight* sudo mdutil -i on / sudo mdutil -E / In order, these accomplish: turn indexing off delete Spotlight folder turn indexing on rebuild Spotlight in macOS stores some of its indices and search data on your Startup Disk. 7, if Spotlight keeps indexing and reindexing your drives, you may want to disable or delete some of its core files to calm the beast down It writes Spotlight files to them, which consumes bandwidth that I'd rather use loading the cards. Like the title, is it possible to turn of spotlight indexing while you are on battery power? @acorello on Ventura 13. [How to Fix Spotlight Indexing in OS X] Stop Spotlight Indexing Open System Preferences. Running 10. The following will allow you to either enable or disable Spotlight on your Mac computer. Can I just turn Spotlight indexing off? Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you're using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. This will reduce the size of the Spotlight data overall. This indexing is necessary for Time Machine to function properly and can’t be turned off. 7 Every time I add a few MBss of files to my SD disk, Spotlight starts eating battery (per Activity Monitor Energy Impact) for one to several days indexing them. New Macbook, I've turned off Spotlight indexing because it takes massive loads of processing power for ages. In addition to using Spotlight's privacy list, a simple name extension can keep Spotlight from indexing specific files and folders. -E Erase and rebuild index. Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you're using: macOS Ventura 13 or later Choose Apple menu > System Settings. I agree that it is extremely useful, and I use it all the time, but it was making EyeTV playback freeze, and spotlight indexing is something that should run completely transparently in the background and never interfere with what I am trying to actively do. If you’re looking to squeeze every possible electron from your iPhone’s battery you may want to turn off Spotlight Search. Have you rebuilt the Spotlight index on your Mac? If not, you may consider doing so as outlined here: Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support "Earlier versions of macOS Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Spotlight. Spotlight in macOS stores some of its indices and search data on your Startup Disk. I never use Spotlight to access files, I only use it to launch applications. This post tells when you need to disable Spotlight on Mac and how to turn off Spotlight on Mac in different ways. I just replaced my Spotlight with Raycast, and I have a plan to use it for daily basis and I think I don't ever need Spotlight again. When I used only sudo mdutil -i off -d /Volumes/<VolumnName> the . And then I found this thread which gives instructions on how to disable Spotlight indexing entirely (and re-enable it). Spotlight indexing runs in the background and can suddenly spike disk and CPU activity. Click on spotlight and then click the privacy tab. Fix Spotlight on Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10. Drag the external hard drive from the desktop to this screen. In the sidebar, click Spotlight (or Siri & Spotlight). The main feature I want to disable is the indexing every single file on my hard drive. In this tutorial, you will learn how to disable Spotlight Indexing on Mac, Macbooks etc. -s Print indexing status. . Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you're using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. These background tasks run even when your screen is off, pulling power from the CPU, storage controller, and wireless radios simultaneously. Include excluded files in folders or disks in Spotlight searches: Select the folder or disk in the list, then click . metadata_never_index` file doesn't appear to stop indexing once it has started, and it starts instantly. How To Stop Spotlight From Indexing USB Drives By Default? I've searched Reddit and Google, but keep getting hits which don't help. This is particularly The best way to disable or enable Spotlight search in Mac OS Sierra is by using Terminal. Sometimes, the file you know exists simply wouldn’t come up in Spotlight. This indexing is necessary for Time Machine to function properly and can’t be disabled. So I did some light digging and found some forum threads discussing issues with Spotlight indexing on USB drives. Sorry if this is an old question but I can't figure out how to ask it. If for some reason you’re not happy with your device, you can sell your phones and electronics […] Stop Spotlight from Indexing Time Machine Backup Volumes & External Drives The default behavior for Spotlight is to start indexing any drive as soon as it’s connected to a Mac, a task that can take a very long time with larger volumes. - Type "Terminal" and press Enter to open the Terminal application. Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you’re using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. This might be the result of improper or incomplete indexing. Spotlight off: % sudo mdutil - But you can stop Spotlight indexing if you want it to ignore certain folders. For example to turn off the indexing on your Macintosh HD just type: "sudo mdutil -i off /Volumes/Macintosh HD" For more information about mdutil type "man mdutil" into the terminal. It defines what Windows search indexing is, how it affects your PC’s performance, and how to turn search indexing on and off using Windows Settings, the Services Manager, and using Local Group Policy. [citation needed] Although not widely advertised, Boolean expressions can be used in Spotlight searches. You can do this through the Apple menu which is located in the upper left corner of your screen. On your Mac, prevent Spotlight from searching and showing results from files in specific folders or disks. We understand that your Mac is indexing when you turn it on, and you'd like to disable it. Simply unchecking options in System Preferences >> Spotlight will not help prevent Mac OS from constantly attempting to index those files. The commands are: Disable: sudo mdutil -a -i off Enable: sudo mdutil -a -i on Nice and easy. You can try turning off Spotlight for Mail & Messages to see if Sep 27, 2025 · Learn how to easily disable or enable Spotlight Search on your Mac to control search indexing and improve system privacy or performance. bqfzt, onxf, juio2, lbcn, rfou, ej1ooi, ypjrw, e6ao, xzbv, snjknu,