Spotlight-V100 before reindex" box, ensuring the reindex is as thorough as possible.
Find any file for mac full#
(See full instructions on adding Terminal to Full Disk Access) First, open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access and add Terminal, checking the box next to it.You should rebuild your Mac's index even if Spotlight appears to be showing the right results. Rebuilding the index will allow macOS to reindex all files, refreshing the results it provides you. This can sometimes be obvious because Spotlight won't show any results either, but in some cases, Spotlight may still be showing old cached data. It's possible for the metadata gathered by macOS to become corrupted or be missing some files, which means Alfred won't return the results you expect. There are a number of steps involved, and every step should be followed very closely. It uses an official macOS terminal command provided by Apple. This step is a low-level but safe process to fix the macOS metadata which Alfred uses on your Mac. In System Preferences > Spotlight > check the Privacy tab, and ensure that it doesn't contain files or folders you want to index, as anything contained here will not be included in the macOS metadata index. As Alfred relies on the same metadata, it's essential that the boxes are checked for all file types you want Alfred to find. Spotlight allows you to choose which file types are indexed by macOS. Launch your System Preferences to the Spotlight preference pane to ensure all checkboxes for the file types you want to search are selected. If your search scope is correct, move on to the next step. To keep Alfred's results clean, we recommend use use the spacebar prefix (as in step 1) to search for files but if you're searching for types you want to include in default results (without a keyword or spacebar prefix), ensure these are checked in the Essentials or Extras. You can drag in additional folders if your files are stored outside of the existing scope. To review your settings, go to Preferences > Features > Default Results.Įnsure the file you're searching for is located within your search scope. " open" (or a quick press of the spacebar as a shortcut) to launch the file/app you're searching forĪlfred searches for files within his defined search scope.You can expand your search by prefixing your search with these keywords: The results included in Alfred's default results include applications, contacts and other file types you've specified in your Default Results preferences. Use the "find", "open", and "in" keywordsĪlfred uses an intelligent search scope to be fast and efficient. If the Built-in Troubleshooting tool has highlighted indexing issues, or you're experiencing any indexing issues on your Mac, these steps will guide you in resolving them. If the troubleshooting passed, try using Alfred's file search mode. You may simply need to add a folder to Alfred's default search scope, but in the case of a metadata warning or failure, this will almost always be resolved by rebuilding your macOS metadata.
Help > Troubleshooting > File Search Troubleshooting > Run TroubleshootingĬlick the "Run Troubleshooting" button and drop the file which cannot be found from Finder into the troubleshooting sheet, and Alfred will attempt to diagnose the file search issue. The built-in file troubleshooter can be run from Alfred's Preferences: Take a look at the Monterey-specific troubleshooting instructions if Alfred can't find files or apps in macOS 12 Monterey. Note: If you've upgraded to macOS 12 Monterey, please ensure that you're using Alfred 4.6.1+ and that Monterey is also up to date. If Alfred can't find the files or applications you're looking for, take a look at these steps to troubleshoot the issue.