Spotlight search does not return results if I select my "Documents" folder but it does find the files if I select "This Mac"

Hi, I have a M2 MacBook Air with Ventura 13.2.1 installed. If I search for files in my "Documents" folder spotlight does not return any results but if I select "This Mac" it returns results including the documents in my "Documents" folder.


I've rebuilt the Index and tried everything else Apple support suggests but none if helps. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

MacBook Air, macOS 13.2

Posted on Mar 14, 2023 11:25 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 14, 2023 11:28 PM

There could be several reasons why Spotlight search is not returning results for your "Documents" folder. Here are a few things you can try:

  1. Check Spotlight preferences: Open System Preferences and select Spotlight. Make sure that the "Documents" folder is included in the list of locations that Spotlight searches.
  2. Check permissions: Make sure that your user account has permission to access the "Documents" folder. To do this, select the folder in the Finder, go to the File menu, select Get Info, and check the permissions section.
  3. Rebuild the index again: Try rebuilding the Spotlight index again. To do this, go to System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy, then add your "Documents" folder to the list of locations that Spotlight should exclude from indexing. Then remove the folder from the list and wait for Spotlight to reindex it.
  4. Use Terminal: You can try using Terminal to force Spotlight to reindex the "Documents" folder. Open Terminal and type the following command:
sudo mdutil -E /

This will erase the existing index and rebuild it for the entire Mac. If you only want to rebuild the index for the "Documents" folder, replace the "/" with the path to your "Documents" folder.

  1. Check for file exclusions: Spotlight may be excluding certain types of files from the search results. To check this, go to System Preferences > Spotlight > Search Results, and make sure that the "Documents" folder is included in the list of locations that Spotlight searches. You can also try unchecking any file types that are currently excluded.

Hopefully, one of these suggestions will help resolve the issue with your Spotlight search.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 14, 2023 11:28 PM in response to Jacq-In-a-Box

There could be several reasons why Spotlight search is not returning results for your "Documents" folder. Here are a few things you can try:

  1. Check Spotlight preferences: Open System Preferences and select Spotlight. Make sure that the "Documents" folder is included in the list of locations that Spotlight searches.
  2. Check permissions: Make sure that your user account has permission to access the "Documents" folder. To do this, select the folder in the Finder, go to the File menu, select Get Info, and check the permissions section.
  3. Rebuild the index again: Try rebuilding the Spotlight index again. To do this, go to System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy, then add your "Documents" folder to the list of locations that Spotlight should exclude from indexing. Then remove the folder from the list and wait for Spotlight to reindex it.
  4. Use Terminal: You can try using Terminal to force Spotlight to reindex the "Documents" folder. Open Terminal and type the following command:
sudo mdutil -E /

This will erase the existing index and rebuild it for the entire Mac. If you only want to rebuild the index for the "Documents" folder, replace the "/" with the path to your "Documents" folder.

  1. Check for file exclusions: Spotlight may be excluding certain types of files from the search results. To check this, go to System Preferences > Spotlight > Search Results, and make sure that the "Documents" folder is included in the list of locations that Spotlight searches. You can also try unchecking any file types that are currently excluded.

Hopefully, one of these suggestions will help resolve the issue with your Spotlight search.

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Spotlight search does not return results if I select my "Documents" folder but it does find the files if I select "This Mac"

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