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Finder search not showing all instances of item

I ran a search for text in file names and I am not seeing all instances of the text. My Intel iMac running Monterey finds them all. Anyone else having issues with the search function or know what I can do to fix it?

iMac 24″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Nov 22, 2024 9:02 AM

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8 replies

Nov 26, 2024 4:28 AM in response to BatG4

I would call this a workaround, not a solution. This behavior is obviously an error and should be considered a bug. The file system has the file names available for search (obviously, since the Finder displays them). Just because the file content is not immediately available should not mean the file name is ignored.


I do agree that the bug we are experiencing has something to do with iCloud folders and whether the file is stored on the system drive or not.

Nov 22, 2024 10:30 AM in response to BatG4

BatG4 wrote:

I ran a search for text in file names and I am not seeing all instances of the text. My Intel iMac running Monterey finds them all. Anyone else having issues with the search function or know what I can do to fix it?


Rebuild the Spotlight Index and compare your results...

Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support


Verify your Spotlight settings >System Settings>Spotlight



The current stable release of Sequoia including bug fixes, security updates is macOS 15.1.1

Nov 25, 2024 6:21 AM in response to BatG4

I have this problem, too.


I am running MacOS 15.1.1 on a MacBook Pro 13 inch 2020 with M1. When I use the Finder search function, the finder returns some (sometimes only a few) of the many file names that match.


Does resetting the Spotlight index also reset the Finder search index? I don't use Spotlight as it returns way more matches than I want. I just want to match on substrings of a file name.


Finder search not showing all instances of item

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