Spotlight on MacOS 26 is basically unusable

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Level 1

4 points

Spotlight on MacOS 26 is basically unusable

Hello everyone,

I'm writing this post to ask if I'm doing something wrong or this is a common issue for other people too.

I'm gonna be honest, since I switched to Mac I never liked Spotlight and I always used Raycast as my Spotlight replacement, being more useful and faster. But when Apple released MacOS 26, I decided to give Spotlight a try to see if it was better than the old version.

Overall, I like it more, but I have one big issue that is honestly annoying me. When I want to open an app, fe Music, I don't understand how to search it. On Raycast, writing the name of the app was enough, but on Spotlight, I tried everything (I tried "Music", "Music.app", "Open Music", etc.) but I can't find the way to open the app I want. I always see links and other things instead of the application itself.

This is an example of what I see every time I search for an app to open it.

Can someone help me understand what I'm doing wrong? I really like the integration of Spotlight of MacOS 26 in the system, fe searching for specific tabs in the System Settings instead of searching for the app itself, but this issue is really making me miss Raycast.

Thank you in advance :)

[Edited by Moderator]

MacBook Air, macOS 26.0

Posted on Oct 9, 2025 5:33 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

neuroanatomist

Level 9

53,913 points

Oct 9, 2025 5:57 AM in response to ilaario

Enter Spotlight (Command-Space or click the menu bar icon), press Command-1 or hover your mouse over the search box and click the Application button.

Then start typing music and you should see it. I got as far as 'mus':

Yes, it's an extra step but that's a Tahoe adjustment. To have Apple consider your feedback, submit it here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Also note that you can directly access the Applications search for Spotlight with the new Apps app (replacement for Launchpad). If you had Launchpad in your Dock, Apps has replaced it. If not, you can find it in the Applications folder and drag it to the Dock if you want.

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Answer 2

Oct 9, 2025 6:29 AM in response to ilaario

Ok, had some coffee and another possibility occurred to me. Check System Settings > Spotlight, scroll down in the settings pane and make sure that Apps is ON for Results from System:

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Answer 3

Oct 9, 2025 6:13 AM in response to ilaario

Check your Applications folder, is Music there?

If not, since that app is part of macOS it seems you'll need to reinstall macOS. It can be done right over your existing system and will not delete your user data (though I'd still strongly recommend having a backup before doing it).

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

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Answer 4

Oct 9, 2025 6:18 AM in response to ilaario

Understood.

Bugs can be reported to Apple here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Chalk it up to Tahoe...I have similar experiences with Spotlight. My favorite example and an ironic Photoshop mockup to make the point.

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Answer 5

AlWeir

Level 5

4,235 points

Oct 9, 2025 5:42 AM in response to ilaario

To be honest I am some what old fashion. I rarely use Spotlight. If I am opening Music I just go to the Application folder rather first going to Menubar, clicking on the Spotlight, then having to type in Music in Spotlight and then open it.

I go to Finder, which opens the Application folder and I click on Music. Done No messing around with Spotlight.

Some people have Music in Taskbar all the time so they don't even have to do that.

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Answer 6

ilaario Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 9, 2025 7:14 AM in response to dialabrain

Maybe Apple is trying so hard to say to me that I have music taste that he doesn't let me open the Music app...

Apart from jokes, obviously it's not the biggest problem of this world, I still have the Music app in my dock, but I try to use my cursor as less as possible, especially when I'm coding, so yeah, it's kinda annoying.

[Edited by Moderator]

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