MacOS 13.1
I think this issue started since I updated to MacOS 13.1. When searching in Spotlight for some PDF, some of the PDFs that appear in the search result have the finder icon next to the PDF and if I attempt to open them, nothing happens. If I start the MacBook Pro in safe mode, this issue does not occur. I have tried re-indexing Spotlight but that didn't help. Any suggestion on what else I can look at?
MacBook Pro
When you just enter the text for PDF as you have done above, it is asking Spotlight to look for the string PDF in every chosen Spotlight category and not specifically PDF documents. Instead, use Spotlight keywords to narrow your search:
kind:pdf
kind:pdf pages:4
kind:pdf pages:<50
kind:pdf pages:>50 tag:blue keyword:work
kind:pdf created:>01/01/2023
You most likely will have to do what I did:
If you use Finder to locate a .pdf file, right click on it and choose 'Get Info'. Then Choose the application you prefer next to 'Open With'. Then click 'Change All'. It should then open all .pdf files with your chosen application. If you want Preview to open them, choose that. If you have Adobe Reader, choose that or what ever application you prefer.
That was how I had always searched for PDFs, without entering the keywords. The issue is when I click on the PDF documents return by spotlight, specifically those with the Finder icon next to them, nothing happens. Remember, I don’t have this issue when the MacBook Pro is launched in safe mode.
ktula wrote:
That was how I had always searched for PDFs, without entering the keywords. The issue is when I click on the PDF documents return by spotlight, specifically those with the Finder icon next to them, nothing happens. Remember, I don’t have this issue when the MacBook Pro is launched in safe mode.
This indicates that something that loads when your mac boots normally, but not when in safe mode, is involved - a third party agent, daemon or extension.
We have no access to your mac, so you need to provides with more information. Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here. Use the "additional text" button and paste the report into the text box.
That's what I thought too, some agent/daemon/extension that somehow affected Spotlight after the MacOS 13.1 update. The tricky part is figuring out what. I had already disabled/deleted a number of really old extension and login items to no effect.
I'll try Etrecheck.
Mike, were those documents by any chance in your Dropbox folder? My problem PDFs were in the dropbox folder and as soon as I moved them out, the Spotlight issue disappeared for those PDFs. Not all the PDFs in the dropbox folder have that issue though.
Thanks but that was not the solution. Dropbox was the culprit. I had to uninstall Dropbox.
Just deleting the Dropbox app from the Applications folder and some other Dropbox-related folders and files didn't do the trick. I eventually unlinked my MacBook on dropbox.com to force a login prompt from the Dropbox app, and that in turn forced Dropbox to sync all the files from the cloud to my MacBook.
This issue went away after Dropbox re-installation.
Same problem as described above. Following Dropbox suggestions now. Keyword searching in Spotlight isn't the solution. The problem is also NOT replicated when searching the same terms via the Finder search tool, only via the Spotlight search tool.
The same issue came back after the recent MacOS 13.2 update. So I suspect the MacOS update process affected Dropbox and if I repeat the same process I described a few comments ago to uninstall/unlink/re-install Dropbox, this in theory should resolve the issue. But I decided to just migrate most of the documents in my Dropbox to iCloud because I am subscribed to the 2-TB iCloud tier, I might as well make full use of it!
I'm having the same issue, tried the below suggestions with no luck, happened immediately after the update to all 4 of my Macs, we use them for work and use spotlight all the time, this is no good!
That does not solve this issue because I have tried it.
I know this does not resolve the issue but does this Spotlight PDF issue also happen when your Mac is started in safe mode?
Just select and press return to open the desired PDF, or cmd+R to reveal them in the Finder.
Yes they are in dropbox,
Weird Spotlight PDF issue
