Spotlight indexing turn off. After the initial full indexing scan, Spotlight uses file system events to determine which files have changed and (re-)indexes them. Slow. If you exclude a Time Machine backup disk, you continue to receive messages that Spotlight is indexing it. Spotlight can be slow to respond to your request. Spotlight in macOS stores some of its indices and search data on your Startup Disk. Best way is to plug in the external drive and then go into system prefs. If you’re looking to squeeze every possible electron from your iPhone’s battery you may want to turn off Spotlight Search. 2. 6. This will disable all spotlight indexing on that drive. This post tells when you need to disable Spotlight on Mac and how to turn off Spotlight on Mac in different ways. Running 10. I agree that it is extremely useful, and I use it all the time, but it was making EyeTV playback freeze, and spotlight indexing is something that should run completely transparently in the background and never interfere with what I am trying to actively do. 8). Adding your project drives to the Spotlight privacy list helps stop indexing during sessions and keeps resources focused on audio processing. To turn off Spotlight indexing on a Mac, you first need to open System Preferences. The problem is that for larger external backup drives and Time Machine volumes, you don’t necessarily want it indexed by Spotlight. I never use Spotlight to access files, I only use it to launch applications. Can I just turn Spotlight indexing off? Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you're using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. [citation needed] Although not widely advertised, Boolean expressions can be used in Spotlight searches. 4 and 10. Lets try finding what makes it index. Have you rebuilt the Spotlight index on your Mac? If not, you may consider doing so as outlined here: Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support "Earlier versions of macOS Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Spotlight. Like the title, is it possible to turn of spotlight indexing while you are on battery power? @acorello on Ventura 13. - Type "Terminal" and press Enter to open the Terminal application. -E Erase and rebuild index. The best way to disable or enable Spotlight search in Mac OS X El Capitan is by using Terminal. Turn Spotlight indexing off: sudo mdutil -i off / Remove Spotlight indexes: sudo mdutil -E / Turn Spotlight indexing on: sudo mdutil -i on / Then did this 1. 4 with ram maxed out. 5) from Snow Leopard (10. Have you tried disabling spotlight on the device per terminal command? Something like sudo mdutil -i off -d -E <mountpoint> to disable indexing, searches and to erase spotlight caches on the drive. Apr 2, 2025 · Turn off any file types or settings you don't want Spotlight to use. [4] These utilities are also available on Darwin. 7, if Spotlight keeps indexing and reindexing your drives, you may want to disable or delete some of its core files to calm the beast down It writes Spotlight files to them, which consumes bandwidth that I'd rather use loading the cards. Besides just globally turning off Spotlight indexing, is there a way to prevent this? Adding the `. -i (on|off) Turn indexing on or off. UPDATE: According to your latest information the above does not help in long term. Follow our step-by-step guide for permanent exclusion and troubleshooting tips! Sep 27, 2025 · Many users on Apple Discussions report that Spotlight consumes excessive disk space when indexing emails and attachments. -a Apply command to all volumes. Here's how to minimize Spotlight using disk space. Spotlight-V100 folder on the disk dropped to 4KB from 800KB on the next mount, indicating that spotlight uses files on the disk to determine whether Here's how you can prevent Spotlight from indexing external drives and Time Machine backups. Spotlight off: % sudo mdutil - But you can stop Spotlight indexing if you want it to ignore certain folders. It defines what Windows search indexing is, how it affects your PC’s performance, and how to turn search indexing on and off using Windows Settings, the Services Manager, and using Local Group Policy. You can do this through the Apple menu which is located in the upper left corner of your screen. The main feature I want to disable is the indexing every single file on my hard drive. Time machine requires spotlight indexing activity, but the contents will not pollute search results. On your Mac, prevent Spotlight from searching and showing results from files in specific folders or disks. I also turned off Spotlight shortcut and replace it with Raycast. A main reason Apple users want to disable Spotlight search is because of mdworker, the software running Spotlight. Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you're using: macOS Ventura 13 or later Choose Apple menu > System Settings. 5 To turn off Spotlight in Leopard, use this trick: Move these two files to another safe location and then reboot your mac Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you’re using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. 1 adding the -X option results in spotlight indexing and searching the external disk when it's re-mount. This will reduce the size of the Spotlight data overall. On your Mac, use Spotlight settings to change the categories that appear in Spotlight search results. If for some reason you’re not happy with your device, you can sell your phones and electronics […] Stop Spotlight from Indexing Time Machine Backup Volumes & External Drives The default behavior for Spotlight is to start indexing any drive as soon as it’s connected to a Mac, a task that can take a very long time with larger volumes. 3 Jun 27, 2025 · Learn how to easily stop Spotlight from indexing your external drives on Mac. And then I found this thread which gives instructions on how to disable Spotlight indexing entirely (and re-enable it). These background tasks run even when your screen is off, pulling power from the CPU, storage controller, and wireless radios simultaneously. I don't want to turn off Spotlight completely, just temporarily. I just replaced my Spotlight with Raycast, and I have a plan to use it for daily basis and I think I don't ever need Spotlight again. Disable all areas that you "normally" do no search. sudo mdutil -i on / These commands turn Spotlight indexing off, erase the existing index files and turn spotlight indexing back on. -p Publish metadata. If you want to disable Spotlight search on OS X 10. 7. Open Terminal: - Click on the Spotlight search icon (magnifying glass) in the top-right corner of your screen. Pair the fix with MacKeeper's Safe Cleanup to remove junk safely, keep storage tidy, and keep your Mac performing optimally. […] Reboot, and Spotlight is back as usual Disable Spotlight in OS X 10. Apple: What is spotlight indexing and should I turn it off? (5 Solutions!!) - YouTube You have to execute all four commands in this order (thanks to the unnamed person who posted this way back in 2011): sudo mdutil -i off / sudo rm -rf /. The commands are: Disable: sudo mdutil -a -i off Enable: sudo mdutil -a -i on Nice and easy. Is there a way to prevent spotlight from indexing my MacBook Pro every time I turn on the computer? This is an enormous waste of time as I cannot use the computer until spotlight is finished indexing, which takes forever. Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you're using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. If the goal is to remove redundant search results for a non-Time Machine drive (a CarbonCopyCloner backup for example) then the volume can be simply added to the privacy list under Spotlight preferences. In addition to using Spotlight's privacy list, a simple name extension can keep Spotlight from indexing specific files and folders. When I used only sudo mdutil -i off -d /Volumes/<VolumnName> the . In the sidebar, click Spotlight (or Siri & Spotlight). Add Folders like System to the do not search. Click on spotlight and then click the privacy tab. 1. Turn off Spotlight indexing in Snow Leopard In some cases, constant indexing of files inside large compressed files (eg: Netboot images) can cause a machine to become unusable. Has Spotlight been overloading your Mac’s CPU? We will help you disable Spotlight Suggestions and fully turn off Spotlight on your MacBook in no time. Drag the external hard drive from the desktop to this screen. For those that have recently update to Mac OS Sierra, the best way to disable or enable Spotlight search is by using Terminal. However, if you add a Time Machine backup disk to the privacy list, you will continue to see messages that Spotlight is indexing your backup disk. Use System Settings in macOS to control which items Spotlight While most of the time, Spotlight works as advertised, you’ll surely see it struggling at some point when you try to use it. This is particularly The best way to disable or enable Spotlight search in Mac OS Sierra is by using Terminal. For network volumes with a lot of content changes, this results in a slowdown and unresponsiveness of all applications trying to access that volume. Spotlight indexing runs in the background and can suddenly spike disk and CPU activity. Spotlight re-indexing is the largest single culprit. Utility to manage Spotlight indexes. This article explains how to enable and disable search indexing in Windows 10 or Windows 11. The following will allow you to either enable or disable Spotlight on your Mac computer. Tired of Spotlight's performance issues and shallow search on your Mac? Learn the simple steps to disable it via System Settings or Terminal, and discover why power users are switching to smarter, private search alternatives like Fenn. Spotlight* sudo mdutil -i on / sudo mdutil -E / In order, these accomplish: turn indexing off delete Spotlight folder turn indexing on rebuild Spotlight in macOS stores some of its indices and search data on your Startup Disk. Sometimes, the file you know exists simply wouldn’t come up in Spotlight. You can try turning off Spotlight for Mail & Messages to see if Sep 27, 2025 · Learn how to easily disable or enable Spotlight Search on your Mac to control search indexing and improve system privacy or performance. -V vol Apply command to all stores on the specified volume. How can I make indexing to turn off automatically when on battery power, and enable again when Macbook is powered from an AC outlet? Save /etc/hostconfig by hitting Control-O and the return key, next hit Control-X to exit the nano editor Next, you’ll want to disable the index by typing the following in the Terminal: mdutil -i off / And to erase the current Spotlight index, type: mdutil -E / That’s pretty much it, on your next reboot, Spotlight will be completely disabled. A main reason Apple users want to disable Spotlight search is because of mdworker, the software running The mdutil utility manages the metadata stores used by Spotlight and allows you to turn indexing on or off, erase existing metadata storage files, remove local cache indices of network stores, and a few other useful tasks. [How to Fix Spotlight Indexing in OS X] Stop Spotlight Indexing Open System Preferences. 2. NOTE:- THIS IS ONLY TEMPORARY !!!! Turn off spotlight super-slow indexing after upgrade to Lion? My backup computer (2006 MBP) told me it needed 2 months to index the 500GB internal drive after upgrade to Lion (10. The indexes that Spotlight creates can be managed with mdutil, which can erase existing indexes causing them to be rebuilt if necessary or turn indexing off. -v Display verbose information. Can’t find the right file. This might be the result of improper or incomplete indexing. Also because I only use Command+Space for searching apps. This indexing is necessary for Time Machine to function properly and can’t be disabled. This indexing is necessary for Time Machine to function properly and can’t be turned off. 7 Every time I add a few MBss of files to my SD disk, Spotlight starts eating battery (per Activity Monitor Energy Impact) for one to several days indexing them. -d Disable Spotlight activity for volume (re-enable using -i on). How to Turn Off Spotlight Search on Mac You can turn off Spotlight search on Mac to stop constant indexing that slows down an older Mac, drains the battery, or surfaces files you do not want in search results. 5, read this guide. Fix Spotlight on Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10. Simply unchecking options in System Preferences >> Spotlight will not help prevent Mac OS from constantly attempting to index those files. 9. . metadata_never_index` file doesn't appear to stop indexing once it has started, and it starts instantly. [5] Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you're using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. New Macbook, I've turned off Spotlight indexing because it takes massive loads of processing power for ages. Every time you plug a USB drive into a Mac, Spotlight starts indexing it. Rebuild the Spotlight index To rebuild the Spotlight index for a disk or folder, turn Spotlight indexing off and back on for that item, based on the version of macOS that you’re using: macOS Ventura 13 or later From the Apple menu , choose System Settings. We understand that your Mac is indexing when you turn it on, and you'd like to disable it. For example to turn off the indexing on your Macintosh HD just type: "sudo mdutil -i off /Volumes/Macintosh HD" For more information about mdutil type "man mdutil" into the terminal. -s Print indexing status. Include excluded files in folders or disks in Spotlight searches: Select the folder or disk in the list, then click . How To Stop Spotlight From Indexing USB Drives By Default? I've searched Reddit and Google, but keep getting hits which don't help. So I did some light digging and found some forum threads discussing issues with Spotlight indexing on USB drives. Like all indexing services, Spotlight Search uses up some of your battery’s life while indexing. Every file, photo, message, and app on your phone gets re-scanned so Siri and Search can find them under the updated index structure. In this tutorial, you will learn how to disable Spotlight Indexing on Mac, Macbooks etc. Sorry if this is an old question but I can't figure out how to ask it. wcmfja, edpy, xckx5t, zbda9h, epkya, pmlbr, c5ow, mpkou, a2p2n, folmor,