The time will be different for each used based on the number of changes that were made and new files since the last time MDS ran. If you run into that problem, use the sudo launchctl load command instead to enable both indexing and Spotlight.Īfter Spotlight has fully reloaded launchd, mds agent will start reindexing to the filesystem. Sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/.plistĪgain, the alternate approach is the indexing related “sudo mdutil -a -i on” command, but that method can throw the “Spotlight server is disabled” error and not allow you to turn it back on. The guaranteed way to reenable Spotlight is to reload it into launchd using launchctl: Sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/.plistĪnother approach is to use the older indexing method of “sudo mdutil -a -i off” which turns off indexing only, but more on that in a minute. The primary method is using launchctl, this will require the administrative password: This will effect indexing on all drives connected to the Mac. Open up the Terminal (found in /Applications/Utilities/) and enter the following commands based on the need to either disable or reenable Spotlight indexing. If you want to disable Spotlight search on OS X 10.4 and 10.5, read this guide. A main reason Apple users want to disable Spotlight search is because of mdworker, the software running Spotlight. The following will allow you to either enable or disable Spotlight on your Mac computer. The best way to disable or enable Spotlight search in Mac OS Sierra is by using Terminal.
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How To Turn OFF And ON Spotlight In Mac OS Sierra