macOS Spotlight

DB Reset

Run as owner for network homes, otherwise run as root.

mdutil   ### To show options ...

Show Status

mdutil -asv

Global - Disable and Reset

sudo mdutil -a -i off
sudo mdutil -aE
sudo rm -rf /System/Volumes/Data/.Spotlight-V100/

User - Delete Spotlight now

rm -rf Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight/
pkill mds
pkill mds_stores
pkill mdbulkimport

Enable without Reboot

mdutil -a -i on
sudo killall Spotlight

Enable with Reboot

### ... REBOOT ...
sudo mdutil -a -i on

If icon is in wrong state, restart UI Server

killall SystemUIServer

Do NOT index HDD

touch /.metadata-never-index

Plugins

Installed plugins for Spotlight - macOS know many UTIs - these are additional.

mdimport -L

Run mddiagnose for DEBUG.

Show log

log stream --predicate '(process == "mdworker" OR process == "mdworker_shared")' --info
log stream --predicate '(process == "mds_stores" OR process == "mdsync" OR process == "mdwrite")' --info