Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes

Summary

Learn how to re-index a folder or an entire volume for Spotlight.

Products Affected

Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, OS X Lion, OS X Mountain Lion

  1. From the Apple () menu, choose System Preferences.
  2. Click Spotlight.
  3. Click the Privacy tab.
  4. Drag a folder or an entire volume (your hard drive) to the list.
  5. If prompted for confirmation, click OK.
  6. Remove the item or volume you just added to the list by clicking it and then clicking the minus ("-") button.
  7. Close Spotlight preferences.

Spotlight will re-index the contents of the folder or volume.

Additional Information

Note: You can only add folders or items to the Privacy tab that you have ownership permissions for. For more information about ownership and permissions, see Troubleshooting permissions issues in Mac OS X.

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