#Spotlight open in terminal how to#
#Spotlight open in terminal mac os x#
#Spotlight open in terminal update#

When Spotlight adds a file to the index, it checks to see if it recognises the file type and then uses an mdimporter plugin to index the contents if it does. You can re-index other hard drives by changing the command to include their name, like sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/OtherHardDrive. The existing Spotlight index will be deleted, and Spotlight will start creating a new index in the background. In the Terminal, type sudo mdutil -E / and hit return. If you are having problems with your Spotlight index, you might want to start over and re-index your hard drive.

To see all the other options, look at the man page by typing man mdfind into Terminal.

#Spotlight open in terminal update#

To run a вЂњliveвЂќ search which will update the results as users add files, use mdfind -live query. To limit this to a specific folder, instead use mdfind -onlyin ~/Desktop query replacing ~/Desktop with the path to your folder. To do a search, just type mdfind query where query is what you want to search for. Search Spotlight from the TerminalД¬onsidering Spotlight is so quick and easy to access, you will probably only use this if you are already working in the Terminal and want to find a file, or if you want some extra options. You might want to use this to add the System folder with mdimport -f /System as it isn't searchable by default.

#Spotlight open in terminal mac os x#

However, in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and earlier, the command is slightly different if you want the contents of the folder to be indexed too. Add a folder to the Spotlight indexДЄdding a folder works in exactly the same way as with a file. Finally, hit return and the file should now show up in you Spotlight searches. Of course, if you know the path you can type it in manually yourself. Terminal should automatically type in the path to the file for you. Next, find the file you want to add in the Finder, and drag it onto the Terminal window. Type in mdimport and then hit the space bar. Start by opening up Terminal (located in Applications/Utilities). To manually add it to the index, you can use the following command. However, every now and again something goes wrong and a stubborn file might refuse to show up. In theory, all files are added to the Spotlight index when they are created.

Here are a few Terminal commands for changing hidden Spotlight settings, performing more complicated searches and updating the index. Most of us have probably had a problem where Spotlight wonвЂ™t find a file you know is there. Did the information provided in the guide is very helpful? Mention your feedback below.Spotlight works great most of the time, but occasionally you may need to do a bit of tinkering to get it to work properly. The only thing you have to do is remember the command prompts to complete the tasks with ease. The terminal is the preferred option to do things quickly on your Mac. For example: to copy the files from Movies to watched movies folder, type: ditto (movies) (watched movies).

To copy files from one folder to another folder: ditto (folder 1) (folder).

For example, to open Apple Photos: Open -a Apple photos.

To open an Application: Open -a app name.

Meanwhile, here are a few basic command prompts that you can use on Terminal: Yes, the terminal can be opened in any one of the above-mentioned ways.

#Spotlight open in terminal how to#

Related Guide: How to open Task Manager on Mac Some basic Command Prompts Step 4: Now, you can launch Terminal from the dock whenever you want. Step 3: Choose Options > Keep in the dock.

Step 2: Then right-click on the dock icon on the bottom of the screen. Step 1: Open the terminal in any one of the above ways. You can add a terminal to the dock and open it immediately at any time. You can find the most used and recently used apps. Step 3: Scroll down to find the terminal. Step 1: Launchpad can be found on the dock.