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Dropbox is not searchable in Mac OS Monterey 12.0.1
Dropbox files/folders are not searchable in spotlight on new MacBook Pro with M1 chip - Monterey OS 12.0.1. Have re-indexed spotlight. Have uninstalled and reinstalled Dropbox and rebooted. Have made sure Dropbox has full access in Security and Privacy. Help please?
I have found a solution, everyone! I hope everyone struggling with this will find this post. The problem isn't with dropbox, it's with Mac Spotlight. Which surprised me, as I always thought the finder search was separate from Spotlight, but apparently, on the back end, both are one-in-the-same. I've heard many times that re-indexing spotlight didn't work, but it does! You just have to do it a different way for everything to ACTUALLY 100% reindex.
Tutorial is here on apple's forums: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253479408
Just giving credit where credit is due.
In case that goes away, instructions are also listed below.
- Open System Preferences and go to Spotlight's Privacy tab.
- Add the entire hard disk INTO the Privacy list.
- Maybe wait 30s.
- Remove the hard disk FROM the Privacy list.
Spotlight will re-index. After finish re-indexing, the search in folder works for me.
(To see if Spotlight is indexing, use Command+Space to invoke Spotlight, and type in something. Wait a second. You should see a progress bar to show indexing progress)
Of note, I am on Mac OS Monterey 12.6 (21G115). My dropbox version is 158.4.4564. These are both the lastest, as of now, 10.3.2022.
Hopefully this helps! Changed my life - I can work again!
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It happens with all files and folders.
searching for chicken in chicken - no results/keeps "searching"folders/files in dropboxdesktop confirms files up to date
- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi robinwn, could you confirm the version of the Dropbox desktop application you're running?
You can do this by hovering your mouse over the Dropbox icon in the system tray or menu bar.
Also, try quitting the Dropbox desktop application and try searching for the files again in Finder. 139.4.4896
- JayDoes quitting the app make any difference when searching in Finder?
No, quitting did not help. Reinstalling did not help. Rebooting did not help.
- JayIs this occurring only in the Dropbox folder itself or anywhere in Finder?
Only in dropbox. All other searches of computer itself work fine.
