Spotlight is available on Mac to help you quickly find apps, documents, emails, and more. It can even perform calculations and conversions.
However, it seems that the new macOS 13 Ventura update has corrupted the Spotlight search function, rendering it unusable.
macOS Ventura update broke Spotlight search
Several Mac (1,2,3,4,5) owners have taken to the Apple community forum to report the broken functionality of the feature since the recent Ventura update.
Hi, Spotlight can’t find my apps anymore. I deleted apps and added nothing. I also did the usual reboot. I’m actually on Ventura 13.0 but that wasn’t a choice and it’s been happening since Monterey as well. Thanks!
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Hi-I just upgraded to Ventura on my M1 MBP and unlike previous versions I can no longer launch an app through Spotlight. It does not list my apps. In system settings, I checked apps. I restarted my Mac. Is there a setting I need to set that I haven’t found? Thanks a lot for any help!
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It seems that the update does not trigger any search results related to images or certain files, nor does it find various apps.
Instead, the particular search sometimes freezes in Finder and takes several minutes to peel off. There are even cases where the Spotlight window does not appear at all.
Some reports suggest that macOS 13 Ventura Spotlight search also doesn’t show file previews, unlike Monterey.
USB-C hubs don’t work
Besides the broken Spotlight search function, it seems that the recent update also causes the USB-C port to stop working in several cases.
Yesterday I updated my Mac mini to Ventura and realized that my VGA monitor no longer worked nor my USBC hub which I was using on the other port as well, I tried everything even powering and unplugging the hubs and usbc to vga adapter which i have but not worked, i assumed it was software that wouldn’t let my usbc to vga work anymore..
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Reports suggest that some devices do not work when plugged into the USB-C port. These include USB-C hubs as well as monitors that support video output through the Type-C port.
Surprisingly, connecting a USB-C hub to some devices works well in some cases, while other devices don’t.
The fact that a Thunderbolt port can’t provide enough power to keep a single hard drive from going offline doesn’t really make up for a concrete reason.
Potential Workarounds
We have found some workarounds that may help resolve the issue with broken Spotlight search functionality. You can check it below.
Some users were also able to get the feature to work by holding down the Spotlight icon for a while.
Wow…a friend showed me and it was SO easy…click and HOLD the Spotlight icon for a few seconds and it comes back to center.
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It seems indexing was also breaking the feature, so those who don’t have it enabled can do so using the command ‘sudo mdutil -i on /’.
Additionally, a clean install of Ventura 13 can also help fix the problem.
Note that Apple has yet to comment on issues where the macOS 13 Ventura update broke the Spotlight search feature and also affects some USB-C hubs and devices.
We’ll be keeping an eye out for further developments and updating the article as something noteworthy arises.
We have more such stories in our dedicated Apple section, so be sure to follow those too.
REMARK: You can also check out the macOS 13 bug/issue tracker.
Featured image source: Apple
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