Disable:
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
Enable:
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
Disable:
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
Enable:
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
Disable the index:
mdutil -i off /
Enable the index:
mdutil -i on /
Erase the current Spotlight index:
mdutil -E /
Usage: mdutil -pEsa -i (on|off) -d volume ...
Utility to manage Spotlight indexes.
-p Publish metadata.
-i (on|off) Turn indexing on or off.
-d Disable Spotlight activity for volume (re-enable using -i on).
-E Erase and rebuild index.
-s Print indexing status.
-a Apply command to all volumes.
-V vol Apply command to all stores on the specified volume.
-v Display verbose information.
NOTE: Run as owner for network homes, otherwise run as root.
/
directory of a internal or external Volume .metadata-never-index
will turn of indexing for the whole drive. Use the terminal to sudo touch \.metadata-never-index
for the root drive. Or use \Volumes\NAMEOFVOLUME\.metadata-never-index
for another drive./
directory of a (competing) boot drive with a version of OS X you can intelligently disable indexing by using .metadata_never_index_unless_rootfs
to prevent the data from the drive to appear unless it is the boot drive. Use the terminal to sudo touch \.metadata_never_index_unless_rootfs
. Or use \Volumes\NAMEOFVOLUME\.metadata_never_index_unless_rootfs
for another drive..noindex
will disable indexing of the folder (I'll verify that asap). Example mkdir private-folder.noindex
So assuming your drives are external and you have the rights to modify them from the root fs, it would be
rm "/Volumes/HD2 - Projects/.metadata_never_index_unless_rootfs" and
rm "/Volumes/HD3 - Samples/.metadata_never_index_unless_rootfs" in the terminal
I found this post because I'm having major problems with Spotlight on a brand-new Mac with 4 external drives.
This comment above was helpful:
On the root / directory of a internal or external Volume .metadata-never-index will turn of indexing for the whole drive.
In fact, Terminal has indicated the presence of that file on two of my drives:
/Volumes/HD2 - Projects/.metadata_never_index_unless_rootfs
/Volumes/HD3 - Samples/.metadata_never_index_unless_rootfs
The question is how does one reverse this?! The comment above specifies that
.metadata-never-index
will turn OFF indexing for the whole drive. But how does one turn BACK ON indexing for the whole drive?