How do I get Spotlight to stop Archiving my items I search for?
October 6, 2024 2:18 PM Subscribe
When I search for something in Spotlight (Mac OS Monterey 12.3) it will indicate the archive utility (see upper right of screenshot). Then, when I select the folder or document in Spotlight it archives it, rather than opening it. How do I change this to open the file or folder from Spotlight?
Is there a reason you need to stay on Monterey 12.3? You are more than 2 years behind on Monterey updates (12.7.6 came out this July). Getting the OS up to speed would be my first step. You certainly don’t need to jump to Sequoia (macOS 15) if you’re concerned about app compatibility but I def remember old versions of Monterey being a little buggy.
Second thing I would try is rebuilding the Spotlight index, which is pretty painless but will disable Spotlight for a while (could just be a few minutes, could be like an hour or more).
The third thing I would try is rebuilding Launch Services, the subsystem that the OS uses to connect documents to their apps. It shouldn’t have anything to do with folders but I guess something could have gone extra wonky?
You can do this from the command line if you’re comfortable with that, or with a utility like OnyX if you’re not. (Make sure you get the Monterey version of OnyX—scroll down to find it. I don’t remember if the interface was different on older versions but in the current release of OnyX you would go into the Maintenance tab, uncheck everything except Launch Services, and then click Run).
Rebuilding Launch Services will reset your default apps (so, like, JPGs will open in Preview when double-clicked instead of, say, Photoshop… and TXT files will open in TextEdit rather than your preferred editor… etc) but you can reassign your faves pretty easily from the Get Info window in the Finder or from within the apps themselves.
posted by bcwinters at 5:24 PM on October 6 [1 favorite]
Second thing I would try is rebuilding the Spotlight index, which is pretty painless but will disable Spotlight for a while (could just be a few minutes, could be like an hour or more).
The third thing I would try is rebuilding Launch Services, the subsystem that the OS uses to connect documents to their apps. It shouldn’t have anything to do with folders but I guess something could have gone extra wonky?
You can do this from the command line if you’re comfortable with that, or with a utility like OnyX if you’re not. (Make sure you get the Monterey version of OnyX—scroll down to find it. I don’t remember if the interface was different on older versions but in the current release of OnyX you would go into the Maintenance tab, uncheck everything except Launch Services, and then click Run).
Rebuilding Launch Services will reset your default apps (so, like, JPGs will open in Preview when double-clicked instead of, say, Photoshop… and TXT files will open in TextEdit rather than your preferred editor… etc) but you can reassign your faves pretty easily from the Get Info window in the Finder or from within the apps themselves.
posted by bcwinters at 5:24 PM on October 6 [1 favorite]
I think this archive function is not part of the Spotlight app, which means it might be a (malfunctioning) Spotlight plugin, perhaps one designed to search inside compressed files (like zip files) but which is mistakenly creating archives instead. Look inside your (User)/Library/Spotlight folder for some obvious add-on that you can remove. (I believe you have to hold down the option key to see the Library folder when you select the "Go" menu in the menu bar while the Finder app is active). You may need to reboot for changes to take effect.
posted by jabah at 5:12 AM on October 7
posted by jabah at 5:12 AM on October 7
Response by poster: How are you activating Spotlight? Are you clicking the magnifying glass in the right side of the menubar?
Yes.
posted by davidstandaford at 9:21 AM on October 7
Yes.
posted by davidstandaford at 9:21 AM on October 7
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posted by Winnie the Proust at 4:12 PM on October 6