Spotlight slowing down and glitching computers

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Spotlight slowing down and glitching computers

New information about Spotlight slowing down and glitching your computer. I don't recommend it for anyone who regularly uses Spotlight Search but I don't - and am giving it a try to solve an ongoing issue for me and a lot of other folks.

I read a piece by Michael Simon in MacWorld that addressed the problem many of us have been having with glitches caused by Spotlight. He claimed that he solved his same problems by toggling off items under System Settings/Spotlight. He disabled 'Show related content' and 'Help Apple improve search'.

I have been regularly deleting large folders in ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight/ and this insight from Michael Simon seems to follow that same reasoning. Again, if you regularly use Spotlight Search, you obviously want to leave at least the first item enabled.

Posted on Dec 5, 2025 5:07 AM

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Answer 1

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den.thed

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90,826 points

Dec 5, 2025 8:27 AM in response to JNoel54

1) I've never had an issues with Spotlight slowing down or glitching any of my old or new Mac's.

Uncheck whatever you do not want Spotlight to index and then rebuild Spotlight.

as per > Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

2) If your Mac is slowing down and glitching, then you may have other issues that need to be addressed.

To find out, download and run the free version of EtreCheckPro, from > https://etrecheck.com/en/index.html

Then post back here with your Report, as per > How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community

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Answer 2

JNoel54 Author

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202 points

Dec 5, 2025 5:55 AM in response to JNoel54

Simon also suggested disabling System Settings/ Spotlight /results from apps for Pages.

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Answer 3

JNoel54 Author

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202 points

Dec 6, 2025 1:56 PM in response to den.thed

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Answer 4

JNoel54 Author

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202 points

Dec 6, 2025 4:03 AM in response to den.thed

I participated in threads here that went on for 20+ pages from users having the issues I described. I submitted the EtreCheckPro report here and it was discussed without any resolution. I spoke to Apple support a number of times and was escalated from the lowest level of Apple support to the highest with the only resolution being to delete expanding folders in ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight/.

I appreciate that you never had these issues but a significant number of users did and I am following up here with a new solution that - so far - works. New posts appeared within the past few days from users with the same problems.

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Answer 5

den.thed

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90,826 points

Dec 6, 2025 9:13 AM in response to JNoel54

JNoel54 wrote:

I participated in threads here that went on for 20+ pages from users having the issues I described.

Good work there. Sadly there is a lot going on in that thread and the average reader/user could easily miss your submissions.

I submitted the EtreCheckPro report here and it was discussed without any resolution.

I searched your subscriptions, but could not find an EtreCheckPro report for you anywhere.

I spoke to Apple support a number of times and was escalated from the lowest level of Apple support to the highest with the only resolution being to delete expanding folders in ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight.

That was a good move, because it forces Apple to look into a potential problem.

Another way to clue Apple, is to encourage folks to use > Feedback - macOS - Apple

I appreciate that you never had these issues but a significant number of users did and I am following up here with a new solution that - so far - works. New posts appeared within the past few days from users with the same problems.

Sadly greatest majority of average users, will not find the Mitch Stone thread or Michael's OWC Blog.

Good work on the e2ipiminus1 thread, that one is most likely to be viewed by the greatest number of folks that are having a Spotlight issue.

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Answer 6

JNoel54 Author

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202 points

Dec 6, 2025 10:22 AM in response to den.thed

Nice follow up, thanks.

I submitted the report months ago and numerous long-time contributors commented.

You've illustrated my point about the difficulty of locating already-posted-answers to what seem like immediate problems for some users. I would appreciate any more feedback about how this can be accomplished by someone new to the community.

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Answer 7

JNoel54 Author

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202 points

Dec 6, 2025 4:26 PM in response to den.thed

I shared those screenshots to document that I have posted more than the postings in your screenshot. I shared the report to confirm to you that I posted it. I thought you didn't believe me.

I agree with your point about searches. A lot of redundant questions might be helped if searching was more intuitive or at least explained. I'm signing off on this thread. I enjoyed our conversation.

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Answer 8

den.thed

Level 10

90,826 points

Dec 6, 2025 4:45 PM in response to JNoel54

JNoel54 wrote:

I shared those screenshots to document that I have posted more than the postings in your screenshot. I shared the report to confirm to you that I posted it. I thought you didn't believe me.

It’s not that I didn’t believe you. I just wasn’t aware that you had or that other long time users had already reviewed it.