Macworld » Software

Reindexing Spotlight

Reader Steve Osborn isn’t happy with the way Spotlight has indexed his drive and would like to ask it to start from scratch. “How can I make Spotlight start over with its indexing, or at least force it to reindex a particular volume, without reinstalling Tiger clean?” he asks.

Open the Spotlight system preference, click the Privacy tab, click the plus button, and add the volume you want to reindex. Wait five minutes, select the volume in the privacy area, and click the minus button to remove it. Spotlight will index the volume again from the ground up.

Note: Before reindexing the drive, repair permissions. Also, if the drive has just recently been indexed, give it another day or so before reindexing. It’s possible that Spotlight hasn’t completely finished indexing the drive even though you’re allowed to use it.