Spotlight disabled by Energy Saver

K

KevinD5

Junior Member
I decided to try out Energy Saver, and checked by default is "Pause non-essential processes", which includes Spotlight.

I have absolutely no idea what the conditions are to trigger it, but I discovered that Spotlight was completely disabled at some point recently, and the only change I had made to my system configuration was to enable Energy Saver. As part of a diagnostic with Microsoft to figure out why Outlook wasn't allowing me to search my email, I ran "sudo mdutil -E /" and this was the output:

kevindean@Kevins-MBP ~ % sudo mdutil -E /
/:
2019-11-23 14:58:02.922 mdutil[15170:594655] mdutil disabling Spotlight: / -> kMDConfigSearchLevelFSSearchOnly
Indexing disabled.

Once I figured out how to re-enable indexing, the search problems I was having went away. I obviously can't be sure that Energy Saver was the culprit, but it was the only logical choice. Honestly, all I have time for is to submit this thread; I don't have time for diagnostics, as Energy Saver isn't important enough for me to invest any more time in.
 
Hello,

yes, "Energy Saver" turned Spotlight off. Spotlight has strong impact to energy consumption. Because of this "Energy Saver" allows to disable it.
If you're using Spotlight frequently then better turn this option off:
- Turn "Energy Saver" tool off
- Open preferences of "Energy Save" and turn "Pause non-essential processes" OFF.
 
Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear. When I said, "completely disabled", I meant that it was disabled while my MacBook was plugged in as well; something in Energy Saver wasn't re-enabling Spotlight.
 
Try this:
1. Find volume where Spotlight indexing is disabled
Code: 
mdutil -sa
2. Then enable indexing for this module. For example:
Code: 
sudo mdutil -i off /System/Volumes/Data
3. Make sure that indexing was enabled successfully:
Code: 
mdutil -sa
4. Switch to the battery power, make sure that Energy Saver is enabled. Check indexing again.
5. Attach cord and check Spotlight indexing again.

Is Spotlight indexing enabled after step 4? And after step 5?
 
Energy Saver is working correctly in this simple use case. As I said at the beginning, I'm not entirely convinced that Energy Saver is the culprit, but it's the only tool I have that actively disables Spotlight, so it's the most likely culprit. It's not really something I am prepared to spend time testing as it's not that important a tool for me, but if Energy Saver is indeed the cause, it's likely related to plugging and unplugging multiple times, sometimes with the lid closed, sometimes after I've put the display to sleep (using a Hot Corner), and so on. Since I disabled Energy Saver, Spotlight has been running properly.
 
Last question - for which volume Spotlight indexing is not enabled after turning Energy Saver mode OFF?
Is it local disk? Or externally attached volume?
 
Last edited:
I support the OP. Parallels Toolbox Energy Saver disables Spotlight indexing. While disabled neither documents nor applications are found with Spotlight. After plugging in the power cord the problem consisted - I had to start Spotlight indexing manually several times. It is not working as it should. Also, after enabling indexing, Spotlight is starting indexing from scratch. So, a large amount of time I was without the Spotlight index on my MacBook. I suggest to remove Spotlight from Energy Saver, or at least, put a clear warning about the consequences to it.
 
I have been searching for an answer to why Spotlight gets permanently disabled, which is very annoying, and I have finally found it. Its been very annoying to lose Sptlight as I use it to start all may apps, etc. The only good thing to come out of this is that I learned a lot about mdutil and Spotlight! Knowledge is always good.
 
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