Spotlight has long been an iconic Mac feature – along the same line as the versatile Dock. What makes it a useful asset is the ability to offer fast and accurate search results. Beyond quick search, Spotlight also has got plenty of cool tricks up its sleeve like converting currency and performing calculations. To deliver more accurate results, it digs through the entire Mac indexing all the files and folders that are stored on the computer. While this extensive search behavior is indeed an appreciable feature, it leaves very little room for privacy. What if you have some private folders which you don’t want to be indexed in the search results? Turns out, there is a way to prevent Spotlight from searching specific folder on Mac.
Spotlight preference features a privacy tab where you can specify all the folders which you wish to exclude from the search on your Mac. Once you have selected the folders, it will no longer perform a search in those locations. Thus, your personal files or anything that you have stored inside will remain out of sight.
- Finally, select any folder/external drive which you no longer want to be indexed in the Spotlight search results. Alternately, you can simply drag and drop folders directly into the window.
There you go! So, that’s the way you can shield some of your private folders from being exposed by Spotlight search. As I always prefer to keep some of my personal stuff away from the prying eyes, I find this feature extremely helpful. And I think you may appreciate it in equal measure if you also like to safeguard your files.
