Mac Spotlight not indexing Google Drive files in desktop

[BoI_Admin]

I got an increasing amount of feedbacks in our organization about a particular issue with the Google Drive for Desktop app:

It seems that on Mac, the Spotlight is not indexing the files that are in the Google Drive desktop folder...
I looked into it and tried all the recommended solutions from these sources but no result:

• https://support.google.com/a/thread/10460837/spotlight-doesn-t-find-files-in-google-file-stream?hl=e...
• https://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-mac-file-names-external-drive-30728.html
• https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/180082/how-to-enable-searching-inside-google-drive-docs-us...

Has anybody had the same issue and is there some clear solution?

[dcampagna]

Yes, the link is locked out. There is another way to access it though (someone might have actually posted in in the thread already) because it was set up a long time ago. As I mentioned in another post, that link is to create that functionality in the application, because the person who set it up (likely low-level tech support) didn’t know the app already had Finder Search functionality. It doesn’t hurt to request the feature, but the engineers already know the problem exists because the feature already exists (or existed). 

[ThomasB]

You need to request access to the closed group "Feature Ideas" in order to see it.

https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/Feature-Ideas/gh-p/workspace-ideas-group

[dcampagna]

No offense, but you probably talked to someone who wasn’t in the loop on this. Google engineers are aware of this thread, are aware of the issues with changes Apple made, and have created some stop-gap solutions. They know users are frustrated. If you scroll back to the earlier parts of the thread, there is a lot of technical information about the problem and workarounds, like the recent search bar built within the Google Drive application itself..

As you discovered, there already is a “feature request,” but we are asking for functionality to be restored, not a new feature implemented, which is an example of different Google teams not knowing what the others are doing. I doubt that feature request actually helps much. Ultimately it seems to be an Apple vs. Google finger-pointing issue, not a “feature or no feature” issue. None of this means it will ever be fixed, but Google (and presumably Apple) absolutely know there’s an issue, know functionality was lost, know users want it back and didn’t really acknowledge the problem until this thread existed.

[itijr]

Yes, i told the them that it was a feature that doesn't work anymore. Somehow they still told me to request it as a feature, strange i know.

I just tested Onedrive from Microsoft, and with that one you can actually search from spotlight. So in my opinion it's a google problem.

btw, i think they also need to work together with virusscan companys, because now Google drive is getting issues with synchronisation if you use a program like sophos.

Source: https://support.google.com/a/answer/7491144?hl=en
On MacOS, add the following directories to your anti-virus allowlist: (or excluded list)

• MacOS default mounted directory /Volumes/GoogleDrive
  Application data directory /Users/*/Library/Application\ Support/Google/DriveFS

[colkurtz_78]

When I click that link to the feature request you shared it says "Access Denied".

[Marcel_MGR]

But it seems that no one can confirm that the issue is resolved like it was posted previously - correct? We tested it on multiple devices with Monterey but no luck so far.

[Just_Lurking]

It seems only two people have reported that something changed that allowed searching to work (with files "streamed"), and they haven't been back to confirm that it continues to work...

Perhaps Google is running a test with a small handful of users on a possible fix? That's the most optimistic answer I can think of, and I'm hopeful that if that's correct, that this functionality will be broadly rolled out at some point.

To that end, I got excited just now when the below error message popped up - it's the first time I've seen this type of message, and I thought perhaps it was related to receiving the search functionality with the "helper" agent, etc. Sadly, nothing seems to have changed for me. I even tried rebooting just to see if that would trigger something, but there's been no change.

[jim_plantman]

Still no search in Spotlight for me, with latest Mac and Google updates installed.

[francisrafal]

I want to confirm that Spotlight and Finder Search worked for me in Streaming Mode for a couple of days but now it doesn't work again.
I am running macOS Monterey 12.3.1 on a MacBook Air M1 with Google Drive Version 57.0.5.0 (Apple Silicon). I am using a private Gmail account and a Google Workspace account with Google Drive. About two weeks ago I suddenly found my Workspace Drive in the Finder sidebar under Locations. In System Preferences -> Spotlight -> Privacy I tried adding the Workspace Drive folder and removing it again. And suddenly I was able to search for some files in my Workspace Drive, so it seemed that Finder was starting to index the Workspace Drive. But since last week the Workspace Drive doesn't show up anymore in the Finder Locations and Search doesn't work again. 
Please note that I didn't turn on mirroring, it was all in streaming mode. But unfortunately I can't reproduce the result. It just came out of nowhere. At least this gives me a glimpse of hope because it was working for me for a couple of days. And I really hope that Google and/or Apple fix this soon!

[GregW]

Thanks for the details. So bloody frustrating!

[jwein]

I definitely still cannot search. Google Drive is still fully broken for me without this functionality. All my other file streaming providers work perfectly fine. 

[colkurtz_78]

Been huanting my organisation since October 2021. What a time vampire. It's turning all of us who were Mac/Drive users from evangelists to the exact opposite. Productivity disaster.

[GregW]

Could not agree more! It's definitely related to Monterey on an M1. And the fact that it's not corrected yet reflects very poorly on Google and or Apple for actual professionals. You know, those of us who buy new equipment, lots of app updates and lots of licensing, almost every year?! I can see where casual homeowner type users wouldn't care about this but with four large Google accounts and something like 850,000 files, this is crucial for me and I'm dying without it

[bryonm]

Following. I've been struggling with this issue ever since installing Monterey. I have GDrive Version: 58.0.2.0 (Intel) on a 2019 16" MacBook Pro running MacOS 12.3.1. Up until the last Monterey update, I was able to see the Drive icon on the desktop if I opened the folder from Drive preferences. Now I do not see the drive icon no matter what, and I have not been able to search drive from the Mac finder or spotlight since updating to Monterey.

Does anyone know what purpose 'finder helper' plays?

For those who reported it is working for them since GDrive 57, I'm curious to know what permissions are assigned to Google Drive and FinderHelper in System Preferences/Security & Privacy/Privacy?

[colkurtz_78]

I like your logic. There are quite a few permission variables in play. I'm not also wondering - for those that have this working, is there a magic combo of permissions that allows the thing to function like it did before?

[Marcel_MGR]

I'm afraid those which reported a working google drive search via spotlight they accidentally turned on mirroring and thats why its working for them. Since none of those users have responded after asking for verification of their "solution" - I'm afraid we are still on square one.

[GregW]

Brilliant hypothesis!  Can any of you who believe you were solved please confirm and reduce our angst?

[nidgemo]

To everyone - I actually think in this case (assuming google are even looking at this - though it appears not) that people suggesting groups it's fixed for, or suggesting "it only doesn't work for X" are potentially doing more harm than good - I've seen people saying "it must only work for people making files available offline" - not that case - my files are avilable offline and it doesn't work... I've seen people saying "this workd for everyone except people on M1 and monterey" - again, not the case, I'm on intel chip and it doesn't work... 

Generally, it works for a VERY occasional person, for some reason, but there is NO correlation on type of silicon / online or offline etc, and suggesting there is, allows google off the hook from fixing it, as they will think "it's only a small group it's effecting"


Also, just to note, if someone from google IS reading and thinks the search in the desktop app fixes this - it REALLY doesn't, it's the worst search I've ever seen. Slow, no filtering options, no sorting options, no possibility to limit search to folders only, or file types, or sort by date etc. Not a solution at all.

[colkurtz_78]

Well said. If you're like me and have tried 5 or 6 of the fixes on this thread, and got - at best - a 2-min wait for one or two limited cloud files - don't bother anymore. I don't doubt that the level of complexity in making Googe Drive work locally across all Macs and OS types is a tall order. But it was working so well before! We know it's possible! It was part of the secret to my team's productivity and I don't mean that lightly - it made us measurably more FAST and ORGANISED. And every since October 2021 we have felt the drag which is the absence of this tool. It makes me tired just thinking about what a 15% time vampire it's been going to Chrome to search for Drive files, downloading them, or forgetting I can't even delete a Drive file in Finder and getting that stupid pop up. 

I think what we are all doing on this thread at this point is just the 5 stages of grief. I'm tired of the desparate fix attemps and false hope. I'm now fully accepting the death of this once wonderful productivity tool. And moving on. OneDrive sucks, but OneDrive works, and we have to run a business with tools that work. It's just that simple. Google, please do reach out if you ever build another tool like this in the future but I'm signing off this thread. It's getting depressing.

[itijr]

Yes it's insane that they don't do anyhing about it, or even let us know. 

Big companies are sensitive for the following. 

Vote with your wallet, and use something like Box or dropbox. And spread the word to others.

Bring it to the media, think about twitter or a news sites. 

[Just_Lurking]

Found some official Google information that reference these changes. It's not a change to anything the folks in this thread already know, but at least it spells out officially from Google what is going on. I'm not very hopeful, but I will be keeping an eye on these articles to see if there's any improvement to the desktop search experience in the future. 

From the Google Drive for Desktop release notes:

Update on May 27, 2022 for macOS users:

Starting with version 58, Drive for desktop will be rolling out a change that impacts macOS users over the next few releases. This update adds support for File Provider, a feature introduced by Apple in macOS 12.3 which provides native support for accessing cloud-based file systems like Google Drive. These changes will not impact the core capabilities of Drive for desktop but users will notice some slight changes in the functionality of the product.

Then there's a link to a Use File Provider with Drive for desktop article with more information, which says in part:

• Spotlight search will only search a subset of your Drive corpus including any downloaded files. To search your full Drive corpus, use the Drive for desktop search tool or the Drive website.

[GregW]

Thank you for passing along the information. It is not good news by any stretch, but at least having them acknowledge the situation (apparently purposeful on Google's part) stops the finger-pointing between Apple and Google that I have been receiving in the support center. I find the lack of this functionality excruciatingly painful given the gigantic collection of drive files I maintain. It seems like such a poor decision/direction on Google's part. If I wanted to use the browser to access my Google Drive files, why would I even need to install Google drive desktop application? The situation is ludicrous.

[jwein]

We're now on version 60 of Google Drive which states:

"Multiple improvements to the performance and stability of macOS users on File Provider."

However, this issue still remains with no visible improvements to either Spotlight being able to search Google Drive files or Google Drive files appearing in the "Recents" folder within Finder. The usability of Google Drive is completely crippled without these two basic features working as they should. Can someone from Google PLEASE provide us some sort of update as to when these issues will be fixed!?

[jhtitus]

Held off on updating to Monterey as long as possible. Just did and here I am stuck with the rest of you now. Wild this goes back to Q4 2021. Just lost even more productivity scanning all the responses here to hopefully find some wild terminal work around or anything. Not sure if this will even help if I describe a repeat of basically everyone else's same issue... 

macOS Monterey
6core Intel i7

Google drive 
v59.0.3.0 (Intel)
Business account

Spotlight no longer indexing GDrive files within Mac Finder. Search functions in finder yield zero results. Popping open drive in browser now multiple times a day to use in-browser search. Luckily, I have great naming convention, and in-browser search helps me find the desired file back inside finder relatively quickly. But man, the time suck adds up. It's like I have to open a dewey decimal system drawer that'll tell me where I can go find the desired file in Finder. Is my age showing?

[kortina]

I don't know if this is compatible with your desired workflow or not, but I switched from Stream Files to Mirror Files in settings and Spotlight indexes properly now: https://s3.amazonaws.com/4rk/screen-shot-2022-06-28-09.03.48-846nwtf8.png

[jhtitus]

Appreciate the tip! But my local drive just won't be able to handle that load unfortunately. Unless.... do you know if I can tell it to mirror to an external drive specifically?  I might have a 2TB laying around somewhere that could work if that's possible. 

[jhtitus]

Well whaddaya know. This just might work. 

[JasonTM1]

A quick word of warning. Drive for Desktop on Mac is going to begin implementing the MacOS File Provider framework very soon. This will turn the storage location over to MacOS to manage and I do not know that the new framework supports external drives.

I may be totally wrong in bringing this up, so take with a grain of salt. Here is a thread on the topic.. File Provider thread 

[JasonTM1]

I recently noticed this setting in the Drive for Desktop preferences but Spotlight does not find my Drive files even with this enabled. Hopefully we are in a transition period and all of this will become functional soon.

[bryonm]

OMG! OMG!!! It's working for me. Spotlight is working. I just successfully searched a shared drive. This is a glorious day! Thank you for sharing this. I did just update chrome yesterday. When I selected 'enable spotlight' in the drive preferences today, I was able to search drive again. AWESOME!

[JasonTM1]

What version of Drive for Desktop are you running? Intel or Apple Silicon?

I'm on 59.0.3.0 (Apple Silicon) and it doesn't work. I'll try disabling and enabling the setting again.

[Myk3]

"When I selected 'enable spotlight' in the drive preferences today"

On 59.0.3.0 there's no option for 'enable spotlight' that I can find.

[JasonTM1]

Drive for Desktop on MacOS. 

-Click on the Drive for Desktop menubar icon
-Select the gear icon in upper right
-Select preferences from the menu
-Click the gear icon in the upper right of the preferences window to open Settings(odd I know)
-Look for 'Enable Spotlight to search streaming files'

[Myk3]

Thats what I did, but no option: same version, on Big Sur on Intel i5

 

[JasonTM1]

Yep, that is right where mine shows up. I am running MacOS Monterey 12.4 so maybe that has something to do with it. Afraid I don't have any suggestions.

[Just_Lurking]

It's probably just a staged rollout. It will probably become available to everyone in the coming days/weeks.

In my Drive settings (version 59.030, Intel), the description is as follows:

Spotlight integration

When this is enabled, search text you enter in Spotlight will be sent to Google in order to find matching Drive files.

The description, to me, makes it clear this is not a native Spotlight search. So while the search speed may improve if Google is able to optimize the feature, it sadly will probably never be as delightfully snappy as a native Spotlight search.  😞

[JasonTM1]

Agreed. Worth pointing out that my version now includes a keyboard shortcut to search Drive directly as opposed to using Spotlight. 

[Tom_Sch]

Awesome. Much better with the shortcut!

[bryonm]

Same version but I'm on Intel, not Silicon.

When I enabled, it restarted, then I waited about ten minutes, and now search is working. It takes a moment for search to populate.

[JasonTM1]

Mine has started working as well but its sporadic. It will find a file once but 5 minutes later the same search doesn't find anything.

As you say, it does take a moment for search to populate. Thanks for that tip.