macOS 13 Ventura update reportedly broke Spotlight search & USB-C hubs or devices for some users (potential workarounds)

Spotlight is available on Mac to help with quickly finding apps, documents, emails, and other items. It can even perform calculations and conversions.

However, it seems that the new macOS 13 Ventura update has tampered with the Spotlight search feature thus rendering it inoperable.

macOS Ventura update broke Spotlight search

Several Mac owners (1,2,3,4,5) have taken to the Apple community forum to report the broken functionality of the feature ever since the recent Ventura update.

Greetings, spotlight is no longer finding my applications. I have removed applications and re-added still nothing. I’ve done the usual rebooting as well. I’m actually on Ventura 13.0 but that wasn’t a choice and this has been happening since Monterey as well. Thanks!
Source

Hi-Just upgraded to Ventura on my M1 MBP and unlike previous versions I can no longer launch an application via Spotlight. It doesn’t list my applications. In System Settings I have Applications checked. I have restarted my Mac. Is there a setting I need to set that I haven’t found? Thank you so much for any help!
Source

It seems that the update is not triggering search results related to images, or certain files, and is also not finding various applications.

Instead, the particular search sometimes freezes in the Finder and takes several minutes to unstick. There are even cases where the Spotlight window doesn’t appear at all.

Some reports suggest that the macOS 13 Ventura Spotlight search also doesn’t show the file previews, unlike Monterey.

USB-C hubs not working

Apart from the broken Spotlight search feature, it seems that the recent update is also causing the USB-C port to stop working in several cases.

Yesterday I updated my Mac mini to Ventura and realized that my VGA monitor didn’t worked anymore neither my USBC hub I also used on the other port, I tried everything even putting in and out the hubs and USBC to VGA adaptor I have but notting worked, I supposed it was a software thing that didn’t let my USBC to VGA work anymore..
Source

The reports suggest that some devices don’t work when connected to the USB-C port. These include USB-C hubs as well as monitors that support video output via the type-C port.

Surprisingly, connecting a USB-C hub to some devices works fine in certain cases, while other devices don’t.

The fact that a thunderbolt port can’t supply enough power to keep a single hard drive from disconnecting doesn’t really make up for a concrete reason.

Potential workarounds

We have come across some workarounds that can help fix the issue related to the broken Spotlight search functionality. You can check it out below.

Some users have also been able to get the feature working by holding the Spotlight icon for some time.

Wow… a friend showed me and it was SO simple… click and HOLD the Spotlight icon for a few seconds and it pops back to the center.
Source

It seems that indexing was also breaking the function, so those who haven’t enabled it can do so by using the ‘sudo mdutil -i on /’ command.

Moreover, a clean installation of Ventura 13 can help resolve the issue as well.

Do note that Apple hasn’t yet commented on the issues where the macOS 13 Ventura update broke the Spotlight search feature and is also affecting some USB-C hubs and devices.

We’ll keep tabs on further developments and update the article as and when something noteworthy comes up.

We have more such stories in our dedicated Apple section, so make sure to follow them as well.

NOTE: You can also check the macOS 13 bug/issues tracker.

Featured image source: Apple

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