Validity of find search results

[Vinny]

Hi. Since updating to OSX 10.13, I have noticed changes in the way alfred displays files located using the 'find' command. 

To note: I did not update my OS. I reinstalled from scratch. 

 

For example, let's say i am looking for my resume. I type 'Find resume'. I would think that alfred would display the most recently modified file first, or at least the files with more updates. Prior to updating my OS, 'find resume', would immediately display my 2017 resume. Now, my results are cluttered with random files with the name resume that. 

 

How can I improve the validity of my search results and actually get what i am looking for? 

 

[vitor]

Hello and welcome, @Vinny,

 

As you use Alfred, it learns which files to prioritise. Something that weighs in that decision is frecency (how recently and how frequently you’ve picked a result). Since you did a fresh install all previously acquired knowledge was lost, which is why you’re perceiving a difference — your previous install knew about your choices but your current one doesn’t.

 

Continue your normal use and you should start to notice the results improving.

Edited November 17, 2017 by vitor

[Andrew]

It's worth adding to what @vitor said by saying that when Alfred doesn't have any internal knowledge for sorting, he falls back on the macOS "last used" metadata field for files. If you've done a full reinstall, this info may also have been lost giving essentially unsorted results.

 

Things should get back to normal pretty quickly as you start using things though  

[Vinny]

Ok this is what I thought. Worth noting, I reinstalled my OS last month. The search results have not been improving. I used the reference to my resume because I have been updating it a lot lately. The recent copy should be at the top of the list, but it’s not. 

Given that Alfred isn’t updating its results, is there something I can reset? I sync my preferences via Dropbox. Could that cause a problem? 

Should I just re-index everything? 

[vitor]

@Vinny For indexing issues/solutions, check “Alfred can't find the files I'm searching for”.

[Vero]

@Vinny Following up on @vitor's recommendation to take a look at the indexing troubleshooting page, a full reindex should solve things for you.

 

Referring to the email you sent: "I am shown older files instead of the newer resume file which I have been editing for the past few weeks." Alfred doesn't cache files, so if you're seeing this kind of behaviour, it'll be down to indexing issues.

 

When reindexing, be sure to check the box for "Delete /.Spotlight-V100" when Alfred shows you the checkbox, as this ensures that the index is built from fresh, then follow instructions in Terminal.

 

Cheers,

Vero