What is Spotlight on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
The Spotlight search window and menu bar search you open with Command-Space.
The Spotlight process runs the search interface you open with Command-Space or the magnifying glass in the menu bar. The indexing behind it is done by other processes (mds, mds_stores and mdworker). It's normally idle unless you're searching.
- Category
- Apple service
- Made by
- Apple
- Safe to quit:
- With care
Shown in Activity Monitor as Spotlight
Why is Spotlight using so much CPU or memory?
- Typing searches while results load
- Online suggestions loading on a slow connection
- A glitch after waking from sleep
What to do
- 1Close the Spotlight window
- 2Force quit Spotlight; it relaunches automatically
- 3Restart your Mac
Safe to quit? With care.
It relaunches automatically; nothing is lost.
Related processes
- mdsThe Spotlight metadata server: coordinates indexing so you can search your Mac instantly.
- mds_storesMaintains Spotlight's search index on disk, updating it as files change.
- parsecdFetches suggestions for Spotlight, Safari, Siri and Look Up searches.
- corespotlightdIndexes content that apps share with Spotlight, like emails, notes and messages.
Part of the Taskglass Process Library