Written by
Connie YangThe Search function in Photos is not working on macOS Sequoia 15. No matter what you type in the search bar of the Photos utility on Mac, it returns no results. Here are true cases we found in forums:
Since updating to macOS 15 Sequoia, I can no longer search for photos on Mac. The search bar in Photos says "no results" whatever I enter. - From the Apple community
Search completely empty in Photos after updating to Sequoia. No keywords work at all. - From Reddit
It seems due to the macOS Sequoia bug or iCloud issues. You can follow the ways in our post to fix the glitched search function in Photos on your Mac.
Fix 1. Wait for the Photos to index out
Perhaps the true case isn't that the Photos search is not working but your Mac doesn't have all the photo content and metadata required to fully index it with Spotlight after the macOS Sequoia update.
You are suggested to leave your Mac running for a while (e.g. overnight) to give Spotlight enough time to finish indexing.
Fix 2. Rebuild the library in Photos
When your Photos app works abnormally on your Mac like the search field returns no results, try to rebuild the photo library.
- Close the Photos app on your Mac if it is open.
- Press the Option-Command keys while clicking the Photos icon on the Dock.
The Repair Library window will pop up. - Click Repair on the window to rebuild the photo library. You may be asked to enter your admin password for library repair.
Go tell this trick to more people whose Photos search returns no results on Mac.
Fix 3. Re-index Spotlight for Photos
We found that Spotlight is not working for photos in macOS Sequoia either. So, we guess that there's an error in Spotlight indexing.
In that case, to fix the search in Photos not working issue, you are suggested to re-index Spotlight for Photos on your Mac.
- Click the Apple menu > System Settings > Siri & Spotlight.
- Scroll down the right panel to find and click Spotlight Privacy.
- Click the add button (+) to add the Pictures folder to the list. The Pictures folder is in your user folder as it stores the photo library.
- Wait a moment.
- Select the Pictures folder from the list and click the remove button (-) to remove it.
- Click Done.
Fix 4. Update Mac
If the search function in Photos is not working on macOS 15 yet, you can check if there's any minor update available and update your Mac. The newer minor update may contain the patches to fix the Photos issues.
This post deeply discusses that the search function in Photos has not working since the macOS 15 update and offers solutions. Share them to help others.
