Spotlight Using a Lot of Disk Space on Mac? Here’s How to Fix It

Spotlight is a powerful tool that can be used to find almost anything on macOS. While useful, Spotlight can sometimes consume a lot of disk space, leaving you with less room for other files and applications. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case. This guide will cover some of the most common reasons behind Spotlight’s excessive storage consumption on Macs and what you can do to prevent this issue.

Why is Spotlight Using a Lot of Disk Space on My Mac?

Spotlight generates an index of all the data on your Mac to make searching for files, emails, and apps quicker. This index can use a lot of disk space if you have several files or a large disk. An excessively large mailbox, a corrupted index, or software glitches in macOS can also contribute to the problem.

How to Stop Spotlight from Using Excessive Disk Space

1. Restart Your Mac to Get Rid of Temporary System Files

Spotlight often creates temporary files while indexing data on your Mac. These files can often add up and consume a significant amount of storage if you haven’t restarted your Mac in a while. Open the Apple menu from the menu bar and click Restart to remove temporary files.

2. Prevent Spotlight from Indexing Unnecessary Files

3. Turn off Spotlight for Mail & Messages

Many users on Apple Discussions report that Spotlight consumes excessive disk space when indexing emails and attachments. You can try turning off Spotlight for Mail & Messages to see if that helps.

1. Open the Apple menu from the menu bar and go to System Settings.
   
   
2. Now, click the option for Spotlight from the sidebar on your left.
3. Scroll down and uncheck the option for Mail & Messages.
   
   

4. Rebuild the Spotlight Index Using OnyX

Rebuilding the Spotlight index can be a quick solution to fix Spotlight-related issues. Since Apple’s official steps don’t always work as expected, you can use a free tool called OnyX to rebuild the Spotlight index.

1. Download and install OnyX from its official website.
   
   
2. Launch OnyX and grant all the necessary app permissions.
3. Navigate to the Maintenance tab and uncheck all the options.
4. Enable the Spotlight Index option under the Rebuilding section.
5. Hit Run Tasks to start the process and rebuild the Spotlight index.
   
   

5. Install the Most Recent macOS Update

Spotlight may consume excessive disk space on your Mac due to macOS bugs. You can resolve such issues by updating your Mac to the most recent macOS version which might include relevant bug fixes.

1. Click the Apple menu in the menu bar and go to System Settings.
   
   
2. Select General from the sidebar and click Software Update.
   
   
3. If a new software update is available, hit Update Now.
   
   

6. Delete the Spotlight Index Folder on Your Mac

The Spotlight index may consume excessive disk space if it’s corrupted or stuck in an indexing loop due to software glitches. You may delete all folders related to Spotlight so macOS can recreate them and resolve issues.

1. Open the Finder on Mac and click Go > Go to Folder in the Menu bar.
   
   
2. Type ~/Library/Metadata/ in the search box and press Return.
   
   
3. Then, delete CoreSpotlight and SpotlightKnowledgeEvents.
   
   
4. Again, click Go in the Menu bar and select Go to Folder.
   
   
5. Type /System/Volumes/Data/ and press Return.
   
   
6. Press Command + Shift + . to look at hidden files.
7. Now, delete the folder named Spotlight-V100.
   
   
8. Empty the Trash from the Dock on your Mac.
   
   

7. Turn off Spotlight Indexing Entirely

If Spotlight continues to consume excessive storage despite all troubleshooting, you can disable Spotlight indexing entirely. However, do keep in mind that this should only be a last resort. Turning off Spotlight Indexing will cause many features like search in macOS and Time Machine to stop functioning.

1. Navigate to Finder > Applications > Utilities and open the Terminal.
   
   
2. Type sudo mdutil -i off into the Terminal and press Return.
3. Type your Mac’s Administrator password and press Return.
   
   

NOTE

You can turn Spotlight Indexing back on using the sudo mdutil -i on Terminal command.