Spotlight problems

Removing web results from Spotlight

Updated 2026-07-31 · 3 min read

Two checkboxes make Spotlight a local file search again.

Turn it off

System Settings → Siri & Spotlight, then:

• Uncheck Siri Suggestions — stops queries leaving the Mac for web results
• Uncheck Websites, Movies, Music, Fonts and any other category you do not search

What changes

• No web results, suggested sites or news in Spotlight
• No network round trip on every keystroke, so local results appear sooner
• Less to rank, so the list stops reshuffling under your cursor

Safari separately

Safari → Settings → Search → Include Safari Suggestions. The address bar sends what you type there regardless of the Spotlight setting.

What still works

Everything local: files, apps, calculations, unit conversions, dictionary definitions, Mail, Contacts, Calendar.

Why people do this

Two reasons, both reasonable. Privacy — a keystroke-by-keystroke feed of what you are looking for is a meaningful thing to send anywhere. And speed — removing a network dependency from a local file search makes it noticeably more responsive.

What it does not fix

Turning off web suggestions does not make Spotlight index ~/Library, look inside packages, or remember unmounted drives. Those exclusions are separate and not configurable.

Common questions

Does turning off Siri Suggestions break Spotlight?

No. Local file, app and calculation results are unaffected.

Does Spotlight send my file names to Apple?

No. Only the typed query is sent, and only for the web suggestion portion when Siri Suggestions is on.