Prevent Spotlight from searching specific locations
Written by Brent Sheets
May 5
If you share your Mac with family members, friends or coworkers, you may have folders, or even an entire hard drive, that you wish to preclude from Spotlight searches. Need a little privacy? Here’s how to prevent Spotlight from searching specific locations.
Open the Spotlight preferences by going to and clicking the icon button.
Next, click the tab and then the . As an aside, Apple calls these little plus/minus buttons .
When you click the Add Button, a Choose Dialog will slide down, allowing you to add locations to the Spotlight privacy list. As noted on the Privacy tab page, drag-and-drop is allowed – so feel free to simply drag locations from the Finder or Desktop to the Spotlight privacy list.
