What Is ~/Library/Spotlight on Mac?
Your user folderUpdated
- Full path
~/Library/Spotlight
- Scope
- Your user folderInside your home folder — one copy per user account.
- Freshist & this folder
- Freshist checks this folder when uninstalling an app. When you uninstall an app, Freshist looks here for items that belong to it. Matches on the app's bundle ID can be pre-selected; name-only guesses are labeled “not sure” and never pre-selected. Removed items go to the Trash, so you can undo.
From Freshist's own cleaning rules — the same catalog the app uses.
Importers, not the index
Spotlight finds files by their names and by their contents. For the contents part, it needs code that understands each file format: an importer. macOS includes importers for PDFs, Office and iWork documents, images, audio and more. Apps that use their own document formats can add importers so Spotlight can search inside those files too.
Classic importers are bundles ending in .mdimporter. Most apps keep theirs inside the app at Contents/Library/Spotlight, so they go away when the app does. Some installers instead copy one into ~/Library/Spotlight (for your account) or /Library/Spotlight (for every account). Newer apps can use Core Spotlight import extensions, which also ship inside the app.
What this folder does not contain is the search index. Spotlight keeps that at the top level of each indexed volume, in a hidden folder that macOS manages and protects. Deleting files in ~/Library/Spotlight won't reset the index or recover the space it uses.
| Where | What it holds |
|---|---|
~/Library/Spotlight | Importers installed for your account, plus a small cache |
/Library/Spotlight | Importers installed for every account (admin needed) |
Inside an app (Contents/Library/Spotlight) | That app's own importer |
/System/Library/Spotlight | Apple's built-in importers |
| Hidden folder at each volume's root | The search index itself |
Checking which importers are active
These commands only read:
ls -la ~/Library/Spotlight
du -sh ~/Library/Spotlight
mdimport -L
mdutil -s /
mdimport -L lists every importer Spotlight currently loads, with its full path. Anything outside /System/Library/Spotlight came from an app or installer. mdutil -s / reports whether indexing is enabled for the startup disk.
Removing a leftover importer
- Find the importer in
mdimport -Loutput and confirm which app it belongs to. The bundle name usually says. - In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder… and enter
~/Library/Spotlight. - Move the
.mdimporterto the Trash. Leave theExtensionsCachefolder alone. - Run
mdimport -Lagain. If the importer is still listed, log out and back in.
Files of that type remain searchable by name. Spotlight just stops reading their contents.
Fixing search instead of plug-ins
If the real problem is missing results or constant indexing, work with the index through Apple's controls instead of this folder. In System Settings → Spotlight, you can exclude folders from search. Adding your disk to the privacy list and then removing it makes macOS rebuild the index, as Apple describes in its Spotlight support articles. Expect high CPU use for a while afterward; our post on Spotlight indexing and high CPU explains what's normal.
Quick Look generators went through the same move from loose plug-ins to app extensions. When uninstalling an app that installed an importer here, also check its Preferences and Application Support folders.
Sources
- Find what you need with Spotlight on Mac (Apple Support)
- About Spotlight indexing and search results on Apple devices (Apple Support)
- CSImportExtension (Apple Developer Documentation)
man mdimportandman mdutilin Terminal
Frequently asked questions
Will deleting this folder rebuild my Spotlight index or free space?
No. The index lives in a hidden folder at the top of each indexed volume, managed by macOS. ~/Library/Spotlight only holds importers and a small cache, usually a few kilobytes.
What is the ExtensionsCache folder inside it?
On recent macOS versions, Spotlight writes a small cache here describing the import extensions apps provide. macOS manages it and recreates it as needed, so there's no reason to edit it.
Spotlight is using a lot of CPU. Is an importer to blame?
It can be, if a third-party importer handles a file type you have many of, but heavy indexing after an update or migration is more common. mdimport -L shows which importers are active.