How to Disable Spotlight Web Search on Mac

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If you’re looking to keep Spotlight on your Mac from Searching the internet and only do local searches, here’s a simple way to fix that. Many users want Spotlight to just find files and apps on their computer, not pull in search results from the web. Here’s how you can do that effectively.

First, it’s good to know that Spotlight’s web searching features can be turned off through Siri Suggestions. To do this, go to your Mac’s System Preferences, then select “Siri & Spotlight.” Inside, you will see options related to Siri Suggestions. Simply uncheck the box that allows suggestions from the internet.

Even after doing this, some users find that Spotlight still searches the web. If that’s happening, you can try turning off specific search suggestions for Spotlight by following these steps:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on “Siri & Spotlight.”
3. Look for the box labeled ‘Siri Suggestions’ and uncheck it.
4. Also, go back to the main Spotlight preferences and toggle off “Allow Spotlight Suggestions” and/or “Allow Frequently Visited Sites.”

If you’ve already done all these steps and Spotlight still searches the internet, it might help to reset Spotlight’s indexing. To do this:

– Open System Preferences > Spotlight.
– Go to the “Privacy” tab.
– Drag your entire hard drive into this list or click the “+” button and add your drive.
– Wait a few minutes, then remove your drive from the list. This forces Spotlight to reindex without including internet suggestions.

Lastly, keep in mind that Spotlight sometimes still brings up web results from its caches or suggestions. The key is to disable all web search options in these menus.

By following these steps, your Spotlight should stick to searching only your local files, apps, and documents — and no longer pull in web results. If you continue having issues, resetting Spotlight’s index or updating your macOS might help.

Remember, your goal is to make Spotlight behave exactly as you want—focused on what’s stored on your Mac. These simple tweaks should keep it local-only.