Search results link to wrong files on external HD, keeps happening even after re-indexing

skinnyguy76 wrote:

I had an old external

I used with my 2010 MacBook and 2016 iMac without issue. I noticed with my new 2021 MacBook Pro M1, when I would search for files, clicking on the results would show the wrong icons and opening the file would open a completely different file.

The files I search are on the drive. I can manually navigate to them, open and close without a problem. However when I search for a file, finder appears to find it, but the icons are often wrong. And when you inspect, copy or open the file, it's actually a file in a totally different location, not the one it appears to be.

I tried reindexing, but the problem kept reappearing. It was an older drive so I got a new thin light WD portable drive thinking that would solve it. After a lot of time transferring the files... same problem.

I've run disk utility with no major problems on the new drive.

I've did System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy tab and adding (+) the drive to the list, which will turn off indexing. Then eject the drive and reconnect it, and remove it from the list. Leave it connected for a while so Spotlight can complete the indexing.

This works briefly at the time, but eventually, something reverts and I get the same problem. This is driving me nuts as I have 10+ years of file archives on that drive I need to be able to search.

Please help.

? WD drive — typically includes proprietary software/drivers this can be an issue— always recommend to erase/reformat these drives to eliminate any proprietary software for this reason—let the macOS handle the drive. You can try looking for update from WD...

This could very well be a conflict between HFS+ file format and the newer APFS.

Try a new backup on a clean drive formatted to match you macOS

Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac

https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/erase-and-reformat-a-storage-device-dskutl14079/20.0/mac/11.0

Same here, I bought a new Lacie d2 pro drive as the older drive was doing the same despite working well for years, it seems to be after installing Big Sur. New drive now needs indexing over and over again costing time and patience. Also have a massive amount of work on there. Has anyone solved it?