Spotlight shortcut not working

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Level 1

6 points

Spotlight shortcut not working

I have OSX 15.3.1 Sequoia, the ⌘ Command + Spacebar shortcut to launch Spotlight stopped working.

Even if I press ⌘ Command + Spacebar .... nothing happens. I have also looked at the keyboard shortcuts in - changed them. Set it back as default and the search doesn't work at all.

The only thing that works is : Option + Command + spacebar.

Please advise what I disabled it with and how to turn it back on.

Below is an overview of Spotlight factory settings - in Czech language ( ⌘+"mezerník" = ⌘+Spacebar)

MacBook Pro 15″

Posted on Apr 19, 2025 2:16 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

RadostSOS Author

Level 1

6 points

Apr 19, 2025 3:26 AM in response to K Shaffer

Thank you for your efforts... to help

The first link is simply unusable , because nothing showed up after pressing the keys.

I clicked on the .... link in my browser and before I do anything in the terminal I'm looking for another way to solve it:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/318100/spotlight-shortcut-cmdspace-no-longer-working

Closing applications with potentially conflicting shortcuts. I can't say with 100% certainty that I have covered everything but I have combed through my app shortcuts and closed out of anything that might be the problem. To reiterate, this was working fine until yesterday.

... what finally worked was that I started closing individual applications so I didn't have to disconnect connected disks that might also have been affected ;-)

I suspect that one of the apps blocked my access .... Image Vectorizer in combination with running Super Vectorizer and MS Excel.

And after closing the excel spreadsheet, which is 152 MB, Spotlight shows up again.

Heartfelt thanks for trying to help.

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Answer 2

K Shaffer

Level 8

35,992 points

Apr 19, 2025 5:54 AM in response to RadostSOS

Oh well: an update or upgrades, are among first things to do..

Perhaps the operating system update, still the table, and not

applied; while your Mac tries to accomplish an underlying task.

Update macOS on Mac - Apple Support

About background updates in macOS - Apple Support

•macOS Sequoia 15.4.1 • macOS Sequoia • 16 Apr 2025

//support.apple.com/en-us/122400

"This document describes the security content of macOS Sequoia 15.4.1."

Without it..? Yet likely to still be helpful ~ it's not applied yet!?

There's many fixes inside; update packages have much more.

..Only two items, in this last step from macOS15.4.0 to 15.4.1.

Your MacOS missed whole bunch right before last update step.

•macOS Sequoia 15.4 • macOS Sequoia • 31 Mar 2025

//support.apple.com/en-us/122373

"The latest version of macOS is 15.4.1. Learn how to

update the software on your Mac ~ and how to allow

important background updates."

Looks like at least 40+ new items in Sequoia 15.4, some similar names.

..Read through and see how to update those bits, may take hours..

Probably better than an Upgrade and many crucial items too! 🤣

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Answer 3

K Shaffer

Level 8

35,992 points

Apr 19, 2025 3:07 AM in response to RadostSOS

RadostSOS

Not sure if these would help due to specialized instances with exact issues:

Search for anything with Spotlight on Mac - Apple Support

Spotlight 'keyboard shortcuts' on Mac - Apple Support

results: "how to turn on Spotlight shortcuts when command key doesn't work"

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=how+to+turn+on+Spotlight+shortcuts+when+command+key+doesn%27t+work&ia=web

Search for something:

On your Mac, do one of the following:

Click (if shown) in the menu bar.
- Tip: If the Spotlight icon isn’t in the menu bar, add it using Control Center settings*.
- Press Command-Space bar.
- Press (if available) in the row of function keys on the keyboard.

You can drag the Spotlight window anywhere on the desktop.
In the search field, type what you’re looking for—results appear as you type.
Spotlight lists top matches first; click a top match to preview or open it.
Spotlight also suggests variations of your search; those results appear in Spotlight or on the web.

*Use 'Control Center settings' info here)

Change Control Center settings on Mac - Apple Support

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=spotlight+shortcuts+macOS&ia=web

Because you may choose to customize Spotlight searches to include or to

exclude contents, and select other storage, etc; this becomes very busy.

(Edited to add earlier visible search option above)

PS: also an update for your macOS was posted two days ago.

Apple security releases - Apple Support macOS15.4.1

That may or may not help fix any newer issues in your Mac.

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