Where Is the Spotlight Index Stored on Mac?
Spotlight keeps a per volume index in .Spotlight-V100. The layout and the mdutil commands that rebuild it.
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Spotlight stores its index on each volume it searches, in a hidden .Spotlight-V100 folder at that volume's root. Inside sits Store-V2 with a UUID named folder holding the actual index files. The layout is opaque by design, so treat it as a black box.
Manage it with mdutil, not Finder. mdutil -E / erases and rebuilds the Data volume index; mdutil -aE covers all volumes. Never hand delete the folder when a rebuild misbehaves. Excluding and re including the volume in Search Privacy achieves the same reset through the GUI.
Where macOS Spotlight stores this, by platform
/.Spotlight-V100
Per volume root folder with Store-V2/<UUID> inside. Rebuild with mdutil -E, list with mdutil -L, remove with mdutil -X (recreates on remount). System volume data actually indexes from /System/Volumes/Data.
Frequently asked questions
how do i force spotlight to reindex
Run mdutil -E / in Terminal, or toggle the volume through Search Privacy exclusions. Watch progress in Activity Monitor under mdworker. Large volumes take a while; let it finish before judging results.
can i delete spotlight-v100 to save space
You can, and Spotlight rebuilds it, but prefer mdutil -E or the Privacy toggle. Raw deletion sometimes leaves the volume in a half indexed state until a reboot or explicit reindex command.
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