Yes, index rebuilding after a major macOS upgrade can take several days—especially when you have a large library of 30,000 photos.
Should You Leave Your Computer Open?
- Yes. For the Photos app and Spotlight to finish scanning, categorizing, and indexing your local or iCloud-synced media, your MacBook Pro needs to be powered on.
- Plug the laptop into power, keep it awake (or prevent it from sleeping during plugged-in idle via System Settings > Lock Screen), and let it sit overnight or through the day. macOS performs heavy machine-learning and database indexing tasks mostly when the computer is idle and plugged in.
You should also check your iCloud settings, and you can force a re-index if needed.
Check iCloud Optimization Settings:
If you use iCloud Photos with "Optimize Mac Storage" enabled, your Mac might still be downloading thumbnail and search metadata indexes from Apple's servers rather than having them locally available yet. Check System Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos to verify your sync status.
Force a Reindex (if it persists past 3–4 days):
If indexing is genuinely stuck after a few days, you can prompt the system to rebuild the search index:
- Open System Settings and click on Spotlight in the sidebar.
- Scroll to the bottom and click Search Privacy.
- Drag your main hard drive (or your Photos Library location) into the list, or use the (+) button to add it, wait a few seconds, then select it and click the (-) button to remove it.
- Close System Settings and allow time for it to rebuild.
More info from Apple: Check the status of your library in Photos for macOS
Personally, searching in Photos is working fine for me on macOS 27.2.
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