How to stop Parallels Desktop from listing Apps from a VM available in Spotlight

parallels-desktopspotlight

I'm trying to stop Windows apps installed on a VM in Parallels from appearing in Spotlight search results on the host Mac. System details:

  • Mac OS: 10.12.6
  • Parallels Desktop Business Edition Version: 11.2.3 (32663)
  • Windows OS Version (running in Parallels): Windows 10 Pro 1709

I've made sure that in Parallels setting for this VM, the setting Options ➡️ Applications ➡️ Share Windows applications with Mac is set to false:

Parallels Settings

In addition, as suggested here, I've added ~/Applications (Parallels)/ to the Spotlight privacy blacklist:

Parallels Apps Blacklisted

Finally, as suggested by @JMY1000, I rebuilt the entire Spotlight index on my Mac, by following these instructions.

And yet still, I can see Windows Apps listed in Spotlight results:

enter image description here

What can I do to remove Windows apps from Spotlight results?

Best Answer

I just figured it out after searching the sources below.

  • System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
  • Drag your "Applications (Parallels)" folder onto the "Privacy" tab
    • I also added the folder with my Parallels VM (called "Parallels" in screenshot below) just to be sure I wasn't indexing any Parallel's info
  • Exiting System Preferences will rebuild the Spotlight index without Parallel's apps

enter image description here

Note: If you have Alfred installed, go to Alfred Preferences > Advanced > Clear Application Cache

Sources

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeGQeTrAcn8

  2. http://www.zenandmac.com/2013/06/03/how-to-prevent-parallels-applications-from-appearing-in-alfred-search-results/

  3. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201716
Related Question