“Find” on MacOS is vestigial and broken

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  dtgriscom · Member · May 27, 2026 at 8:57 am

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  I’ve accumulated 48 entries in my (currently free plan) Day One journal, using macOS version 2026.10 (1753). I’m considering a new use, and a big feature I’d need is the ability to select all entries with a given string. Unfortunately, the “Find” feature is (as stated above) is vestigial and broken.

  The standard “Edit/Find/Find…” entry is there, but it’s only enabled when a single entry is open and being edited, and searches within that entry. Useless for cross-entry searches.

  There is a 🔍 icon, and opening it lets you search across all entries. However, it’s seriously broken, and searches often fail for strange reasons. Examples:

  • A half dozen entries have the word “skin” in them, but searching with “skin” using the 🔍 icon only identifies one.
  • I created a new item containing “skin”, and it also wasn’t found. I deleted it and tried again, and the now-deleted entry is now found by 🔍 ing for “skin”.
  • I permanently deleted that new entry, and it is still found by 🔍 ing for “skin,” although it can’t be opened.
  • All this while, there are several other entries containing “skin” that aren’t selected when using the 🔍 icon.
  • I tried searching for “scalp” which was also in several entries: nothing came up. I duplicated one of the “scalp” entries, and the duplicated entry can now be found with “scalp”.
  • I deleted the duplicated entry. Now, searching for “scalp” shows both the entry I’d duplicated and its duplicate.
  • I opened, edited and saved another old entry containing “scalp”; now it is also found in a “scalp” search.
  • I created a new entry with “BP test baby” in it. It’s visible in the timeline, but seaching for “BP” doesn’t show it.
  • I deleted the “BP test baby” entry, and bingo: it can be search. I restored it: still can be searched. I then added the word “wrong” at the end of it and closed it. Searching for “wrong” doesn’t show the entry. Searching for “BP” shows the entry, but the preview in the 🔍 window doesn’t include the word “wrong”. But, if I apply “BP” as a filter, the filtered timeline’s preview shows the word “wrong.”

  It sounds like the app uses a word index for searches, but the index is only occasionally updated. Of course, this is confusing and annoying.

  Suggestions:

  • Have the search index be edited whenever an item is created or changed
  • Have a way to explicitly update the search index
  • If no entry is open, have the “Edit/Find/Find…” menu item and shortcut open the 🔍 search window
  • Have a way of viewing trashed entries (currently the only method is the 🔍 icon, and that depends on hitting on a word in the trashed entry)
  • Have a way of permanently emptying the trash

  Thanks,

  Dan