Rebuild the Search Index in Windows 11 & 10 (and Make Search Find Your Files)

To rebuild the search index in Windows 11 or 10, press the Windows key, type Indexing Options, open it, click Advanced, then Rebuild, and click OK. Windows deletes the index and builds it again in the background, which takes from a few minutes to several hours depending on how many files you have. To make search find files in other folders or drives, click Modify in the same window, or go to Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows. Here is what most guides get backwards: switching to "Enhanced" mode to index your whole PC is usually the wrong fix. It indexes system and program folders you never search, keeps the drive busy, and makes the index bigger and slower to rebuild. Classic mode plus the specific folders you use gives faster, cleaner results.

Jake's friend Ethan keeps fifteen years of client invoices on a second drive, D:. Every time he searched for a client's name from Start or File Explorer, nothing came up, or it took a full minute with a slowly crawling green bar. He had read online to turn on Enhanced search, which made his laptop's fan spin for two days and still did not find half his files. At Jake's shop the fix was simple: back to Classic, add D:\Clients as an indexed location, turn on indexing of file contents for PDFs, and rebuild. After an hour of indexing, searching for a client's name returned every invoice in under a second. This page shows how to get that result on your PC, and how to fix an index that has gone wrong.

The index is a catalog of your files, like the index at the back of a book. Windows reads it instead of scanning the whole drive every time you search. Rebuilding it is always safe: it never deletes, moves or changes your files, only the catalog.

Every search index setting, and where it lives

The quickest way into Indexing Options from anywhere: press Windows + R, type control srchadmin.dll, and press Enter.

Rebuild the search index (Windows 11 and 10)

1. Press the Windows key, type Indexing Options, and open it. Or run control srchadmin.dll.
2. Click Advanced and approve the administrator prompt.
3. On the Index Settings tab, under Troubleshooting, click Rebuild.
4. Click OK to confirm that rebuilding might take a long time.
5. Close the windows and keep using the PC. The top of Indexing Options shows progress, such as "Indexing in progress. 12,345 items indexed."

Until rebuilding finishes, search results are incomplete, and Windows may show "Search results may be incomplete because items are still being indexed". Leave the PC on and plugged in, ideally overnight for large collections. On Windows 11 you can also reach the same Rebuild button from Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows > Advanced indexing options.

When to rebuild

• Files you know exist do not appear in search.
• Search shows deleted or renamed files that no longer exist.
• Indexing seems stuck on the same count for hours, or the indexer uses high CPU constantly.
• After adding a large number of files, moving folders, or restoring from a backup.
• After a major Windows update, if search has behaved oddly since.

Do not rebuild routinely "just in case". A healthy index updates itself as files change; rebuilding throws away work and makes search slow for hours.

How Windows search indexing works

Three parts work together. The Windows Search service (WSearch) runs in the background and manages everything. The indexer (SearchIndexer.exe) watches the included folders for new, changed and deleted files, and updates the catalog within seconds of a change. Filters are small components that know how to read the text inside each file type: one for Word documents, one for PDFs, one for plain text, and so on. When you search, Start, File Explorer and Outlook ask the service, which answers from the catalog instead of reading the drive.

That design explains most problems. If a folder is not included, the indexer never sees its files. If a filter is missing for a file type, only the name is indexed. If the service is stopped, every search falls back to slowly reading the drive. And if the catalog is damaged, results go missing or show files that no longer exist, which is when a rebuild helps.

Classic or Enhanced: which search mode to choose

Windows 11 offers two modes under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows > Find my files (Windows 10: Settings > Search > Searching Windows).

The better approach for most people is Classic plus Customize search locations for the few extra folders where you keep things, such as a second drive, a work folder or a photo archive. That is exactly what fixed Ethan's search. Enhanced is useful once, to find files when you have no idea where they are; after that, organizing them into a known folder and returning to Classic is faster and quieter.

Add folders and drives to the index

From Settings (Windows 11)

1. Open Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.
2. With Classic selected, click Customize search locations. This opens the Indexed Locations window.
3. Click Show all locations if available, then check the folders or drives you want indexed. Expand a drive to pick specific folders.
4. Click OK. Windows starts indexing the new locations right away.

From Indexing Options (both versions)

1. Open Indexing Options and click Modify.
2. Click Show all locations so drives and system folders appear.
3. Check the folders to include; clear any you do not want searched.
4. Click OK.

Index folders, not whole drives, whenever you can. Indexing D:\Clients and D:\Photos is faster and cleaner than indexing all of D:, which would include installers, game files and backups you never search. If the folder you want is grayed out, it is on a network drive or a location Windows cannot index, covered below.

Search inside documents, not just file names

By default Windows indexes the text inside common document types, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plain text and many PDFs. For some file types it indexes only properties: name, date, size and tags. To check or change it:

1. Open Indexing Options and click Advanced.
2. Open the File Types tab.
3. Find the extension, such as pdf, md, log or csv, and select it.
4. Choose Index Properties and File Contents.
5. For an extension not in the list, type it in Add new extension to list and click Add, then set it to index contents.
6. Click OK. Windows offers to rebuild; accept so existing files are re-read.

Content indexing for PDFs relies on a PDF filter (IFilter). Windows includes one on current versions; if PDF text is still not found, the installed PDF reader may have replaced it, and reinstalling or updating the reader usually restores it. Scanned PDFs contain images of text, not text, so their contents cannot be searched unless they were run through text recognition (OCR) first.

Search smarter once the index works

With a healthy index, File Explorer's search box accepts powerful filters:

• invoice kind:document finds documents containing "invoice".
• datemodified:last week or datemodified:2026 narrows by date.
• size:>100MB finds large files.
• ext:pdf or *.pdf limits to one file type.
• name:budget searches file names only, ignoring contents.
• content:"exact phrase" searches inside files for a phrase.
• Combine with AND, OR and NOT in capitals: invoice AND 2025 NOT draft.

These filters work in indexed locations instantly; in non-indexed locations they still work but slowly, because Windows has to read every file. That speed difference is the best everyday reason to index the folders you search often.

Search not finding files? Fixes in order

1. Check the location is indexed. Open Indexing Options and look at the Included Locations list. If the folder is not there, add it.
2. Wait for indexing to finish. If the status says indexing is in progress, results are incomplete until it finishes.
3. Check indexing is not paused. The status may say "Indexing speed is reduced due to user activity" or "Indexing is paused". Leave the PC idle and plugged in, or change the power setting described below.
4. Restart the Windows Search service. Open services.msc, right-click Windows Search, and choose Restart. Make sure its Startup type is Automatic (Delayed Start).
5. Run the troubleshooter. In Indexing Options, click Troubleshoot search and indexing, check the problems you see, and let it fix what it can.
6. Rebuild the index. As described above.
7. Restart Windows Explorer. If search in File Explorer or Start hangs, restart the Explorer process from Task Manager. Our guide to restarting Explorer shows how.
8. Repair system files. In Terminal (Admin), run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth then sfc /scannow.
9. Reset the index completely. See the full reset section below.

If the search box in File Explorer will not accept typing, or Explorer crashes when you search, those are separate problems with their own fixes; see our guides to File Explorer search not working and Explorer crashing on search.

Full reset when Rebuild does not help

If rebuilding fails, stalls at zero, or the index keeps getting corrupted, delete the index database itself so Windows creates a brand-new one.

1. Open services.msc, right-click Windows Search and choose Stop.
2. Open File Explorer and go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows. ProgramData is hidden; paste the path into the address bar.
3. Rename the index file as a backup. On Windows 11 it is Windows.db (with companion files such as Windows-gather.db); on Windows 10 it is Windows.edb. Rename each by adding .old.
4. Start the Windows Search service again.
5. Open Indexing Options and click Advanced > Rebuild to start fresh.

Once search works again, delete the .old files to reclaim space. If the folder is full of very large files, the old index was oversized; switching from Enhanced to Classic usually keeps the new one small.

SearchIndexer high CPU or disk usage

The indexer runs as Microsoft Windows Search Indexer (SearchIndexer.exe) in Task Manager. High usage for a while after adding files or rebuilding is normal. Constant high usage for days is not. Fixes:

• Switch from Enhanced to Classic, which removes huge numbers of files from the index.
• Remove folders that change constantly, such as a developer's node_modules, build output, virtual machine disks, mail archives or a download folder full of ZIP files.
• Exclude file types the indexer struggles with by setting them to Index Properties Only on the File Types tab.
• Rebuild, or do the full reset if the index is corrupted.
• Turn on Respect device power mode settings so indexing slows down in Battery saver or Best power efficiency modes.

Disabling the Windows Search service entirely stops the usage, but it also makes Start, File Explorer and Outlook search slow and incomplete. Treat that as a last resort, not a fix.

Folders Windows does not index by design

Even in Enhanced mode, Windows skips some locations on purpose: the Windows folder, Program Files, temporary folders, the Recycle Bin, and most of each user's hidden AppData folder. These hold system and program files that change constantly and are not documents. Searching for a setting or app from Start still works, because those come from a separate list, not the file index. If you genuinely need to find a file in a system folder, open that folder in File Explorer and search there; it is slower but complete. Hidden files are indexed in included locations, but they only show in results when File Explorer is set to show hidden items.

Save searches you run often

A search you repeat, such as "all PDFs modified this month in Clients", can be saved. Run the search in File Explorer, then choose See more (the three dots) > Save search on Windows 11, or Save search on the Search tab in Windows 10. Windows stores it as a .search-ms file in your Searches folder. Right-click it and choose Pin to Quick access to keep it in the File Explorer sidebar. Opening it reruns the search live, so it always shows current files. Saved searches are instant only in indexed locations, which is one more reason to include your working folders.

Tag files so search finds them

Many file types store properties that the index reads. Right-click a photo, a Word document or an Office file, choose Properties > Details, and fill in Tags, Title or Comments. Then a search for tags:passport finds the scan of your passport even if the file is called IMG_4471.jpg. Office apps also let you add tags when saving. For photos, tagging a few important ones, such as documents, receipts and certificates you photographed, is a small habit that pays off the day you need them in a hurry.

Music files use their own tags, such as artist, album and genre, which media players and tag editors fill in; Windows indexes them automatically. Some file types, including plain text and many PDFs, do not support the Tags property; for those, a clear file name or a folder named after the topic does the same job. A consistent naming habit, like 2026-10 Passport scan.pdf, is the simplest tag of all.

Exclude folders from search

Excluding is as useful as including. Keep private folders, huge archives and constantly changing folders out of the index so results stay relevant and the indexer stays quiet. In Classic mode, open Modify and clear the checkbox for the folder. In Enhanced mode, use Exclude folders from enhanced search under Searching Windows and click Add an excluded folder. Excluded folders can still be searched from File Explorer when you open them, just more slowly, because Windows reads the files directly.

A good rule: exclude anything you would never want to see in a search result. Typical candidates are folders of installers, game libraries, virtual machine disks, raw camera dumps you have already sorted, and backup folders that duplicate files stored elsewhere. Excluding backups is especially useful, because otherwise every search shows each document twice, once in its real location and once in the backup, and it is easy to open and edit the wrong copy.

Move the index to another drive

The index normally lives on C:. On a small system drive, or to reduce writes to it, move it: Indexing Options > Advanced > Index location > Select new, choose a folder on another internal drive, click OK, and restart the Windows Search service or the PC. Windows rebuilds the index in the new place. Do not choose a removable drive; when it is missing, search stops working.

Moving the index is worth it mainly on PCs with a small, nearly full C: drive, or a second fast internal drive with plenty of space. On a single-drive laptop there is nothing to gain. After the move, the old index files on C: are removed automatically; if space does not come back, check the original folder and delete leftover files with the Windows Search service stopped. To move it back, repeat the steps and choose Restore Default.

Choose an empty folder for the new location, such as D:\SearchIndex, rather than the root of the drive, so the index files stay together and are easy to find if you ever need to reset them.

Network drives, OneDrive and external drives

• Network drives and NAS shares cannot be added to the local index on most setups. Searching them is slow because Windows reads files over the network. Many NAS devices have their own search; alternatively, make the folder available offline, or sync it locally.
• OneDrive folders are indexed like local folders. Files that are online-only (cloud icon) are indexed by name and properties; their contents are searchable only once downloaded. To keep a folder's contents searchable, right-click it and choose Always keep on this device.
• External USB drives can be added to the index while connected. When unplugged, their entries disappear from results, and indexing resumes when reconnected. For drives you plug in only occasionally, it is often simpler to search them directly in File Explorer.

Outlook email search and the index

Classic Outlook for Windows uses the same Windows Search index for email. If Outlook search says "Search results may be incomplete because items are still being indexed" or finds nothing, check that Microsoft Outlook appears under Included Locations in Indexing Options, then rebuild. In Outlook, File > Options > Search > Indexing Options opens the same window. The new Outlook for Windows searches mail on Microsoft's servers instead, so the Windows index does not affect it.

If classic Outlook's search keeps failing after a rebuild, check the mailbox is not too large for comfortable indexing: very large PST files take a long time to index and are prone to problems. Archiving old mail into a separate data file, and adding it to the index only if you search it, keeps everyday mail search fast. Outlook also has its own setting, File > Options > Search > Include results only from the current mailbox, which narrows results without affecting the index.

Start menu search vs File Explorer search

Both use the index, but they behave differently. Start search shows apps, settings and the best few file matches, and can include web results from Bing. File Explorer search shows every match in the current folder and its subfolders, with filters. If a file appears in File Explorer but not in Start, Start may simply be ranking apps and settings higher; type more of the file name or press the Documents filter at the top of the search panel. If neither finds the file, the location is not indexed or indexing is incomplete.

To keep Start search to your PC only, turn off Search online and include web results or the cloud content search options under Settings > Privacy & security > Search permissions. That also stops web suggestions appearing when you are looking for a file.

Search permissions and history

Settings > Privacy & security > Search permissions controls more than the web: SafeSearch for web results, Cloud content search for your Microsoft account and work or school account (OneDrive, Outlook, SharePoint), Search history on this device, which improves suggestions from your past searches, and Show search highlights, the daily illustrations and trending topics in the search box. Clear history there with Clear device search history. None of these affect the file index itself, but turning off what you do not use makes the search panel cleaner and quicker to read.

On work or school PCs, some of these switches may be set by your organization and appear grayed out. That is expected; the file index on your PC still works normally.

Indexing on laptops: power and performance

On Windows 11, Searching Windows > Indexer performance has Respect device power mode settings. With it on, indexing slows down or pauses when the laptop is in a power-saving mode, protecting battery life at the cost of slower indexing. For the first big index after a rebuild, plug in and leave the laptop awake; our guide to turning off sleep helps for overnight indexing. After that, everyday indexing is light enough that the setting rarely matters.

Desktop PCs are not affected by this setting in the same way, since they have no battery mode to respect. If indexing seems endlessly slow on a laptop, check whether Energy saver turns on automatically at a high battery level; while it is active, indexing barely moves. Plugging in for a few hours after any large change, such as a rebuild or adding a big folder, is the simplest way to let it finish properly.

Encrypted files, BitLocker and privacy

Files encrypted with the Encrypting File System (EFS) are not indexed unless you turn on Index encrypted files in Advanced Indexing Options, and Windows warns that the index should be on an encrypted drive in that case. Drives protected with BitLocker or Device Encryption are indexed normally, and the index itself sits on the encrypted drive, so nothing leaks. The index is protected by Windows permissions: other standard users on the PC cannot read your files through search. Removing a folder from the index removes its entries from the database when the indexer next updates.

If you keep sensitive files, such as tax documents or medical letters, and do not want them to appear when someone glances at your search results over your shoulder, exclude that folder from the index. You can still open the folder and search within it when you need to.

Windows 10 differences

On Windows 10, the modes are under Settings > Search > Searching Windows, and Advanced Search Indexer Settings at the bottom opens Indexing Options. The index file is Windows.edb rather than Windows 11's Windows.db. The Rebuild button, Modify, File Types and Index location work identically. Older guides refer to "Cortana search"; Cortana no longer handles search on current Windows 10 or 11, and the Cortana app itself has been retired. Windows 10 reached end of support in October 2025, but search indexing works the same on PCs still running it.

On Windows 10, the Settings page also shows a list of excluded folders and an indexing status, similar to Windows 11. If Settings and Indexing Options ever show different item counts, trust Indexing Options; it reads the live state of the service directly.

Large photo, music and document collections

For tens of thousands of files, plan the first index. Add the collection folder, let it index overnight on mains power, and do not rebuild again unless something is wrong. Use properties: photos are indexed with date taken, camera model and tags; music with artist, album and genre; documents with author and title. Searching tags:vacation or artist:"Ilaiyaraaja" then works instantly. Keeping collections in a few well-named top folders, rather than scattered across the drive, keeps the index small and search fast for years.

For photo libraries, the date taken property is especially useful: datetaken:2019 finds every photo shot that year, whatever folder it ended up in. For music, sorting a search by album or artist in Details view turns File Explorer into a basic library browser. For document archives, setting PDFs to index file contents is the change that makes the biggest difference, because so many receipts, statements and manuals arrive as PDFs.

Developers and constantly changing folders

Source code folders with dependencies, such as node_modules, Python virtual environments, .git folders and build output, contain hundreds of thousands of small files that change on every build. Indexing them keeps SearchIndexer busy and fills results with noise. Keep code in a folder such as C:\dev and leave it out of the index, or index only the folders you search by name. Your code editor's own search is faster and more accurate for code anyway. Windows 11's Dev Drive volumes are excluded from indexing by default for this reason.

If you do want code searchable from Start, index only a single folder of documentation or notes rather than whole repositories. And if indexing a project folder has already caused high CPU, removing it from the index and rebuilding brings the indexer back to normal within an hour or so.

Check index status and size

The top of Indexing Options shows the number of items indexed and the current state: Indexing complete, Indexing in progress, Indexing speed is reduced due to user activity or Indexing is paused. On Windows 11, Searching Windows also shows Indexing status with the count of indexed items and pending items. To see the size on disk, open the index folder at C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows and check the database file's size. A Classic index for a typical home user is usually well under a gigabyte; several gigabytes suggests Enhanced mode or a folder with huge numbers of files.

If the item count stays exactly the same for hours while the status says indexing is in progress, the indexer is stuck on a file it cannot read. Restarting the Windows Search service usually moves it on; if the count sticks again at the same number, remove the most recently added folder from the index, let indexing complete, and add the folder back in smaller parts to find the problem file.

Search after restoring a backup or moving to a new PC

The index is not copied with your files; each PC builds its own. After restoring a large backup, migrating to a new PC, or moving a folder to a different drive, expect search to be incomplete until indexing catches up. Check the status in Indexing Options, leave the PC on and plugged in, and add any new folder locations first so they are included in the same pass. If you moved a folder that was indexed, remove the old location from Modify, because Windows will otherwise keep looking for files that are no longer there.

Search on shared and family PCs

Each Windows account has its own view of search. Results respect file permissions, so one family member cannot find another's private files through Start, and each account's own libraries are indexed for that person. Folders shared by everyone, such as a family photo folder on D:, only need adding to the index once by an administrator. If someone else's account has a messy index, sign in as them to fix their Classic or Enhanced choice; the setting applies per PC, but the libraries searched follow each user.

On a PC shared by a family, a quick tidy of the Included Locations list also removes folders belonging to people who no longer use the computer. Their files remain where they are; only the index entries go, which keeps the catalog smaller and search faster for everyone still using it.

Why results appear in the order they do

Start search ranks results by a mix of name match, how recently and how often you opened an item, and its type, with apps and settings usually first. File Explorer lists every match and lets you sort by name, date or relevance using the column headers. If the file you want is buried, add a filter rather than scrolling: kind:document removes pictures and folders, and datemodified:this week brings recent work to the top. Files you open often rise in Start's best match over time, which is why search seems to "learn" what you use.

What not to do

• Do not disable Windows Search to "speed up" a PC. It makes every search slower and breaks Outlook search.
• Do not index entire drives when a few folders will do.
• Do not rebuild every week. A healthy index maintains itself.
• Do not delete the index files while the service is running; stop the Windows Search service first.
• Do not use third-party "search optimizer" tools that change indexer settings in bulk; the built-in options cover everything.

Also avoid leaving Enhanced mode on after you have found what you were looking for. It is easy to switch on during a hunt for a lost file and forget about it, and it is the most common reason we see for a laptop whose indexer is busy every day. Once you have found and moved the file, switch back to Classic and add the folder where it now lives.

When an index is not the right tool

For searching file names across entire drives instantly, including folders you never index, some people use a dedicated file-name search tool that reads the drive's file table directly. That complements Windows Search rather than replacing it: name-only tools are fast for "where is that file", while the Windows index searches inside documents, emails and properties. If you use one, there is no need to switch Windows to Enhanced mode at all; keep Windows Search on Classic for your documents and let the other tool handle whole-drive name lookups.

Whatever tool you use, the same habits make finding files easy: keep work in a few well-named top-level folders, use descriptive file names, and avoid saving everything to the desktop or Downloads. Good organization makes every kind of search faster, and it is the one improvement that keeps working when you move to a new PC, where the index has to be built again from scratch.

For IT admins: managing search indexing

Policies. Group Policy under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search includes Prevent indexing certain paths, Default indexed paths, Prevent indexing files in offline files cache, Allow indexing of encrypted files, Prevent indexing when running on battery power to conserve energy and Do not allow web search. Intune exposes matching Search CSP settings.

Shared and VDI machines. On multi-session hosts and non-persistent desktops, plan index storage per user profile and exclude large shared paths. Outlook search problems on such systems are frequently index placement issues.

Troubleshooting. The Search event log under Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > Search records indexer errors, and resetting the index with the service stopped resolves most corruption.

Rebuilding the search index: frequently asked questions

Ethan's invoices now show up the moment he types a client's name, and his laptop's fan is quiet again. The fix was smaller than the advice he had found: not "index everything", but "index the right things". Windows Search works well when it knows where your files live and what kinds of files to read. Tell it, give it one quiet night to build its catalog, and search becomes the fastest way to open anything on your PC.

Revision note. Written October 2, 2026, rewriting our 2016 Cortana-era guide for Windows 11 search and indexing. May every file you need be one search away.