Summary

This article shows you how to use Windows Search to quickly find files, applications, system settings, and email messages. It covers the Start menu search bar, File Explorer search, advanced search operators, and how to manage indexing options for faster results. The Troubleshooting section covers what to do when search stops finding things at all — rebuilding the index, restarting search without admin rights, and the search outage that follows a Windows update.

In this guide

• 1. Search from the Start Menu or Taskbar
• 2. Search for Files in File Explorer
• 3. Use Search Operators for Precision
• 4. Use Search Filters in the File Explorer Toolbar
• 5. Search for Settings Directly
• 6. Manage Search Indexing Options
• Rebuild the search index
• Restart Windows Search without admin rights
• Search stopped working after a Windows update
• Choose between Classic and Enhanced indexing
• The file exists but search never finds it
• If search is still broken

Before You Start

• Windows 11 or Windows 10.
• Files you want to search must be stored on a local drive, OneDrive, or a mapped network location.
• No admin rights are required for any step in this article.

Instructions

1. Search from the Start Menu or Taskbar

The fastest way to find anything on your computer is the Start menu search bar.

1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, or click the Search icon (magnifying glass) on the taskbar.
2. Start typing what you are looking for. Examples:
   • An app name: Excel, Notepad, Snipping Tool
   • A setting: Bluetooth, default browser, display resolution
   • A file name: Q3 Budget, meeting notes
3. Results appear instantly, grouped into categories: Best match, Apps, Documents, Web, Settings, and More.
4. Click the result you want to open it. To see all results for a category, click the category header.

Tip: You do not need to type the full name. Typing the first few letters is usually enough for Windows to find the correct result.

2. Search for Files in File Explorer

File Explorer search lets you search within a specific folder or drive for more targeted results.

1. Open File Explorer by pressing Windows + E.
2. Navigate to the folder or drive you want to search. The search only looks within the selected location and its subfolders.
3. Click the Search box in the top-right corner of the File Explorer window (or press Ctrl + E).
4. Type your search term and press Enter.
5. Results populate in the main pane. Click any file to open it, or right-click and select Open file location to navigate to the folder containing the file.

Verification: The search results list shows file names, locations, and dates modified. Double-click any result to confirm it is the correct file.

3. Use Search Operators for Precision

Search operators let you narrow results by file type, date, size, or other properties. Type these directly into the File Explorer search box.

Filter by File Type

Use the kind: operator to search only for specific file types:

Operator	What It Finds
kind:document	Word, PDF, and text files
kind:spreadsheet	Excel workbooks and CSV files
kind:presentation	PowerPoint files
kind:picture	Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc.)
kind:video	Video files (MP4, AVI, MOV, etc.)
kind:email	Emails indexed from Outlook
kind:folder	Folders only

Example: To find all PowerPoint files containing the word "budget," type: budget kind:presentation

Filter by Date

Use the date: or datemodified: operator to narrow by time:

• datemodified:today — Files changed today.
• datemodified:this week — Files changed this week.
• datemodified:last month — Files changed last month.
• date:>2026-01-01 — Files created or modified after January 1, 2026.

Example: report datemodified:this week kind:document

Filter by File Size

Use the size: operator to find large files consuming disk space:

• size:empty — 0 KB
• size:small — 1–16 KB
• size:medium — 16 KB–1 MB
• size:large — 1–128 MB
• size:huge — 128 MB–1 GB
• size:gigantic — Greater than 1 GB

Example: size:gigantic finds all files over 1 GB — useful for freeing up disk space.

Filter by File Extension

Use ext: to search for a specific file extension:

• ext:.pdf — PDF files only.
• ext:.xlsx — Excel files only.
• ext:.docx — Word documents only.

Example: invoice ext:.pdf datemodified:this month

4. Use Search Filters in the File Explorer Toolbar

Windows 11 provides clickable filter buttons as an alternative to typing operators manually.

1. Open File Explorer and click the Search box.
2. Click Search options in the toolbar that appears at the top.
3. Select from the available filters:
   • Date modified: Choose a date range (Today, This week, This month, This year).
   • Kind: Select a file type category.
   • Size: Select a size range.
   • Other properties: Filter by author, tags, or other metadata.
4. The filter is applied to your search automatically. You can combine multiple filters.

Verification: The search box displays your active filters as text. For example, selecting "This week" adds datemodified:this week to the search box.

5. Search for Settings Directly

Windows Search indexes all system settings, so you can find and open any setting without navigating menus.

1. Press the Windows key and type a description of what you want to change. Examples:
   • night light — Opens the Night Light (blue light filter) setting.
   • default apps — Opens the Default Apps page.
   • mouse pointer size — Opens the Mouse Pointer accessibility setting.
   • proxy — Opens the Proxy settings page.
   • storage — Opens the Storage management page.
2. Click the matching Settings result to open it directly.

Tip: This is often faster than manually navigating through Settings > System > Display > etc. Think of it as a shortcut to any setting.

6. Manage Search Indexing Options

Windows indexes a default set of folders, so add other locations to the index when search is not finding files stored outside them.

The Settings page is in a different place on each version of Windows. Check yours under Settings > System > About > Windows specifications if you are not sure.

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.
2. Open the Searching Windows page:
   • Windows 11: select Privacy & security in the left sidebar, then Searching Windows.
   • Windows 10: select Search, then Searching Windows.
3. Under Find my files, choose one of the following:
   • Classic — indexes your Documents, Pictures, and Music folders plus the desktop. Smaller index, faster to build, and it misses files stored anywhere else.
   • Enhanced — indexes your entire PC, including all user folders and files. Finds far more, and the first build takes considerably longer.
4. To add one specific folder rather than switching to Enhanced, open the advanced page on the same screen: Advanced indexing options on Windows 11, or Advanced Search Indexer Settings on Windows 10. The Indexing Options window opens.
5. Select Modify, tick the folders you want indexed, and select OK. Ticking a folder includes everything inside it.
6. Close Settings. Windows adds the new location in the background — this takes minutes to hours depending on how many files are in it.

Verification: The item count on the Searching Windows page climbs while Windows reads the new location. Once it settles, search for a file from that folder and it appears in the results.

Troubleshooting

INFO

The Settings path is different on Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows Search settings live under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows on Windows 11, and under Settings > Search > Searching Windows on Windows 10. Every fix below gives both. To confirm which version you are running, open Settings > System > About and read the Windows specifications section.

Symptom / Error	Potential Cause	Solution
Search returns no results for known files	The folder is not in the index	Add it — see The file exists but search never finds it below.
Search is very slow or results are patchy	The index is still being built	Open the Searching Windows page and read the status line. Indexing in progress. Search results might not be complete during this time. means it is working — leave the computer on and plugged in.
Start menu search shows only web results	The search process has stopped	Restart it — see Restart Windows Search without admin rights below.
Search broke right after a Windows update	The Windows Search service pauses during an upgrade	Wait five minutes after signing in, then search again — see Search stopped working after a Windows update below.
File Explorer search box is missing	The File Explorer window is too narrow	Maximize the File Explorer window. If it is still missing, press Ctrl + E to put the cursor in the search box.
Search does not find Outlook emails	Outlook is not selected in the index	Open Indexing Options (search the Start menu for indexing options), select Modify, and tick Microsoft Outlook.

Rebuild the search index

Rebuilding discards the existing catalogue and builds a new one from scratch. Read this paragraph before you start it, not after.

Nothing happens to your files — the index is a catalogue of them, not a copy — but search results are incomplete for the entire time the rebuild runs, and Microsoft's guidance is to allow the indexer up to 24 hours to finish. Most computers take far less. Start a rebuild at the end of the day, on mains power, rather than ten minutes before you need to find a document. If you have not yet tried restarting search, do that first — it takes seconds and costs nothing.

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.
2. Open the advanced indexing page:
   • Windows 11: select Privacy & security > Searching Windows, then Advanced indexing options.
   • Windows 10: select Search > Searching Windows, then Advanced Search Indexer Settings.
3. The Indexing Options window opens on top of Settings, listing the locations Windows currently indexes.
4. Select Advanced. If Windows asks for an administrator password here, your account cannot rebuild the index — skip to If search is still broken below for the ticket wording.
5. Select Rebuild. A message warns that rebuilding the index may take a long time to complete. Select OK.
6. The item count in Indexing Options drops close to zero and starts climbing again. That is the rebuild running. Close the window — the work continues in the background.

How to tell it has finished: the Searching Windows page shows the running total next to Indexed on Windows 11, or Indexed Items on Windows 10, and Indexing Options reports Indexing complete when the indexer has caught up.

Restart Windows Search without admin rights

When the search box opens but returns nothing at all — no apps, no settings, no web results — the search process itself has stopped rather than the index being wrong. Restarting it takes seconds and does not touch the index.

First, restart the search process. This needs no special rights, because the process belongs to your own sign-in session.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Select Details in the left sidebar. On Windows 10, select the Details tab.
3. Select the Name column heading to sort alphabetically, then find SearchHost.exe on Windows 11, or SearchUI.exe on Windows 10.
4. Right-click it and select End task, then confirm at the prompt. Nothing is lost — this is the search window itself, not your files and not the index, and Windows starts it again the moment you next search.
5. Select the taskbar search box and type a few letters. Results appear.

If that changes nothing, restart the Windows Search service.

1. In Task Manager, select Services.
2. Find WSearch in the Name column. The Description column beside it reads Windows Search.
3. Right-click WSearch and select Restart. The Status column changes to Stopped and back to Running.
4. If Windows answers with an access denied message, your account does not have permission to control services. Use the sign-out route below — it does the same job.

The sign-out route always works. Signing out and back in restarts the Windows Search service for you, with no special rights and no commands. Save your open work first: signing out closes every open application. A full restart does the same thing and also completes any pending update.

Search stopped working after a Windows update

This one is common enough to check before anything else, and the answer is usually to wait rather than to fix.

The Windows Search service is paused while an update installs, and it does not start again the instant you sign back in. Microsoft's guidance is to allow five minutes after signing in for the service to come back. During that window the search box opens and returns nothing, which looks exactly like a broken installation.

If search is still empty after five minutes:

1. Open the Searching Windows page — Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows on Windows 11, or Settings > Search > Searching Windows on Windows 10.
2. Read the status line at the top of the page and match it to one of these:
   • Indexing complete — the index is healthy, so the fault is in the search window. Restart the search process using the steps above.
   • Indexing in progress. Search results might not be complete during this time. — the update changed files and the indexer is catching up. Leave the computer switched on and plugged in; this clears itself.
   • Indexing is not running. — the service has not started. Sign out and back in, or restart the computer.
3. Search again for a file you know was findable before the update.

Do not rebuild the index as your first move after an update. A rebuild throws away a catalogue that is almost certainly fine and buys you a day of degraded search to solve something that clears itself in five minutes.

Choose between Classic and Enhanced indexing

Find my files on the Searching Windows page has two settings, and which one you are on decides whether search can see a given file at all.

• Classic indexes your Documents, Pictures, and Music folders plus the desktop. This is the default, and it is why a file saved to C:\Projects or to a second hard drive never appears in Start menu results.
• Enhanced indexes your entire PC, including all user folders and files. It finds far more, and the first build takes considerably longer because there is far more to read.

To change it, open the Searching Windows page for your version of Windows, then select Classic or Enhanced under Find my files. Windows starts indexing the new scope straight away and the item count on the same page climbs while it works.

Switching between the two is reversible and costs you nothing but coverage: going back to Classic narrows what search can see, and switching to Enhanced again re-widens it. Neither setting moves, deletes, or opens a single file.

One caution on Enhanced: Microsoft notes that performance problems can begin once the index passes roughly 400,000 items. On a laptop holding a large local archive, adding the one folder you actually search is the lighter option than indexing everything.

The file exists but search never finds it

When you can open a file by browsing to it, but no search will surface it, the folder it lives in sits outside the index. There are two separate reasons for that, with two different fixes.

The folder was never in the index. Add it:

1. Open Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows > Advanced indexing options on Windows 11, or Settings > Search > Searching Windows > Advanced Search Indexer Settings on Windows 10. The Indexing Options window opens.
2. Select Modify. A dialog opens with a folder tree at the top and a list of the currently indexed locations below it.
3. Tick the box next to the folder or drive you want indexed. Ticking a folder includes everything inside it.
4. Select OK. The item count in Indexing Options starts rising as Windows reads the new location.
5. Wait for the count to settle, then search for a file you know is in that folder.

The folder was explicitly excluded. Windows keeps a separate list of folders to leave out of the index, built by the Add an excluded folder button on the Searching Windows page. A folder on that list stays invisible to search no matter what else you change, so check the list and remove your folder from it if it appears there. Removing an exclusion only widens what search can see — nothing on disk changes, and you can add the exclusion back at any time.

While you wait for indexing: open the folder in File Explorer and search from inside it. File Explorer searches the folder you are standing in rather than consulting the index, so it finds the file now, at the cost of being slower.

If search is still broken

If the search process restarts cleanly, the Searching Windows page reports Indexing complete, and the folder is listed in Indexing Options > Modify, then the fault sits below the level a standard account can reach. Send your IT team a ticket with this wording:

Windows Search returns no results on my machine. I have restarted the search process from Task Manager, signed out and back in, and confirmed the folder is listed in Indexing Options > Modify. The Searching Windows page reports paste the exact status line here with number items indexed. Please check the Windows Search service and the search index on this machine.

Include these four things — they are what stops the ticket bouncing back for more information:

• Your Windows version, from Settings > System > About > Windows specifications.
• The exact status line from the Searching Windows page.
• The number next to Indexed on Windows 11, or Indexed Items on Windows 10, from that same page.
• One example file: its full path, and confirmation that it opens when you browse to it.

Related Articles

• How to Use File Explorer Tabs in Windows 11
• How to Free Up Disk Space in Windows 11
• How to Use Snap Layouts on Windows 11
• How to Take Screenshots on Windows
• How to Manage Default Apps on Windows

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