Step 4: Select the checkbox next to the ‘Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties’ option. Step 3: Select Advanced under the General tab. Step 2: Select the three horizontal dots menu on the top ribbon and open Properties. Step 1: Press Windows + E keys to open the File Explorer on Windows. Here’s how you can index files in File Explorer. Sometimes the search results come empty when the files don’t index in the drive. The search function may act slow as it searches for file names and content in the app. Step 4: Enable the ‘Always search file names and contents’ option and hit the OK button. Step 2: Select the three-dot menu at the top to open Options.

Step 1: Press Windows + E keys to open the File Explorer menu. You can enable ‘Always search file names and contents’ option in File Explorer properties. Step 4: Click on the Run button next to the ‘Search and indexing’ troubleshooter. Step 2: Select System from the left column and click on Troubleshoot on the right. Step 1: Press Windows + I keys to open Windows Settings. There’s a dedicated troubleshooter for Search and Indexing files in Windows. Windows 11 comes with a handy troubleshooters to fix such system-level glitches. Open File Manager and try the search function again. Step 4: Select Automatic from Startup type menu, select Stop, and hit the Start button. And scroll to Windows Search in the Services window and right-click on it. Step 3: When the UAC prompt appears, choose Yes. Step 1: Press Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box If the service doesn’t start automatically in the background, the search function might break for you. Restart Windows Search Serviceįile Explorer is a part of Windows Explorer Services. Here are the top ways to fix File Explorer search not working on Windows 11. You’ll need to rely on the search function to quickly find the file. Unlike Finder on Mac, there is no way to sort out important files and folders via tags on Windows.

However, it’s tedious and time-consuming. You may return to digging through folders when the File Explorer search fails to work.

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