Windows 10 Search Not Working? 6 Troubleshooting Tips To Try

When it works, it works very well

Windows Search is one of the most used features for many users as it lets you quickly find the items you’re looking for on your computer. It helps find your apps, images, videos, spreadsheets, and basically everything that you’ve stored on your computer.

If the Windows 10 search is not working for some reason on your computer, you’ll face difficulties finding your files on your machine. Fixing the broken search feature isn’t as straightforward, especially if you don’t know the cause of the issue.

However, there are several standard fixes you can apply and see if they help resolve the issue.

Restart Your Computer

“Restart your computer and see if it helps fix the issue” is something you may be used to hearing if you often seek technical assistance. It’s a very basic thing to do yet it’s very effective in fixing many minor issues on your machine.

Rebooting basically resets all the temporary configurations and files on your system. That, in turn, provides your operating system with a chance to do a fresh boot-up. This often helps fix many issues.

Windows Search is actually one of the many utilities that comes preloaded on Windows machines. Since it works like any other app on your computer, you cankill its processwhich should hopefully fix the issue with Windows 10 Search not working.

Killing doesn’t mean removing the feature but just temporarily suspending the feature from running on your computer.

Reset The Windows 10 Search Settings

Most features and items on your computer have their own configurations. Over time, as more and more customizations are made to them, they sometimes get over configured. It can lead to malfunctioning of the features or worse it ends-up breaking the features.

The best way to fix such issues is toreset their settings or configurations. You can do it for the Windows Search feature as well and the feature will go back to the factory settings.

Microsoft actually gives you a small file that helps you reset the Windows Search settings on your computer. All you need to do is run the file and it’ll reset the search settings.

Keep in mind this’ll only work if you’re on Windows 10 build 1903 or later.

Rebuild The Search Index

A search index is an index of all the filesthat are stored on your computer. The search feature uses this index to quickly retrieve the files you’re looking for. Sometimes, this index can get damaged due to various reasons.

Rebuilding the index fixes almost all the search related issues as that’s what the search feature relies on. Also, there’s no harm in doing it.

Use Windows Troubleshooter

Windows 10 comes with multiple troubleshooters to help youfix various issues on your computers. One of these is specifically built to help you deal with search issues like the one you’re currently facing.

You can run the troubleshooter and it’ll let you know what to do to restore the functionality of the search feature.

Update Your Windows Version

It goes without saying that you should always keep your Windows 10 system up to date. Using an obsolete version can cause a number of issues, and if you’re still on an older build of the operating system, you shouldget it upgraded to the latest buildavailable.

We hope the above methods help you fix the Windows 10 search not working issue on your computer. Since there may be various reasons why the search isn’t working on your machine, you’ll need to try multiple methods before you can finally fix the problem.

Mahesh has been obsessed with technology since he got his first gadget a decade or so ago. Over the last few years, he’s written a number of tech articles on various online publications including but not limited to MakeTechEasier and Android AppStorm.Read Mahesh’s Full Bio

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