Windows Search is one of the most used features for many users, as it allows you to quickly find the items you are looking for on your computer. It helps you find your apps, images, videos, spreadsheets, and pretty much anything you’ve saved on your computer.
If Windows 10 Search for any reason doesn’t work on your computer, you will have difficulty finding files on your computer. Fixing a broken search function is not easy, especially if you don’t know the cause of the problem.
However, there are a few standard fixes that you can apply and see if they help fix the problem.
Restart your computer
“Restart your computer and see if that helps fix the problem” is what you may have heard if you frequently seek technical assistance. This is a very simple task, but very effective for fixing many small problems on your computer.
A reboot basically resets all temporary configurations and files on your system. This, in turn, gives your operating system the ability to perform a fresh boot. This often helps to solve many problems.
- Press the Windows key to open the Start menu.
- Click the power icon to open the power menu.
- Select Restart from the available options.
- The search problem will probably go away when your computer boots up.
Kill the process to search Windows 10
Windows Search is actually one of the many utilities preinstalled on Windows machines. Since it works like any other application on your computer, you can stop its process, which will hopefully fix the problem with Windows 10 search not working.
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Killing does not mean removing a feature, but simply temporarily stopping it from running on your computer.
- Right-click the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and select Task Manager.
- Click on the “Details” option if it does not show any processes running on your computer.
- Click the Details tab at the top.
- Find the entry labeled SearchUI.exe in the list, right-click it and select End Task.
- A prompt will appear on your screen. Click the End Process button to stop the Windows search process.
- Download and save the Windows Search PowerShell script on your computer.
- Correct. -click the downloaded file and select the Run with PowerShell option. It will run the file in PowerShell on your PC.
- Select Yes when it asks if you want this script to make changes to your computer.
- Let the script run and reset the function.
- When done, the message “Done” will appear on the screen. Then you can close the PowerShell window.
- Press the Windows key + R keys at the same time, type in Control Panel and press Enter.
- Click the View By menu at the top and select Small Icons.
- Find the Indexing Options option and click it.
- Click the Advanced button.
- Click the Rebuild button to rebuild the search index.
- Open the Start menu and click the Settings icon to launch the Settings application.
- Click Update & Security.
- Select “Troubleshoot” from the left sidebar.
- Click Search and Indexing in the right pane and select Run the troubleshooter.
- Wait while he finds the problem and offers you suggestions for fixing it.
- Launch the Start button. Menu and click the settings icon.
- Click Update & Security.
- Click Windows Update in the left sidebar.
- Click Check for Updates in the right pane.
- Install available updates on your computer.
- Restart your computer.
Reset Windows 10 Search Settings
Most of the functions and items on your computer have their own configurations. Over time, as more and more settings are made to them, they sometimes stop being tuned. This can cause functions to malfunction or, even worse, to malfunction.
The best way to fix such problems is to reset their settings or configurations You can also do this for the Windows search function and the function will revert to factory settings.
Microsoft actually provides you with a small file that helps you reset Windows search settings on your computer. All you have to do is run the file and it will reset your search settings.
Keep in mind that this will only work if you are using Windows 10 build 1903 or newer.
Rebuild Search Index
The search index is an index of all files stored on your computer. The search function uses this index to quickly find the files you are looking for. Sometimes this index can get damaged for various reasons.
Rebuilding the index removes almost all of the problems associated with search, as this is what search is based on. Plus, it doesn’t hurt.
Use the Windows Troubleshooter
Windows 10 comes with several troubleshooters to help you fix various problems on your computers. One of them is specifically designed to help you deal with search problems like the one you are currently facing.
You can run the troubleshooter and it will tell you what to do to restore the functionality of the search functionality.
Update your Windows version
It goes without saying that you should always keep your Windows 10 system up to date. Using an outdated version can cause a number of problems, and if you are still using an older build of the operating system, you should update to the latest build available.
We hope that the above methods will help you fix the problem with Windows 10 search not working on your computer. Since there can be various reasons why search is not working on your computer, you will have to try several methods before you can finally fix the problem.
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