PC>Windows>Users>ME>Searches->Everywhere 300kb but 400k Entries?

Holy Crap Re: This PC->Windows->Users->MYNAME->Searches->Everywhere 300kb but in excess of 384,000 + entries

So recently I was dicking around in the Users-> MYNAME folder changing the location of the docs and other folders when I looked in the SEARCHES->EVERYWHERE and INDEXED LOCATIONS and on my one month old notebook there were close to 400,000 entries some dating back years and years ago. If it matters I have indexing and file history turned off. I'm guessing that these are "virtual" (am I making that up?) entries since the folder is only 300KB. Even if the entries are virtual can I delete them all?? I just don't like having 400,000 entries hanging around if they are meaningless. TIA.

They are not meaningless...

Originally Posted by Ronnie Vernon (MVP 1999 - Present, Windows Insider MVP)
The files that appear in the Everywhere folder shows every file on the computer. This is simply a list of the files and not the actual, physical files.



https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...6-07890145ce85

Thanks for the link. Is that 2012 post still 100% relevant today 6 years later? Also from the post this piqued my interest:

"There is one caution that you need to be aware of.If you delete a folder/file from within a virtual folder, that action is reflected on the physical folder/file.
You can delete the parent virtual folder (such as the Everywhere folder) and this will not affect the physical folders or files."

So if I understand that correctly if I go into the SEARCHES ->EVERYWHERE folder and delete the entry for example that says something like a 4GB ISO that I currently have in my downloads folder it will in fact physically delete that 4GB ISO from my downloads folder but if I delete the entire EVERYWHERE folder then the post seems to indicate that the physical 4GB ISO will remain in the downloads folder and will not be deleted. Am I reading that correctly? TIA.

@phaedruspress

Interesting thread!!!!

I never used Windows Search or Cortana directly. Any search I use is via XNView or Everything. So Searches\Everywhere is not a folder I would have visited.

Like the Energizer Bunny, File Explorer is still going, 4,000,000(!) and counting. The listed files and folders are from external drives and the primary drive.

I, too, have indexing off. It's possible when the drives were initially plugged in, indexing occurred until the individual drives were unchecked. But, there are files dated as recent as last month and this new year from the primary drive. And I don't recall ever searching for the file or file type at that time or since.

For all the hullabaloo about privacy and settings, those were tame compared to this Everywhere folder and its 'contents', considering the comments about the user's futility in clearing this folder. Edited to add: It's practically the Sears catalog of my entire system!

>Like the Energizer Bunny, File Explorer is still going, 4,000,000(!) and counting.

>It's practically the Sears catalog of my entire system!

I know, right! I couldn't believe the activity and the results myself.

I sure would like to get an answer or some guidance about deletion regarding what I wrote above:

>""There is one caution that you need to be aware of.If you delete a folder/file from within a virtual folder, that action is reflected on the physical folder/file.
You can delete the parent virtual folder (such as the Everywhere folder) and this will not affect the physical folders or files."

So if I understand that correctly if I go into the SEARCHES ->EVERYWHERE folder and delete the entry for example that says something like a 4GB ISO that I currently have in my downloads folder it will in fact physically delete that 4GB ISO from my downloads folder but if I delete the entire EVERYWHERE folder then the post seems to indicate that the physical 4GB ISO will remain in the downloads folder and will not be deleted. Am I reading that correctly? TIA."

I dove in from the deep end. I deleted the indexed location saved searches first. With indexing turned off, this had no impact.

Since Everywhere is also a saved searches folder, intrepid me deleted this folder also. After a yes/no prompt, this too was gone near instantaneously. That is, the four million-plus listings weren't methodically being deleted elsewhere on my system; just the folder of virtual links. Five minutes have passed and the two saved searches folders have not returned.

>I dove in from the deep end.

"You're a "braver" man than I am" something something.

>I deleted the indexed location saved searches first.

Did you select the contents inside the folder or did you just delete the folder in one swell swoop

>this had no impact.

You mean no impact on your system, right?

>Five minutes have passed and the two saved searches folders have not returned.

Interesting. Have you re-booted or downloaded anything or searched for something on the computer to see if they have been recreated.

__________

I wonder if as the article implies if you had gone ahead and went into the folder first and deleted an item you no longer needed and you knew where it's physical location was if as the article stated once you delete the entry the physical file would also be deleted. Maybe that is something I could try should I ever work up the nerve.

After reading a few of my Ecosia search results about the Searches\Everywhere folder, I felt confident its contents were not to be touched from within. I was 75% certain that this saved searches folder can be deleted without negative consequences.

With four million-plus entries in the folder, it really didn't matter whether these entries were of the past or present. The folder had to go. It was figuratively a T-Rex footprint or a T-Rex tibia waiting to be found.

The indexed saved searches folder was an easy first guinea pig choice. There was literally no entry in said folder. And once the OS didn't object to a deletion of a saved searches folder, the Everywhere saved searches folder was quickly queued up.

I just did a search from my XNView. No saved searches folder was generated in the useraccount\searches folder. I don't think a reboot will have any effect, since the settings (indexing) should preclude generating such files.

I am still curious why the Everywhere folder kept aggregating when I don't even use Cortana or Windows Search; not to mention some of the entries were OS files that I wouldn't spend a nanosecond searching for: System Volume Information of various drives.

So, Windows Update finally got around to upgrading my 1607 to 1709.

Besides a few settings that needed to be tweaked again, my files were kept.

I'm posting because in the Searches folder, an Everywhere saved searches virtual folder was found. And, "Surprise, surprise!", it was the same virtual folder I had previously deleted in 1607. And the contents, from the brief glimpse I had where an unindexxed external drive's contents were listed, basically the same as the deleted one.

IOW, despite this user's intent to erase history, somehow the OS has kept the history logged and loaded, short of a clean install. The claim to respect user's privacy seems so hollow.