File Explorer search not working

Hi,
I recently upgraded from windows 7 to windows 10.
The search in the task bar seems to be working perfectly but the search bar in file explorer does not display any results.
I tried rebuilding, modifying the indices but still no change.

.



Thanks in Advance.

dalchina said:

Hi, you might try this:

Fix search does not work in PC Settings app in Windows 10

https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/26645-file-explorer-search-not-working.html
See #9, #10

Try searching the forum for more threads
search not working

Notes:
1. Explorer search should work slowly for non-indexed items, fast for indexed items. Do rebuilding the index or changing the indexed locations is not likely to be the issue. And beware- part of the default settings is necessary for search in Settings to work.
2. Cortana (task bar box) search - did you use 'My Stuff'? That searches what's on disk - but only searches what's indexed last I tried it.
3. FYI: explorer search supports a search syntax - info on internet.

Thanks for the fast response, dalchina.
1. As in the third img every folder and sub folder is indexed. I rebuilt the index thrice but still no change.
2. Yes. I disabled web search.

No that thread didnn't help fix the problem. Is there any other hot fix.

I just use Everything search. It's way better than Windows search.

dalchina said:

As before, please confirm My Stuff search works properly for you within the limits of what's indexed.

I completely agree with TrustMe - explorer search other than simple cases can be relatively slow, sometimes unreliable (apparently) and you may need to use Advanced search syntax to achieve your goals.

I use Locate32 (freeware) - operates on the same basis as Everything - fast index, maintained, of ALL file/folder names on ALL partitions- find-as-you-type, specification of size, date range, extensions etc etc and search syntax too. Also supports searching found text files as an extra.

Everything has a modern GUI and is maintained.

However, you don't want sthg broken related to explorer...

The cortana search(my stuff) in the task bar finds all indexed files perfectly
The problem is on the search bar within the file explorer next to address bar. Please refer to the second img. I searched the string "project" but no action takes place.
It is not a major setback. I thought some minor registry tweak might fix the problem.

Sorry for the inconvenience:)

I had some issues searching on a Windows 2008R2 share on the network, but i guess it also applies to local directories.

With Windows 7 Explorer you can search for e.g. "123" (without quotes) and you will find a filename "8765_1234.xls" with Windows 10 i couldn´t find the same file in the same directory
If you enter a wildcard in front of the search-string it worked.
Searching for "*123" (without quotes) will show you the file "8765_1234.xls" :)
Hope this helps

I tried all of these relevant solutions; they did not work or did not apply.

When I tried "Delete and rebuild index" from the Advanced section of Indexing Options, it said it deleted the index, but when I returned to the main Indexing Options screen, the index count was exactly the same.

Here's what worked for me: in Component Services, I stopped Windows Search. I got a message that it would also turn off Media Player network search. No big deal. Then it ran some processes. Then I turned it on again. It ran some processes again (I assume it was deleting the index and restarting it, for real this time).

When I went back to the Indexing Options window, lo and behold, the index was at 0, and then it slowly rebuilt itself.

I was led to this solution from here:

Fix Search not working in Windows 10 - gHacks Tech News

Cortana was not listed in my Task Manager, so I scrolled down to "Option 1: The Windows Search Service." That worked.