What is Search Indexing?
Search Indexing is a feature in Windows that allows your computer to search through every folder and file and give you a result based on a word or metadata. This is a quicker alternative to searching an item manually. It works for most of the apps such as File Explorer, Groove, and even Photos. Web-based applications such as Microsoft Edge and Cortana also use the feature to their advantage.
Configure Search Indexing
First of all, we need to choose whether you want to index some files such as libraries, or the files on the desktop or the entire PC. So, for that, follow the given steps.
Configure Indexing Options & Settings for Windows 11 Search
There are a lot of different things we will be doing to configure Indexing Options & Settings for Windows 11 Search. They are. Let us talk about them in detail.
1] Enable or Disable Search Indexing
Search Indexing can be enabled on your system by default, whereas, in some cases, you have to manually enable it. In this section, we are going to see how to enable or disable Search Indexing.
Enable or Disable Search Indexing from Services
There is a service called “Windows Search”, by changing it, you can configure Search Indexing. So, follow the given steps to do the same.
Enable or Disable Search Indexing from Command Prompt
Launch Command Prompt as an administrator. Execute the following command to disable Search Indexing. Execute the following command to enable Search Indexing
2] Change Indexing Options
If you don’t want a drive or a folder to be a part of Search Indexing, you can change the Indexing Option to do that in Windows 11. So, follow the given steps to do the same. This can be a great way to speed up your Search Indexing.
3] Disable Indexing for a Drive
To disable Indexing for a particular drive, follow the given steps.
4] Rebuild Search Index
Sometimes, Search Indexing fails to respond because of some issue. That issue can be fixed by rebuilding the setting. Follow the given steps to Rebuild Search Index. Wait for a few minutes and your issue will be fixed.
Does Indexing slow down the computer?
Indexing makes the searching easier and more efficient than ever, but if you have a computer with low specification then it can have a toll on your CPU and makes it run slower. Therefore, if you are noticing that your computer is getting slower, you can try disabling Search Indexing by the steps aforementioned and compare the two results. Also read: How to configure Search Settings and Permissions in Windows 11.
