Change advanced indexing options

Windows uses the index to make searching your PC faster. You can change index settings, including which file types are included in the index or whether Windows indexes encrypted files, using Advanced Options. For basic info about Search and the index, such as adding locations to the index, see Indexing and Search: Frequently asked questions.

Advanced indexing optionsAdvanced indexing options
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To add a file type to the index

If you use a file type that isn't recognized by the index, you can add it so you can search within that type of file.

  1. Tap or click to open Indexing Options.

  2. Tap or click Advanced. Administrator permission required You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.

  3. In the Advanced Options dialog box, tap or click the File Types tab.

  4. In the Add new extension to list box, enter the file name extension (for example, "txt"), and then tap or click Add.

  5. Choose Index Properties Only or Index Properties and File Contents, and then tap or click OK.

Note

Note

  • If you aren't able to add a file type to the index, your system administrator might have prevented the file type from being indexed. Talk to your administrator for more info.

  • To info about including file contents in searches, see Search for files in File Explorer

To rebuild the index

You don't usually need to do anything to keep the index up to date. But if you're searching for a file that you know exists in an indexed location (such as a library), and it doesn't appear in your search results, you might want to try rebuilding the index. Doing this can take several hours, and any searches might be incomplete until the index is fully rebuilt.

  1. Tap or click to open Indexing Options.

  2. Tap or click Advanced. Administrator permission required You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.

  3. On the Index Settings tab, tap or click Rebuild.

Note

Note

If indexing is taking several hours or more, make sure Windows is indexing only locations that you frequently need to search, such as document, music, or video folders. If you include locations such as the Windows folder in the index, indexing and searching will be slow because the folder contains so many files. To change the locations that are indexed, see Indexing and Search: Frequently asked questions.

To index encrypted files

Before you add encrypted files to the index, you should encrypt the entire drive that contains the index. Try using BitLocker Drive Encryption or another encryption option for entire drives. Note that the index will automatically get rebuilt each time this setting is changed. This can take a long time, and any searches might be incomplete until the index is fully rebuilt.

  1. Tap or click to open Indexing Options.

  2. Tap or click Advanced. Administrator permission required You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.

  3. On the Index Settings tab, select Index encrypted files, and then tap or click OK.

Notes

Notes

  • You can index files that are encrypted with Encrypting File System (EFS). If you do this, though, you should make sure the index is encrypted as well. Encrypting only the index isn't as safe as encrypting the entire drive. EFS is available in Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8 Enterprise

  • If you can't index encrypted files, your system administrator might be preventing it. Talk to your administrator for more info.

  • If you work with files in foreign languages, you might want to select Treat similar words with diacritics as different words. When you do this, the index will treat words with diacritics (small signs added to letters to change their pronunciation) in file and folder names as different from the words without the diacritics.

To change the location where the index is stored

If you need to free up space on a drive, you can change the location of the index. The default location is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft. If you change the index location, the Windows Search service will automatically be restarted, and the new location will apply when the service has started again.

  1. Tap or click to open Indexing Options.

  2. Tap or click Advanced. Administrator permission required You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.

  3. On the Index Settings tab, under Index location, tap or click Select new.

  4. Pick a new location for storing the index, and tap or click OK twice.

Note

Note

When you change the index location, you should choose a location on a non-removable drive that is formatted using the NTFS file system.

To turn off indexing

If indexing is making your PC run slowly, you can pause the index for 15 minutes when you're working on something. To learn how, see Indexing and Search: Frequently asked questions. If you don't search often and don't want indexing to run in the background, or if you need very accurate search results and don't mind if they take longer, you can turn off indexing. This makes Windows search through your actual files and folders instead of the index.

  1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
    (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)

  2. Enter services in the search box, tap or click Settings, and then tap or click View local services.

  3. Double-click or double-tap to open Windows Search.

  4. Tap or click Stop.

  5. Under Startup type, choose Disabled.

Warnings

Warnings

  • Some apps, such as Office and Windows Media Player, also use the index. If you turn off indexing, searches in these apps might not work.

  • If you turn off indexing, you won't be able to search libraries. To search libraries, start the Windows Search service and set the Startup type to Automatic.

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