Rebuilding the Search Index
You may occasionally find yourself wanting to rebuild the search index (e.g., if it's very large and you remove a big chunk of indexes, or if it gets corrupt). To rebuild the search index, follow these steps:
- In the Search box, type "index" (without the quotes) and press Enter. Windows displays the Indexing Options dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1. The Indexing Options dialog box.
- Click the Advanced button. Windows displays the Advanced Options dialog box.
- Make sure the Index Settings tab is displayed. (See Figure 2.)
Figure 2. The Index Settings tab of the Advanced Options dialog box.
- Click the Rebuild button. Windows asks you if you are sure you want to perform the action.
- Click OK to start the rebuild.
- Close any open dialog boxes.
The work involved in rebuilding a search index is done behind the scenes and could take a while to complete. While Windows is rebuilding, you can work with other programs just fine, but you won't be able to do a search and get any meaningful results.
Author Bio
Barry Dysert
Barry has been a computer professional for over 35 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer. He is currently a software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. When not working with Windows or writing Tips, Barry is an amateur writer. His first non-fiction book is titled "A Chronological Commentary of Revelation." Learn more about Barry...
Mapping a Network Drive
You can create a mapping relationship between a network folder and a drive letter so that it's easy to access the folder ...
Discover More
Understanding Action Center
Action Center provides you with a quick overview of security and maintenance issues and allows you to drill down to the ...
Discover More
Creating an Auto Playlist
Auto Playlists are a nice feature of Windows Media Player. Once set up, as more media gets added to your library the auto ...
Discover More
Renaming Multiple Files
Got a bunch of files you need renamed? Windows can help you out, but only in a limited manner. This tip shows you how.
Discover More
Controlling the Size of the Windows Page File
The Windows page file is crucial to optimal system performance. This tip shows you how to control its size.
Discover More
Understanding Indexed Search
Windows has a powerful search utility that allows you to search for files that may be scattered across separate folders ...
Discover More
This tip (12936) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.
Comments