10 Ways to Fix Windows 10 Search Not Working

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Windows 10 Search Not Working is a general issue. The search option in Windows 10 is one of the most used and necessary features of the operating system. With the help of this useful option, you can search for files, applications, programs, etc. This option helps you find any of the things you are looking at your computer without having to search through all the directories. It also has control over things like the start menu, taskbar, and other applications. Sometimes it may crash and sometimes you may come across the Windows 10 Start Button Not Working issue.

windows start and search

At some time, you might face an issue with the search option that whenever you search for anything using the windows 10 search the results do not return anything. That is if you search for anything, the windows search would not even auto-complete the search term let alone give you a result.

This puts you in such a situation, where you cannot even search for the most commonly used apps and are unable to find them. You may see the searching animation but are deprived of a result. The animation may even run for very long and end without a conclusion. There may be many reasons as to why the Windows 10 Taskbar not working error happens.

How to Fix Windows 10 Search Not Working

So here we have the 10 best methods you can use to troubleshoot the issue of windows 10 search not working. First of all, we suggest you do a standard restart.

It may solve the problem, but if it does not then, you can use any of the following methods. We strongly recommend creating a restore point before attempting any of the given methods just in case there is any problem. At times, the search bar fails to find the stuff you requested,  which leads to a Windows 10 Search not finding files issue. Also, update your Windows before using these methods. If there’s any error in updating windows, then you can try these solutions –

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Method 1: End the Process of Cortana

1. At First, press Ctrl+Shift+ESC to open the Windows Task Manager. Alternatively, you can press Windows Key+X to choose Task Manager from the menu.

Task Manager

2. Then under the Processes tab find Cortana, right click on it and select End Task.

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End Task Cortana

3. Afterward, doing this would restart the Cortana Process. It may fix the issue of Windows 10 search not working.

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Method 2: Restart Windows Explorer

1. At First, press Ctrl+Shift+ESC keys to open the Windows Task Manager. Alternatively, press Windows Key+X together & select Task Manager from the menu.

Task Manager

2. Then under the Processes tab, find explorer.exe, right click on it and then select End Task.

End Explorer.exe

3. Afterward, doing this will close the Windows Explorer.

4. To rerun Windows Explorer, Click the File option and select Run New Task.

Run New Task

5. Then type in “explorer.exe” and then click OK to rerun the Explorer.

Run Explorer.exe

6. Finally, you can check whether taskbar not working windows 10 issue is resolved or not.

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Method 3: Restart Windows Search Service

1. At First, press the Windows Key+R and then type in “services.msc“, then click OK.

Type Services.msc

2. Then in the list, find Windows Search service, right click on it and select Properties.

Windows Search Properties

3. Afterward, under the General tab, set the Startup Type to Automatic and then click run if it is not already running.

Change Startup Type

4. Then, click apply and then click OK.

5. Finally, reboot your computer to Save the changes. Hope this will resolve Windows 10 Search Bar not Working error.

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Method 4: Running Troubleshooting for Search and Indexing

1. At First, Press the Windows Key+X and select Control Panel.

Control Panel

2. Now, view by Small icons & click on Troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting

3. Then Click on View all, in the pane on the left side.

View All

4. Afterward, find Search and Indexing and Click to run Troubleshooter for Search and Indexing.

Search and Indexing

5. Then click Next.

NExt

6. Under the What Problems Do you Notice window, select Files Don’t appear in search results.

Click Next

7. Finally, click Next and this troubleshooter may fix the issue with Windows Taskbar Not Working.

Method 5: Run Troubleshooter for Windows 10 Start Menu

1. First, Download and run the Start Menu Troubleshooter for Windows 10. (The Windows 10 Start Menu Troubleshooter is an official program released by Microsoft that promises to fix various issues related to the Start Menu which includes Search and Indexing)

2. The Troubleshooter will run and automatically find, then fix issues regarding your Start Menu, and it may fix the issue of Windows 10 Taskbar Not Responding.

Method 6: Search All the Contents of Your Files

1. At First, open File Explorer (Windows Key + E), then click the View option and select Options.

Options

2. Then go to the Search Tab and Checkmark to choose Always Search File Names and Contents under When searching for Non-Indexed locations.

Always Search File Names and Contents

3. Now click Apply and then OK.

4. Finally, reboot Your computer to save the changes.

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Method 7: Rebuilding Windows Search Index

1. At First, press the Windows Key + X and then Select Control Panel.

Control Panel

2. Afterward, choose View by: Small icon & select Indexing Options.

Indexing Options

3. Then Click Advanced button at the bottom of the indexing Options Window.

advanced

4. Under the File Types tab check mark on Index Properties and File Contents under the How this File should be Indexed Option.

Index Properties and File Contents

5. Now Click OK and open the Advanced Options Window again.

6. Under the Index Settings Tab, click Rebuild option under Troubleshooting.

Rebuild

7. The process will complete after some time, and after that, your problem should be resolved.

Method 8: Re-Registering Cortana

1. At First, press the Windows Key + R and then Type in the following C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0 in the black space.

Type in Run PowerShell

2. Then right Click on Windows Powershell, then select Run as Administrator.

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PowerShell Run as Administrator

3. Type in the following command in Powershell and then hit enter:

Get-AppXPackage -Name Microsoft.Windows.Cortana | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

Type Command in Windows PowerShell

4. Afterward, the command has finished, reboot your computer to save the changes.

5. Now check whether re-registering of Cortana has resolved the issue of Windows 10 Search not Working.

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Method 9: Fixing Registry

1. At First, press Ctrl + Shift + Right click on an empty part of the Windows Taskbar and then select Exit Explorer.

2. Then, press the Windows Key + R and then type in “regedit” and Click OK to open the Registry Editor.

Type regedit

3. Afterwards, navigate to the following Registry Key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{ef87b4cb-f2ce-4785-8658-4ca6c63e38c6}\TopViews\{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}

Locate TopViews Registry

4. Then right Click on {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} directory and then select Delete.

Delete

5. Afterward, start Explorer again using Task Manager.

6. Finally, reboot your computer to save the changes.

Method 10: Increasing the Paging File Size

1. At First, press the Windows Key + R and then type in “sysdm.cpl” and then click OK.

sysdm.cpl

2. Then press on Advanced Tab in the system properties window and then click on Settings under Performance.

Settings

3. Afterward, go to the Advanced tab in the Performance Options Window and then click Change… under Virtual Memory.

Change

4. Then uncheck to unselect the option Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.

Uncheck automatically manage paging file size for all drives

5. Now select the Button that says Custom Size and set the initial Size to 1500 to 3000 and maximum size to at least 5000. (These depends on your Hard Disk)

6. After that, Click on the Set Button, then Click OK.

Custom Size

7. Finally, Click on Apply, then Click OK.

8. Then reboot your computer to Save the Changes

Conclusion

These are the best methods to resolve the issue of Windows 10 Search Not Working. We strictly recommend you go through these steps carefully before attempting any of them, as even a small mistake can damage your system. We hope that these 10 methods helped you to solve your problem with windows 10 search.

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