How to Fix search not working in Windows 10

Fix Windows 10 search not working

If you encounter problems when using Windows Search on Windows 10, you can follow the following troubleshooting steps to solve the most common problems, including errors caused by when the device received a problematic update. In this Windows 10 guide, we will walk you through the steps to solve the search function problem on your device.

Remove Bing from Windows 10 search

In view of the recent Windows 10 search problem, nothing is displayed in the bar or window, many people have found a solution by disabling the Bing integration. This does require the use of RegEdit, so it is recommended to back up the PC and its registry at the same time.

After completing all necessary backups, perform the following steps to make local search work normally again. When Bing is disabled, the network results will not be displayed. Multiple people at Windows Central successfully performed the same steps.

1. Hit the Windows Key + R shortcut on your keyboard.
2. Type regedit and hit Enter on your keyboard.
3. Double-click HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
4. Double-click SOFTWARE.
5. Double-click Microsoft.
6. Double-click Windows.
7. Double-click CurrentVersion.
8. Double-click Search.
9. Right-click the right pane of the RegEdit window to bring up the menu.
10. Click New.
11. Click D-WORD (32-bit) Value.
12. Type BingSearchEnabled and hit Enter on your keyboard.
13. Double-click the BingSearchEnabled entry you just created.
14. Type 0 in the Value data field. (It should already be 0 but make sure).
15. Click OK.
16. Double-click CortanaConsent.
17. Type 0 in the data field.
18. Click OK.
19. Restart your PC.

This should make Windows 10 search come back online at least under local results. This is Microsoft’s temporary solution to the root cause of the problem, and it is recommended that users undo the changes after Search works as expected again.

To undo the above process, repeat steps 13 and 14, but type 1 in the BingSearchEnabled data field to re-enable Bing. For steps 16 and 17, the same operation can be performed, which is 1 in the CortanaConsent data field. Restart the PC and you should be back where you started.

How to fix search using troubleshooter

If you encounter problems while searching on Windows 10 and cannot restart your device, you can use the “Troubleshoot” setting to diagnose and solve the most common problems. You can perform this task from the Settings application or the Command Prompt.

Fix search with settings

To fix the search function using the Settings application, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Update & Security.
3. Click on Troubleshoot.
4. Under the “Find and fix other problems” section, select the search and Indexing option.
5. Click the Run the troubleshooter button.
6. Check the problems that best describe your situation — for example, Files don’t appear in search results option.
7. Click the Next button.
8. Continue with the on-screen directions (if applicable).

After completing the steps, the search function should start working again on the computer.

Fix the search using the command prompt

Alternatively, you can also start the troubleshooter using the command prompt:

1. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
2. Type the following command and click the OK button: cmd
3. Type the following command to launch the troubleshooter and press Enter: msdt -ep WindowsHelp id SearchDiagnostic
4. Click the Advanced option.
5. Check the Apply repairs automatically option.
6. Click the Next button.
7. Check the problems that best describe your situation.
8. Click the Next button.
9. Continue with the on-screen directions (if applicable).

After completing these steps, the search and index troubleshooter will scan and fix the most common issues with this feature.

How to fix search using restart option

You can also restart the Windows 10 process that controls the search element using the following steps:

1. Right-click the taskbar and select the Task Manager option. Quick tip: Alternatively, you can open Task Manager using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut or using the Ctrl + Alt + Del shortcut and selecting the Task Manager item.
2. Click the Details tab.
3. Right-click the SearchUI.exe process and select the End task button.
4. Click the End process button.

After completing these steps, the process should restart automatically. If you cannot restart immediately, restart your computer and confirm whether the search has been resolved.

How to fix search with reset option

If Windows Search still fails to run on Windows 10, you can use the reset function to solve the problem. However, the reset process will depend on the version of the OS currently installed on the computer.

Check Windows 10 version

To determine the version of Windows 10, use the following steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Devices.
3. Click on About.
4. Under the “Windows Specifications” section, confirm the version of Windows 10.

After completing these steps, you will know the version of Windows 10 running on your computer.

Reset search on Windows 10 version 1903

If your device is running Windows 10 version 1903, May 2019 update, to reset the search function, please use the following steps:

1. Open Microsoft Download center website.
2. Click the Download button under the Reset Windows search PowerShell script section.
3. Save the .ps1 file to your computer — for example, in the “Downloads” folder.
4. Right-click the Start button, and select the Windows PowerShell (Admin) option. Quick tip: Alternatively, you can also open PowerShell using the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut, typing the PowerShell command, and using the Ctrl + Shift + Enter shortcut to trigger the command as administrator.
5. Type the following command to determine current script execution setting and press Enter: Get-ExecutionPolicy
6. Confirm the execution policy — for example, Restricted.
7. Type the following command to allow scripts to run on your device and press Enter: Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
8. Type Y and press Enter (if applicable).
9. Type the following command to run the script and press Enter: & "C:UsersYOUR-ACCOUNT-FOLDERDownloadsResetWindowssearchBox.ps1" In the command, make sure to replace “YOUR-ACCOUNT-FOLDER,” for your account folder name.
10. Type R and press Enter.
11. Type the following command to set the original execution policy the script and press Enter: Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy Restricted In this example, the Restricted option was added, because it was the original setting. If you had a different policy, make sure to change it before running the command.
12. Type Y and press Enter.

After completing these steps, the search should start working as before.

Reset search on Windows 10 version 1809

If your device is running Windows 10 version 18069, October 2018 update, or an earlier version, to reset the search function, please use the following steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Right-click Cortana from the “All apps” list.
3. Select the More option.
4. Click the App settings option.
5. Click the Reset button.

After completing these steps, the reset process should resolve the issue, and the search box in the taskbar should work properly.

How to fix search with index settings

The indexing function may also cause some problems, preventing you from returning search results on your device.

If you have tried all the previous instructions, you can try to rebuild the index database to solve the search problem on Windows 10.

To rebuild the search index on the device, use the following steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Search.
3. Click on Searching Windows. Quick tip: If you’re using Windows 10 version 1809 or earlier, open Control Panel, click the View by menu in the top-right corner, and select the Large icons view, and click the Indexing Options to continue.
4. Click the Advanced search Indexer Settings option. Quick tip: In the case that search does not return results for contents from a particular folder, it’s also a good idea to check the “Excluded Folders” section as search will ignore the contents of any folder in this list. If the folder you want to search is part of the excluded list, select it, and click the Remove button.
5. Click the Advanced button.
6. Click the Index Settings tab.
7. Under the “Troubleshooting” section, click the Rebuild button.
8. Click the OK button.

After completing these steps, Windows 10 will clear and rebuild the index database. However, when rebuilding the database, the search from the taskbar, file explorer, and the entire OS may still be incomplete until all files are reindexed.

Restart Windows search

In rare cases, you will see search with no results and cannot access the “Index” settings, so the Windows search service on your computer may be disabled.

To enable indexing and search services, use the following steps:

1. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
2. Type the following command and click the OK button: services.msc
3. Double-click the Windows Search service.
4. Click on the General tab.
5. Use the “Startup type” menu and select the Automatic (Delayed Start) option.
6. Click the Start button.
7. Click the Apply button.
8. Click the OK button.

After completing these steps, Windows search will be enabled on your computer, and you should be able to start searching files and applications in the taskbar and file explorer again.

How to repair search using Windows Update

On Windows 10, the quality update can include a fix for the search function, but it may also be the cause of the interruption of the function.

Repair search install updates

If you haven’t updated Windows 10 in a while, the latest update may include a fix for Windows Search.

To update Windows 10 to the latest version, use the following steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Update & Security.
3. Click on Windows Update.
4. Click the Check for updates button.
5. Click the Restart now button.

After completing these steps, the latest maintenance update will resolve all search issues on your computer.

Fix search delete update

Although Microsoft is working hard to release updates to improve the overall Windows 10 experience, sometimes the wrong update can break functions such as search on the device.

If you suspect that the most recent update is the cause of the interrupted Windows search search, please use the following steps to remove it:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Update & Security.
3. Click on Windows Update.
4. Click the View update history option.
5. Click the Uninstall updates option.
6. Select the latest update installed on your computer.
7. Click the Uninstall button.
8. Click the Yes button.
9. Restart the device.

After completing these steps, the update in question will be removed from Windows 10, thus solving all search issues, and the same update will not be automatically downloaded and installed until the company releases a subsequent version.

Hope to help you !

More: Windows 10 search has problem, please refer to the article on how to fix the search error in Windows 10.