Top 6 Ways to Fix Slow Search on Windows 11

The Windows search tool is incredibly useful for locating important applications, files, and other content on your computer. However, it may Your experience while searching on your computer is affected. If Windows takes a long time to fetch search results, it can be frustrating. While searching for important files, these delays can disrupt your workflow and cause frustration. To help you out, we've compiled a list of 6 workable solutions that should help fix slow searches on Windows 11. Let's check them out.

Windows Search Service is a small program It is responsible for providing search results for files, email, and other important content. If the service encounters a problem, the search tool will not function properly. To fix this, you will need to restart the Windows Search service by following the steps below.

Step 1: Click on Windows key + R To start the command, type services.msc , And press Enter.

Step 2: in Services window Scroll down to select Windows Search siteRight-click on it and select Reboot from the list.

Try searching for a file using the search tool to see if it works as expected.

Windows Explorer is a process that provides a graphical interface. For the Start menu The taskbar and File Explorer. If there's a problem with these utilities, the search tool may take longer than expected to return results. In this case, you can restart Windows Explorer from the Task Manager to see if that helps.

Step 1: Click on Ctrl + Shift + Esc on keyboard to turn on Task Management.

Step 2: in Operations tab , Locate Windows Explorer locationRight-click on it and select Reboot.

The taskbar will disappear for a few moments and then reappear while you do this. Try using the search tool again to see if the issue is resolved.

Windows 11 provides a troubleshooter for most utilities. If Windows Search is unbearably slow, you can run the Search and Indexing troubleshooter on your PC.

Step 1: Right click start menu and select Settings from the list.

Step 2: in System tab Scroll down to tap find the mistakes and resolve it.

Step 3: Locate Other troubleshooters and fixes.

Step 4: Click Play button next to Search and Indexing.

From there, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the troubleshooting process.

Aside from other apps, files, and documents, the Windows Search tool also lets you scan the web directly from the taskbar. However, this feature is also known to slow down your computer or cause Windows to crash at times. Hence, you can try Disable web search in the Start menu To see if it will improve the situation.

Step 1: Click on Windows key + R to start Dialog box. Write regedit in the box and press Enter.

Step 2: Copy and paste the following path into the address bar to navigate to: Windows key:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

Step 3: Right click on Windows registry key , and select new and select a key. Call it Explorer.

Step 4: Right click Explore , and select New And choose DWORD (32-bit) value. Name it DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.

Step 5: Double click DWORD newly created, change the value data to 1 And press OK.

Restart your computer Check if the search tool can fetch results faster.

Indexing the contents of your computer allows Windows to locate your files faster. The speed of Windows searches depends on the number of files on your computer. However, if you don't search for files and folders on a particular drive, you can exclude them from the indexing list to speed things up. Here's how.

Step 1: Click on Windows key + I to turn on Settings app.Select Privacy and Security Tab From the right column, choose Searching Windows.

Step 2: Scroll down to click on Advanced indexing options.

Step 3: Click Modify.

Step 4: in window Website indexing , uncheck Folders Or the drives you want to exclude and press OK.

Then , Restart your computer And use Search tool To see if it loads faster.

Finally, if Windows search is still slow, there may be a problem with your computer's search index library. In this case, you can try rebuilding the index from scratch. This process may take several hours to complete, depending on the number of files being indexed.

Step 1: Click on Windows key + S To open Windows search , And type Indexing Options , And press Enter.

Step 2: Next, tap advanced.

Step 3: Finally, press Rebuild button within find the mistakes and resolve it.

Wait for Windows to complete the indexing process. Again, this may take some time, but you can continue using your computer.

Finally, the above steps should be enough to fix slow search on Windows 11, but if Windows search is still slow, there may be... Problem with the search index library On your computer. In this case, you can try rebuilding the index from scratch. This process may take several hours, depending on the number of files being indexed.