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Hello
I have upgraded to Windows 11 Pro on two different laptops, and both have the same issue with indexing. It is painfully slow and then usually resets itself after a couple of weeks.
Both PCs are high-end laptops with Core i9 mobile CPUs (1 x 6 core and the other 8 core). Both run 2 x NVMe 1TB drives. Both have 64GB RAM.
Both run MS Office and I use Outlook for email connected to same IMAP accounts on both. My docs, pics, music and work-related files are all stored on OneDrive and accessed from both PCs (OneDrive is set to keep local copies on both PCs for fast access).
Windows is being asked to index around 250,000 files and 80,000 emails and calendar appts. Windows 10 used to accomplish this task in 6-8 hours max.
Windows 11 takes nearly two days just to index the emails. It can take up to three weeks to index the lot and then some folders simply refuse to be indexed. Then, after a couple more weeks it will eventually lose the lot and indexing has to start from scratch again (on both PCs)
I have tried:
Disabling backoff via registry so indexing never pauses
Only adding one location at a time to let it slowly build up (e.g., add only Outlook and when that finishes add a folder)
Rebuilding the index
Storing the index in different location
Search and Indexing Trouble-shooter
Nothing fixes the issue
Any help appreciated.
Cheers
Mick
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Thanks, but had already tried all of this stuff and nothing worked.
What did speed up the indexing was Create Windows 11 Installation Media and do an install keeping apps and files. I suppose this is essentially a repair install. I assume during the upgrade from W10 to W11 something must have messed up the indexing. I had the same on two PCs so doubt I am the only one.
I was so happy at fist as the entire PC, including emails, was indexed in 4-5 hours.
Yes, I found a solution
When the install was finished indexing worked great.
One thing I did before the install was to remove all the indexing locations (until "index these locations" is empty) and the click 'rebuild'. I did this to clear any previous indexing information. I have no idea whether this actually does anything but if you want to ensure you do exactly what I did maybe do this as well.
Since then, the PC has been fine. It indexed all of my emails and files in 4-5 hours.
Hi Greg - my Windows 11 box - a brand new, late 2021 high-end HP desktop PC - is also failing on search and search indexing. Search within Outlook 365 literally can't find any email results within the last 2-3 weeks...which is generally most of what I am searching. This is frustrating enough. In addition, having gone through some (not all) the remedies you list above, my PC is not only continuing with the Outlook search failures, but is also using "high" resources (per Task Manager) to index my PC - and it's been doing this for WEEKS. I do mean calendar WEEKS.
I ask this question with all due respect: how can Microsoft - who owns not only the Outlook app, but also the operating system - not fix this for its vast user base? It is incredibly frustrating - and a giant waste of our time - to spend hours 'trying' a big list of fixes. And none of us gets our kicks 'rebuilding' a PC.
A brand new PC, fully-updated OS, and fully-updated app suite should just WORK. It should not be an invitation for the paying users to waste their time on either the problem ("where the he11 is that email I need right now!") or a set of unreliable fixes/workarounds.
I think my only path now is to either (a) spend time trying more possible fixes, or (b) wait for Microsoft to fix this problem on the back end. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I do also have a life to live.
Can you verify that Microsoft is actively working to make patches to the OS that'll actually fix this for ALL users?
Thanks!
Respectfully, Ash
I had the same issue.
After trying everything, I used Procmon and saw that HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search\PluginResourceData was read continuously...
I decided to stop Search service (before disable the restart) and delete this key
Then after the restart, the speed has dramaticly increased, to return to a normal way !
Not sure about the impact of this change but in case of doubt, you can save regitry settings before.
I had the same problem. The reinstallation seems too much work for me.
The following helped me:
- PowerShell: dism.exe /online /disable-feature /feature-name=SearchEngine-Client-Package, (reboot necessary).
- via Services.msc I stopped "Windows Search" and then quickly deleted the files under C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search.
- PowerShell: dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename=SearchEngine-Client-Pack, (no reboot required).
The index is as fast as it was before...
Good luck.
I did everything as described but unfortunately this didn't work for me. Curious to hear what others have to say.
Oh and if you want us to copy-paste commands into PowerShell/Terminal, please at least make sure those commands are correct. Yours include typos.
The correct commands are:
dism /online /disable-feature /featurename:SearchEngine-Client-Package
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:SearchEngine-Client-Package
