Troubleshoot bad search index (Windows 10)

I'm experiencing some really weird issues with the search index in Windows 10 and I'm not sure how to troubleshoot them.

This is a fresh install of Windows 10 Pro (build 18383.592, all updates installed) on a new PC. I have three SSDs, C (boot drive), D, and E. I have Windows 10's indexing options configured to index files on drives C and E and save the index on drive D (which currently contains no other files besides the index).

It takes many hours to build a full search index. Once this is done, searching from an Explorer window often breaks. I'll type some terms into the search box in the top-right corner of an Explorer window and press Enter. Sometimes, it runs the search without issues. Sometimes, the search feature seems to crash - the search box disappears and is replaced with a blank gray rectangle. When this happens, I have to close the Explorer window and open a new one to try searching again. Sometimes, the search feature still won't work in a new Explorer window, at which point I have to restart Explorer from the Task Manager.

After the search has "crashed" a few times, if I reboot my PC, the search index will be gone and Windows 10 will start rebuilding it from scratch.

Things I have tried:

sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Disk error checking on drives C, D, and E
Run the Windows 10 search troubleshooter

None of these tools detects any issues.

I'm wondering if there's a specific file somewhere on drive E that corrupts the index when it gets added. Is there a way to determine what specifically is causing the search feature to "crash" or the index to get erased?

user45623

Posted 2020-02-06T07:29:56.630

Reputation: 229

Could this be related to the latest bug in Windows? https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+search&tbm=nws

– Mokubai – 2020-02-06T08:24:38.700

This question cannot be answered without knowing what version of Windows 10 you have installed. Please provide which cumulative updates you most recently installed. – Ramhound – 2020-02-06T23:08:31.683

@Ramhound Good point. I am running OS build 18383.592, all Windows Updates installed. – user45623 – 2020-02-07T00:15:03.540

You should try installing KB4532695 it fixes a problem with File Explorer that matches your description. Edit your question with any new relevant information that might help answer your question.

– Ramhound – 2020-02-07T00:17:21.640

@Ramhound Thanks, that sounds extremely relevant. I hit the refresh button on the Windows Update screen a few times and now KB4532695 shows up as an optional update. Installing it now. Since that's likely to be the answer, maybe you should post it as an answer instead of as a comment? – user45623 – 2020-02-07T00:24:13.440

@Ramhound Yep, that fixed it. Thanks! Please post as answer and I'll mark as correct. – user45623 – 2020-02-07T00:31:08.330

I will submit an answer; Your search index might be a different problem or was only happening due to bug. The issue that was fixed made mention of a issue with the Search Index. – Ramhound – 2020-02-07T00:36:24.643

Answers

I'll type some terms into the search box in the top-right corner of an Explorer window and press Enter. Sometimes, it runs the search without issues. Sometimes, the search feature seems to crash - the search box disappears and is replaced with a blank gray rectangle.

This appears to match the behavior of two bugs that were recently fixed.

Updates an issue that prevents File Explorer's Search Bar from pasting clipboard content using the right mouse button (right-click).

Updates an issue that prevents File Explorer's Search Bar from receiving user input.

Installing KB4532695 should resolve the behavior you describe

Ramhound

Posted 2020-02-06T07:29:56.630

Reputation: 28 517

Most notably: "Updates an issue that causes a grey box to appear when you search within Control Panel and File Explorer." – user45623 – 2020-02-07T01:06:57.643

Turns out the problems that I thought were all related were actually two problems. The Windows Update mentioned by Ramhound fixed the broken search box, but the search index kept getting deleted. Turns out Windows 10 seems to have a bug with search index and Bitlocker. If you save the search index on a drive that is secured with Bitlocker but isn't the Windows drive, Windows 10 will often fail to read the search index on boot and will delete and rebuild it. The only solution I found was to move the search index to the Windows drive.

user45623

Posted 2020-02-06T07:29:56.630

Reputation: 229

-1

if you have it fully updated. you may be experiencing issues with a new feature they are trying to push out that forces your computer to use bing for searching. Try and do the registry fix in the link and see if you can search again

https://www.ubergizmo.com/how-to/disable-bing-search-windows-10/

John

Posted 2020-02-06T07:29:56.630

Reputation: 1

I am referring to the search bar in the upper-right corner of Explorer windows, not the search bar next to the start button. I can't think of any reason why the Explorer search bar would connect to Bing, since it's only going to search files on my PC. – user45623 – 2020-02-06T22:16:14.793

The author's problem is absolutely unrelated to the bing search issue, the now resolved issue was server-side, and the author's problem is with File Explorer. Besides the registry modifications suggested by that workaround, was a mitigation, it wasn't actually required to solve the problem. – Ramhound – 2020-02-06T23:09:26.213