Windows 7 Search Not Working Solution

If Windows 7 Search not working properly, yeah, I’m talking about that ‘Windows Desktop Search’ which sometimes gives you ridiculous or no search results at all, because of some Windows glitch. Then here are some measures which you should try out to fix the common error “Windows 7 Search Not Working”. Although, there’s no specific solution, in other words, I would like to say that it depends on the cause of the problem. So try out these solutions, and let me know which one worked out for you.

Windows 7 Search Not Working Solution – Microsoft Official Fix

This is a quick fix by Microsoft aka the official fix, which was launched after noticing strange behavior of Windows 7 start search. What it fixes.

• Windows Search does not show results
• Windows Search is crashing
• Windows Search does not start
• General problems with Windows Search

If you are facing any of these errors or strange behavior in Windows 7 Search, then here how to implement this quick fix.

• Click “Run Now” button on this web page.
• Download the hotfix from Microsoft.
• Install the reboot the system.

Now, try searching something, if that fixes the search issue. Great, else try out the other methods listed below to fix Windows 7 search not working properly.

Windows Search Not Working – Another Solution

First one was of no use to you. Right? Give second one a try. It’s a mere quick one, has something to do with Windows 7 start menu options.

What it will fix?

If the programs you were searching for, are not turning up in Windows 7 start search, then this would surely resolve the issue. Here’s how to proceed.

• Right click on start menu, choose Properties. In other words, open the tab “Taskbar and Start Menu Properties”.
• Click “Customize”. You’ll be redirected to a new Window named “Customized Start Menu”.

• Scroll down to “Search other files and libraries”. And tick the radio box that says “Search with public domain”. And also check the box in front of “Search programs and Control Panel”.
• Finalize(OK) and close them.

Testing time! Check whether the Windows 7 Search got any boost or is it the same? Move on!

Windows Search Enabled In Windows Features or Not?

• Follow the path Start>>Control Panel>>Programs.
• Under Program and Features, click “Turn windows features on or off”.

• Find “Windows Search”, most probably, it’s enabled.
• Disable it!(Yeah, you read that right), reboot the system, and enable it again.

Still the same? Two more solution to go!

Windows 7 Indexing Options

Windows 7 index all your data, which can be presented at the time of searches. So, here’s a quick tweak to broaden your Windows 7 searches.

• Click Start>>Search for “Indexing Options”.

• Click “Modify” and check the box in front of your local drive to include it into Windows 7 Start search. With that, all your media content in local drives will be added in Windows 7 File Search Indexing. Please note that, this activity reduces indexing speed.

• If you feel that the problems revolves around some particular file extension, then click “Advanced”, under File Types tab, add the file extension that you feel is missing from the list.

• You can also request Windows 7 to rebuild index. How to do that? Under the “Index Settings”, click rebuild to “delete and rebuild index”. Please note that, Rebuilding the index can take several hours, and searches might be incomplete until the index is fully rebuilt.

Windows 7 Registry Tweak

If nothing helps, then try out this registry trick, explained here by my friend. This is a registry trick, make sure you got a backup of your data. Proceed after generating a backup.

Hope this article helps you in solving Windows 7 Search not working issue. If you are still facing any issue, then please let me know, I’ll try my best to solve the Windows 7 search issue.