Why Is Windows Search Not Working?
Windows 11 is still in its infancy, so bugs are expected. Future updates to Windows will address bug-related search issues. Other problems might just be perceived; there are some settings, when set a certain way, which masquerade as a malfunction. Regardless, all search-related problems in Windows 11 are software related, so either an update from Microsoft or some tweaking on your end should be enough to fix Windows Search not working.
How to Fix Windows 11 Search Problems
There are a variety of things you can try, from a simple restart to editing system settings and uninstalling programs. An easy way to reboot Windows 11 is to right-click the Start button and go to Shut down or sign out > Restart. Use the WIN+R shortcut to launch Run, and then exit to see if this fixes the search issue. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager. Go into the Details tab and right-click SearchHost.exe. Select End task, and then confirm with End process. Once it disappears from Task Manager, try opening the search window again. To do this, open Settings with WIN+i, and then go to Privacy & security > Searching Windows. Enable Enhanced if you want to search through all of your PC’s folders. Also confirm the folders you want to search through aren’t listed in the Exclude folders from enhanced search area. Do this by launching the Run dialog box (WIN+R) and executing the msconfig command. Open Windows Search and select Start. If it’s already running, stop it and start it again. You can try this through Settings. Once there, go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters, and select Run next to Search and Indexing. Follow the steps on the screen.
Uninstall a program Roll back a driver Run System Restore
Perform a Windows 11 reset through Settings > System > Recovery > Reset PC.
