Friday, July 25, 2025

Fix: Windows Search Not Working or Showing Results (2024 Guide)

 







Windows Search is an essential feature used to find apps, files, emails, and system settings. But if it stops working or doesn’t return any results, it can become a real productivity problem. Let’s go over the most common fixes for restoring Windows Search functionality on Windows 10 and 11.

🔍 Symptoms

  • Start Menu Search not opening

  • No results shown when typing

  • Cortana/Search UI crashing or freezing

⚙️ Fixes for Search Not Working

✅ 1. Restart Windows Search Service

  1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, press Enter

  2. Find Windows Search

  3. Right-click > Restart

✅ 2. Rebuild Search Index

  1. Go to Control Panel > Indexing Options

  2. Click Advanced > Rebuild Index

  3. This may take some time but fixes broken search databases

✅ 3. Run Search and Indexing Troubleshooter

  1. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot

  2. Click Additional troubleshooters

  3. Select Search and Indexing

  4. Follow prompts to fix common issues

✅ 4. Check for Windows Updates

  • Sometimes search breaks due to bugs that are later patched

  • Go to Settings > Windows Update and install all updates

✅ 5. Restart Search Process (SearchUI.exe)

  1. Open Task Manager

  2. Find SearchHost.exe or SearchUI.exe

  3. End the task — it will restart automatically

✅ 6. Use PowerShell Reset Script

Run the following as Administrator:

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.Search | Reset-AppxPackage