Windows 11 - File Explorer - Search Contents fails

[DBP-User]

Yesterday I updated my 3 day old laptop to Windows 11.  Today I moved some files into the My Documents folder, then I went to the upper right corner of File Explorer and entered the word I wanted to find in the files. The search options included file contents, The search returned no results.

The same search on my old laptop, which uses Windows 10, found numerous matches.

[#2]

Same issue as mentioned and also tried index rebuilds, turning settings for contents search off and on, using latest file types etc. The email search function is terrible also since Windows 11. I'm amazed they released it with such serious glitches. Being able to search emails in outlook or look for content in Excel files is pretty necessary stuff. Wish I never did the upgrade and was short on HD space so wiped the OLD@DBP-User 

[#3]

Same problem, I rebuilt the index at least 6 times, in vain.

How to downgrade back to windows 10, anyone knows?

Thanks

[#4]

This problem is about the same as mine. Have done the indexing, checked all the needed settings, and I can't search content of any PDF files, but it does search content of at least some docx files. I think Windows 11 was searching fine earlier, but perhaps it was a recent update that caused the issue (not sure).

[#5]

@DBP-User I'm so glad to read that others are experiencing the same issues. I have Office 365, using .docx and .xlsx files, and no results when searching for contents. I can only get successful searches for a file name. WE NEED THIS FIXED!

[#6]

Honestly, this is outreageous - not the problem itself, that of course is an issue, but the lack of any information or reply from Microsoft, I have exposed this in the official Feedback Hub app a couple of times. I am afraid I will have to reinnstall Windows 10 and all my pprograms this weekend - I thought about restoring Windows 11 but I am afraid the problem will persist

[#7]

After trying to figure out some pattern as to why Win11 would find a small number of docx by content, but not others, I came up with the ultimate "Whuh?" I have a document where I searches on ten different words in it. It found the document by four of them, but not six others. The SAME dang document.

I've brought the computer to two specialist shops (where multiple people worked on it) and had one man work remotely. No one could solve this. They also tried running it from an external hard drive off Win10 and the same problem occurred. That was a surprise because I felt sure it was all about 11. That made me think going back wouldn't help.

In the end, at least for now, I'm giving up and going to use an open source product called DocFetcher. It was free. I downloaded it onto 11, let it do its indexing on a large sample of data and it found everything successfully, at least in the testing that I did.

Very frustrating and disappointing, but I'd lose weeks of customizing to go back to 10 with no guarantee that the problem will go away. Just hoping that Microsoft is aware and works on it and suddenly, sometime, in some update, it starts working.

One person had a theory that it might work better on computers that upgrade to 11 than ones that start on 11...that some little file might be in 10 and stay there but be missing in new installations of straight 11. No idea if that has merit.

Going back to 10 doesn't appeal to me for another reason: Who wants a new computer with an operating system that Microsoft has promised to end support for in only 2.5 years? And although upgrading could work later, I wouldn't know when that would be and we've all heard upgrade nightmare stories. I should be able to use 11 now if it's supposedly ready-for-prime-time. I curse at the TV every time I see a Win11 commercial. Wish we'd never left 7! It was all I ever wanted, other than it no longer being supported!

[#8]

Upgrade to the latest Windows 11 Beta. That fixes the search issue. (at least for me and others.) Outrageous that Microsoft will not even acknowledge that there is/was a problem.

[#9]

Thank you very much. Honestly, I reinstalled Windows 10 and I will stick with it for a while...

[#10]

how does one do that? This is the first that anyone has told me that there's a fix. That would be amazing, esp since there's no way I'm going back to 10. There really is no "back". I bought this with 11 on it. A little nervous to do anything beta, but if it might resolve this...

[#11]

@MiloInSanDiegoCA 

Hello again.

please do not install the Insider Program on productive computers - this is not recommended.

The Beta version is testing fixes that will eventually be implemented and made available as an update in the stable version of Windows11

[#12]

@MB1000 Can you link to more information about this being fixed in a beta build?

[#13]

Hello, I contacted Windows 365 support on this issue, who informed me that I needed to contact Windows 11 support. Windows 365 did nonetheless record the issue as occurring on my computer and helped me get in touch with Windows 11 support. Windows 11 support asked me to run some checks on my Windows 11 installation and after finding no errors in the installation, directed me to a location where I could download a fresh installation of Windows 11. This I did. At first it seemed that the problem had not been cured, but after loading updates and rebooting File Explorer suddenly started finding file content. Even so the problem has not gone away entirely. On some days File Explorer does not find file content, but on other days it will. Also File Explorer is not searching sub-folders as it did in Windows 10. Annoying but better than nothing. They are aware of the problem I think, but are unsure of what the cause is. I suspect a conflict of some kind or another.

[#14]

@AlbertRG 

again, this is fixed in the current beta, which seems pretty stable.  Presumably that means that this will eventually come to the regular release. Problem or the fix was, as far as far as I know,  never acknowledged by Microsoft.  Their support was totally useless on this issue.  Searching within documents simply does not work in the non-beta Windows 11. Works fine in the beta. But maybe MS in its wisdom will break this critical feature again. I had never installed a beta windows build before but did so a few weeks ago because this feature is critical to my business .   

see discusión also here:  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_11-files/windows-11-windows-search-not-sea...

[#15]

@MB1000 

  "    again, this is fixed in the current beta, which seems pretty stable. "        I'm surprised you say that the Beta version is stable!
What version are you writing about?
Currently Beta and Dev. it's the same version and there are problems so I do not encourage you to reinstall now if it is only on test computers!

[#16]

Windows 11, version 22H2 Insider Preview 10.0.22598.200

[#17]

@MB1000 

Please here is a lot of opinions worth reading:

Windows Insider Program - Microsoft Tech Community

[#18]

@MiloInSanDiegoCA 

"One person had a theory that it might work better on computers that upgrade to 11 than ones that start on 11...that some little file might be in 10 and stay there but be missing in new installations of straight 11. No idea if that has merit."

On this point, I can add data. I have two computers, of different makes, both bought around Jan. 1, one with 11 installed and one with 10, and I upgraded to 11 right away. I'm pretty sure that both searched normally when I first got them, and both at some point stopped searching folders properly. I presume this change happened after updates in the one case, and after installing 11, or after additional updates, in the other case. Someone else can speculate what this means, if anything.

[#19]

anyone know if this issue is fixed in the current stable (non-beta) version of Windows 11?  I would like to get out of beta, but not if this is still broken in the regular release.

@husontc 

[#20]

@MB1000 AFAIK it's still broken. 

[#21]

@MB1000No improvement.  No real hopes that it will.  I'm using a third-party software called DocFinder that seems to do the trick, though not quite as elegantly as File Explorer did on my old pre-11 computer.  Sad.