Windows indexing: best to disable?

[80251]

Is there any point to Windows indexing on Windows 10? I rarely search for files, is that the only use for windows indexing and then only for the few folders it actually indexes?

 

[Minxie]

Keep it on. Without it, Windows Search is even worse than it usually is. I set my Indexer to index absolutely everything:

And this has improved the efficiency of Search by a ton, so much so that I don't use Voidtools' Everything anymore.

And before you ask, no, it does nothing for performance. The indexer slows down when you're using your PC and speeds up when it's idle.

 

[bonehead123]

If you keep your personal stuff (pics, docs etc) well organized, you could probably exclude them, unless you are constantly adding/deleting tons of stuff in those areas. But for apps and windows system files, it does not hurt anything to have them indexed, so that you can find them should you care to modify/delete them.... and again, if you regularly add/delete stuff there, you can always delete & rebuild the index itself, which will make searches easier & faster....

 

[Ruru]

I keep it. Helps when using HDD (my storage drive) as it doesn't search stuff forever.

 

[chrcoluk]

Is there any point to Windows indexing on Windows 10? I rarely search for files, is that the only use for windows indexing and then only for the few folders it actually indexes?

If you dont search or use file history feature then the feature serves little purpose in my opinion could disable in your case.

 

[Minxie]

The question is why are you even thinking of disabling indexing? Is performance a concern? As I said it affects nothing, so if you have no reason to disable it, don't touch it.

 

[chrcoluk]

The question is why are you even thinking of disabling indexing? Is performance a concern? As I said it affects nothing, so if you have no reason to disable it, don't touch it.

It does have a inherit cost, building the database isnt free, and the i/o grinding as its building can be an annoyance.

The OP did say he doesnt use windows search.

 

[Minxie]

It does have a inherit cost, building the database isnt free, and the i/o grinding as its building can be an annoyance.

The OP did say he doesnt use windows search.

And like I said it affects literally nothing as long as you're using the PC as the indexer slows down to a crawl?

But sure if you don't use search go for it I guess.

 

[Ruru]

I don't use search either but still, accessing my storage drive is faster when looking at my cat pics folder, as the PC indexes it in the background.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Indexing off on ssd's don't need it but of course I know where every thing is so search isn't needed.

 

[MarsM4N]

I disabled it, Windows indexing/search is pure trash. It's too dam slow, eats system resources & also shows online results. Like wtf!?

I highly recommend to replace it with "Everything". It's super fast & only brings up what you're looking for.

 

[thesmokingman]

I've got like over 60GBs and it's all indexed. Go and edit the index list, keep it off ssd drives (in general though I do hit specific folders) and whatever folders ya don't want indexed. It takes a day or so for my system to complete indexing then its all good.

 

[caroline!]

I've disabled it, whenever I use Windows I never use the search to find files, only XP search was cool, intuitive and had a cute animated puppy as default helper. After that they got obsessed with "minimalism" bs and ruined it, lack of functionality is a feature apparently.

 

[OneMoar]

this isn't 2009 leave it on

 

[Minxie]

I've disabled it, whenever I use Windows I never use the search to find files, only XP search was cool, intuitive and had a cute animated puppy as default helper. After that they got obsessed with "minimalism" bs and ruined it, lack of functionality is a feature apparently.

More whining as expected from a tech forum. They all should just be renamed to 'MicrosoftBadAndWe'reAllCynics'. Anyway, the default settings for the Indexer admittedly suck as it only crawls user folders, however once you tell the Indexer to index everything and wait a day for it to be done in the background, it gets much better and finds anything I'm searching for.

I have used Windows for most of my life, beginning with 98 SE, and have went through all of its editions. No, XP search wasn't great either. The dog does not save it from the fact that it was horrible. In fact, dare I say, 11's search is currently the best it has ever gotten. Oh but god forbid I praise Windows 11, that's forbidden on these forums - let's just forget the fact that I also criticize it when criticism is due.

keep it off ssd drives

You people still think SSDs die that easily?

 

[OneMoar]

More whining as expected from a tech forum. They all should just be renamed to 'MicrosoftBadAndWe'reAllCynics'. Anyway, the default settings for the Indexer admittedly suck as it only crawls user folders, however once you tell the Indexer to index everything and wait a day for it to be done in the background, it gets much better and finds anything I'm searching for.

I have used Windows for most of my life, beginning with 98 SE, and have went through all of its editions. No, XP search wasn't great either. The dog does not save it from the fact that it was horrible. In fact, dare I say, 11's search is currently the best it has ever gotten. Oh but god forbid I praise Windows 11, that's forbidden on these forums - let's just forget the fact that I also criticize it when criticism is due.


You people still think SSDs die that easily?

there very few things that are as persistent as ignorance

 

[ThrashZone]

You people still think SSDs die that easily?

Hi,
Well ssd's unlike hdd's do just up and die without warning
I have had linuz mint kill a crucial ssd before by never running trim, crucial linux firmware bug a while back on mx100 which I still have four of those to this day rma replacement still kicking to.

I personally just think ssd's are fast enough without indexing
I switched it on recently just messing around and it made no difference at all.

 

[Minxie]

Well ssd's unlike hdd's do just up and die without warning

I've had plenty HDDs just die 'without warning' yet have an SSD from 2016 at 90% life after being abused tons. That is anedoctal evidence, and the Indexer won't do anything to even touch SSDs let alone kill them.

I have had linuz mint kill a crucial ssd

I know you're talking about a bug in this example but Linux is notorious for not enabling trimming by default and killing SSDs.

I personally just think ssd's are fast enough without indexing.

The speed and type of the storage medium doesn't matter. The indexer is what Windows Search uses to, you know, index files and show search results. All enabling it does is give you more search results that are more accurate, especially if you index everything rather than just leaving it on default settings.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Is there any point to Windows indexing on Windows 10? I rarely search for files, is that the only use for windows indexing and then only for the few folders it actually indexes?

Unless you need it, yes, disable it. All it does is slightly speed up a limited number of searches. It otherwise just takes up resources...

this isn't 2009 leave it on

No.

there very few things that are as persistent as ignorance

You should know that well..

I personally just think ssd's are fast enough without indexing

Exactly. Indexing is an outdated service that is no longer relevant for today's computing ethic.

 

[micropage7]

The question is why are you even thinking of disabling indexing? Is performance a concern? As I said it affects nothing, so if you have no reason to disable it, don't touch it.

Agree if not broken don't fix it, leave it as it is

 

[Mussels]

The only time it misbehaves is when people store terabytes of small files on their desktop and they get indexed, smashing performance

It's there to prevent your HDD getting smashed to pieces, let it do it's job

 

[eidairaman1]

Hi,
Well ssd's unlike hdd's do just up and die without warning
I have had linuz mint kill a crucial ssd before by never running trim, crucial linux firmware bug a while back on mx100 which I still have four of those to this day rma replacement still kicking to.

I personally just think ssd's are fast enough without indexing
I switched it on recently just messing around and it made no difference at all.

It hampered hdd performance back then.

 

[lexluthermiester]

It hampered hdd performance back then.

True, and it still does.

 

[Bill_Bright]

It does have a inherit cost, building the database isnt free, and the i/o grinding as its building can be an annoyance.

Windows indexing/search is pure trash. It's too dam slow

This is old-school XP thinking. W10/W11 are not XP. Microsoft has made extensive changes to how indexing works in the latest versions of Windows, and in particular, in the most recent updates to W10 and now W11. And it continues to tweak the feature to ensure it does not impact performance. As seen here, Windows will actually pause the indexing process when the user uses the computer.

Also, Indexing and Search are two different features.

And sorry folks, but the comments concerning indexing and SSDs, and that indexing in an obsolete service simply demonstrates the accuracy of OneMoar's comment about the persistence of ignorance.

(1) Indexing and SSDs.
Fact: Indexing is by far, primarily a "Read" function, involving only a tiny bit of "Writes". Reads have no impact on SSD longevity. But to that...
Fact: Today's SSDs do not suffer from the Write limits of first generation SSDs.
Side Fact: As far as thrashing a hard drive, that may be true during the initial indexing, but once indexed, Indexing will find your files much more quickly by going directly to the file instead of thrashing about looking for it. So in the long run, Indexing can save thrashing a HD.

Also, once the initial Indexing is complete, the feature only looks at updated and new files. It is not constantly re-indexing the entire disks. This means any "thrashing" is greatly reduced to a minimum once the initial indexing is complete.

(2) Indexing as an outdated feature.
Fact: Not true. One of Indexes' greatest features is it indexes the contents of your documents and spreadsheets and other files. So if you are looking for a particular word, for example, Indexing can find the file(s) that contains that word quickly. If you disable Indexing, Search will have to crawl through your entire drive or drives every time you search for something. With Indexing enabled, Search simply looks in the Index db, then goes directly to the file that contains your search item.

 

[caroline!]

More whining as expected from a tech forum. They all should just be renamed to 'MicrosoftBadAndWe'reAllCynics'. Anyway, the default settings for the Indexer admittedly suck as it only crawls user folders, however once you tell the Indexer to index everything and wait a day for it to be done in the background, it gets much better and finds anything I'm searching for.

I have used Windows for most of my life, beginning with 98 SE, and have went through all of its editions. No, XP search wasn't great either. The dog does not save it from the fact that it was horrible. In fact, dare I say, 11's search is currently the best it has ever gotten. Oh but god forbid I praise Windows 11, that's forbidden on these forums - let's just forget the fact that I also criticize it when criticism is due.

I just know where my files are.