Windows 10’s May 2019 Update finally adds the ability to search all your PC’s files directly from your Start menu. However, this feature is disabled by default. Here’s how to enable it for quicker, easier file searches.
Here’s the problem: By default, when you search your Start menu, Windows will only search your libraries and desktop. Libraries include folders like your Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos. If you have files elsewhere, the Start menu won’t find them.
To make your Start menu’s file search more reliable, you can now head to Settings > Search > Searching Windows. Or, from the search panel, click the “…” menu button at the top right corner of the panel and select “Indexing Options.”
If you don’t see these options, you haven’t installed Windows 10’s May 2019 Update (that’s version 1903) yet.
From here, you can control the Windows search indexer—the background process that creates the list of files Windows searches. When you search for a file, Windows examines the search index to see what matches on your PC. This makes the search process fast, but it means that the search indexer has to continually run in the background and watch for new files in the folders you choose to search.
To make Windows search your everything on your PC, select “Enhanced.” Microsoft warns that this may decrease battery life and CPU consumption—the indexer has to watch for more files. After enabling this option, you must be connected to battery power for the initial index to be built. You can see the status of the index under “Indexing Status” here—the “Pending” list is the number of items Windows has to examine before the index is complete.
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