In the Windows system, users can search for files and folders stored on the computer either through the built-in search field in the taskbar or the File Explorer tool. By default, Windows indexes only two folders: Users located in section (:C) which includes files on the desktop, documents, pictures, and downloads, and the Start Menu folder so it can find installed program shortcuts. Therefore, depending on the folder where the files you need are located, the search tool may not be able to find them because the folder has not been indexed. Fortunately, there is a way to add any folder to Windows search so that its files appear in search results quickly, as explained below.
To add new folders to the index, you need to open the Indexing Options tool, which contains a set of options to control the search mechanism on Windows, allowing users to exclude folders from being indexed on the HDD/SSD storage unit as explained before in the topic of preventing specific files and folders from appearing in Windows search. Since you want to add specific files or folders to appear in search results, you will add them to the indexing list through this tool.
To add folders to the index, press the “Modify” button and when another window appears, use the “Change selected locations” section to navigate to the partition (by clicking on the arrow pointing to the right) where the new folders you want to index are located. Once you find the folder name, check the box next to it, and after including all the folders, click “OK” for Windows to add the files contained in these folders to the indexing process.
Now, to confirm the appearance of the newly added files in the search results when searching, you need to rebuild the search index on Windows. Open the “Indexing Options” window, click on the “Advanced” button, and in the “Advanced Options” window, click on the “Rebuild” button. A message will appear informing you that rebuilding the index may take a long time, click “OK”. Once the indexing process is complete (you can verify this when the message “Indexing complete” appears in the Indexing Options window), the search tool database will be updated to include the new folders and display them in search results, whether you are searching through the taskbar or the built-in search field in File Explorer.
You can now test to ensure that the folders have been added to the search tool. Press Win + S to open the search field in Windows 10 or Windows 11, then search for any file within the newly added folders. If the search fails, try rebuilding the index manually again, but in most cases, you won’t have to do so, and the file will appear in search results with its location on the storage unit and the last modification date of the file.
