How do i exclude OneDrive subfolders from my file explorer searches

I have problem with question

Open Control Panel > opt Large Icons > Indexing Options > Click Modify, then Show all locations > Locate your OneDrive directory and deselect the subfolders you want to exclude > Apply/ok

Dear @Fuglem, Mark 

Thank you for reaching out Q&A Forum! 

We understand that you require a guide on how to exclude OneDrive subfolders from your File Explorer searches. 

Based on our testing environment, please try the following steps: 

1. Click Window Logo (Start Button) > Go to Settings > Select Privacy & Security.  
2. Scroll down and select Searching Windows. 

1. Select Advanced indexing options.
2. The Indexing Options window will open > choose Modify button > Go to your OneDrive folders and untick the subfolders that you want to exclude > click OK and then Close.  

5. The options you exclude will be displayed as below. 

 Please visit the link for your reference: Search indexing in Windows - Microsoft Support

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at your convenience.  

Understanding your use case in more detail will help us recommend the most efficient and compatible solution.  

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Hi @Fuglem, Mark,

Just checking in to see if the above information was helpful.  

If you have any further updates on this issue, please feel free to post back.  

If you think my reply is helpful to you, please remember to mark it as an answer. Warm thanks. 

Hi @Fuglem, Mark,

It has been a while, and I am writing to see how things are going with this issue.  

Have you had a chance to check the replies provided?  

Any update would be appreciated.  

Because I don't have admin priviledges and for other reasons, I finally went with a power shell script (a simplified version follows). This works very well and is very fast. Thanks.

File C:\Folder1\SearchPDFsWithTwoAuthors.ps1

Find all pdf's with Author1 and Author2 and write to a text file

Run the following in Power Shell

cd ‘C:\Folder1\’

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass

.\SearchTwoAuthorsPDFs.ps1

$rootDir = "C:\Folder1"

$outputFile = "C:\Folder1\SearchResults.txt"

$fileExtension = "*.pdf"

$keyword1 = "Author1"

$keyword2 = "Author2"

$writer = [System.IO.StreamWriter]::new($outputFile, $false, [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8)

Directories to skip (any subfolder of these is also skipped)

$dirsToSkip = @(

"C:\Folder1\SubFolder1",

"C:\Folder1\OneDrive"

)

Normalize skip paths (lowercase + no trailing backslash)

$dirsToSkipNormalized = $dirsToSkip | ForEach-Object { ($_ -replace '\+$', '').ToLower() }

Get directories recursively, suppress errors

$directories = Get-ChildItem -Path $rootDir -Directory -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object {

$dirPath = $_.FullName.ToLower()

-not ($dirsToSkipNormalized | Where-Object { $dirPath.StartsWith($_) })

}

foreach ($dir in $directories) {

# Only search files in the current directory

$results = Get-ChildItem -Path $dir.FullName -File -Filter $fileExtension -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |

    Where-Object {

        $_.Name -like "*$keyword1*" -and $_.Name -like "*$keyword2*"

    }

foreach ($result in $results) {

    $message = "$($result.Name) in $($result.DirectoryName)"

    Write-Host $message -ForegroundColor Green

    $writer.WriteLine($message)

}

}

$writer.Close()

Dear @Fuglem, Mark, 

Thank you for responding. 

We're truly glad to hear that the troubleshooting steps are working well on your end. We also sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your resolution to exclude OneDrive subfolders using PowerShell. 

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If my initial answer has been even partially helpful, please consider marking it as “Accepted Answer” so others facing similar issues can find it more easily.