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Windows 10 file explorer search on external hard drive not working

Anonymous
2020-06-20T11:16:06+00:00

Hello,

I'm having trouble searching for files on my external hard drive using windows 10 file explorer. The search bar works and shows results for documents on my PC but searching on my hard drive comes up with "no items match your search".

I have tried things like restarting file explorer, making sure windows search service is enabled and rebuilding the search index but these haven't worked. 

Any help would be very appreciated. Thank you!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-06-20T14:21:01+00:00

    Well, there is another option to search you can use which doesn't rely on Cortana search.

    Click on This PC on your desktop.

    Then in the file explorer window, the address bar will be This PC, opposite this is a search bar. You can use this search box and it will search your entire computer, including external drives, thumb drives, etc...

    Alternatively, you can click on your external drive and then use the same search box to search just that drive.

    This is how I always search on my computer.

    If your drive still cannot be searched using this method, then there must be a problem with the drive. You could try and use the drive in another computer and see if it works then.

    Let me know how you get on.

    8 people found this answer helpful.
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  1. Anonymous
    2020-06-20T14:22:53+00:00

    OH right! I just replied to your last message, which you must have changed ha ha :)

    The info above is still good to have though.

    I'm really happy that we've solved your issue!

    I'll mark this question as resolved if that's OK with you.

    Please feel free to leave me a rating if you have the opportunity. I'd really appreciate it!

    Have a great day!

    4 people found this answer helpful.
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  1. Anonymous
    2020-06-20T11:42:58+00:00

    Hi Osnud, my name is Neil, I'm an independent adviser and a Windows 10 user like you.

    Sorry you're having difficulty when searching your external drive. We should be able to resolve this hopefully.

    If you can type: Indexing Options into the search box on your taskbar and then click on Indexing Options (control panel) in the results that come up.

    In the Indexing Options window, click the Modify button.

    Now, in the box that says Change selected locations, you will see a list of your drives. Click the box next to your external drive to put a tick in it. Click the OK button.

    Now try searching again and results should come back for files on your external drive.

    Let me know if you need more help.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2020-06-20T14:09:31+00:00

    Hi Neil,

    Thanks for your response. I think this has solved it - thank you!!

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