Indexing MS Office Documents (excel/word) on windows server 2022 not working,

Question

We have problems getting the Windows Search to index file contents in Office Document (xls,xlsx,doc,docx etc.).
The file server is running Windows Server 2022 fully patched.
We have installed Office 2010 iFilter to do the indexing. Base install + SP2 + Latest patch.

I can see that the Office Open XML Format Word / Excel Filter is set to index properties and file contents in indexing options.

We have tried rebuilding the index multiple times with no solution.
We have tried moving the index to a new location.
We have set registry key: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search\SetupCompletedSuccessfully to 0 to force a reset of Index.

We have tried running other iFilters as Adobe PDF iFilter, we have installed full Office Suite and rebuilt the index each time, but to no avail.

Nothing we do makes search within files work, the indexing completes, but searching in Windows Explorer either locally on the server or from the client PCs doesn't work, completes the search within a few seconds and returns nothing found.

Anyone who can shed some light on this, the end client / customer is getting rather frustrated with us as we recently migrated them from an Windows Server 2016 where indexing worked.

Answer 1

Hello

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Troubleshooting indexing issues can be complex.Here are some suggestions to help you troubleshoot and resolve the issue of Windows Search not indexing the contents of MS Office documents:

Uninstall the Search Services: You could try uninstalling the Search Services, deleting all the indexing data, and then reinstalling from the beginning and reindexing the volumes.

Check for problematic files or folders: A specific file or folder or particular file type might be causing problems and corrupting the index. Try removing the indexing database again and select only one small folder to check if it works. If it does, you can try to add more and more files/folders to the index to find the root cause of the problem.

Run the Windows Troubleshooter: Windows has a built-in troubleshooter that might be able to detect and solve the problem. To run it, select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot. Under Find and fix other problems, select Search and Indexing. Run the troubleshooter and select any problems that apply.

Check Event Viewer:Look for any relevant error messages or warnings in the Event Viewer related to Windows Search or indexing. This might provide clues about what is causing the issue.

Check File Types:Make sure that the file types you want to index (e.g., xls, xlsx, doc, docx) are included in the list of indexed file types. You can check this in the Indexing Options.

Verify Indexing Locations:Confirm that the folders containing the Office documents are included in the indexed locations. You can do this in the Indexing Options.

Check Indexing Status:Open Indexing Options and check the status of the index. Ensure that the number of items indexed is increasing, indicating that the indexing process is ongoing.

Check Group Policy Settings:

Verify if there are any Group Policy settings affecting Windows Search or indexing. Ensure that group policies are not preventing the indexing of certain file types.

Verify Windows Search Filters:

Double-check the Windows Search filters. In the Indexing Options, go to the Advanced tab and click on the "File Types" tab. Make sure the filters for Office documents are correctly set.

If the issue persists after trying these steps, consider checking for any updates or patches related to Windows Search or iFilters.

Answer 2

Hello

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Troubleshooting indexing issues can be complex.Here are some suggestions to help you troubleshoot and resolve the issue of Windows Search not indexing the contents of MS Office documents:

Uninstall the Search Services: You could try uninstalling the Search Services, deleting all the indexing data, and then reinstalling from the beginning and reindexing the volumes.

Check for problematic files or folders: A specific file or folder or particular file type might be causing problems and corrupting the index. Try removing the indexing database again and select only one small folder to check if it works. If it does, you can try to add more and more files/folders to the index to find the root cause of the problem.

Run the Windows Troubleshooter: Windows has a built-in troubleshooter that might be able to detect and solve the problem. To run it, select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot. Under Find and fix other problems, select Search and Indexing. Run the troubleshooter and select any problems that apply.

Check Event Viewer:Look for any relevant error messages or warnings in the Event Viewer related to Windows Search or indexing. This might provide clues about what is causing the issue.

Check File Types:Make sure that the file types you want to index (e.g., xls, xlsx, doc, docx) are included in the list of indexed file types. You can check this in the Indexing Options.

Verify Indexing Locations:Confirm that the folders containing the Office documents are included in the indexed locations. You can do this in the Indexing Options.

Check Indexing Status:Open Indexing Options and check the status of the index. Ensure that the number of items indexed is increasing, indicating that the indexing process is ongoing.

Check Group Policy Settings:

Verify if there are any Group Policy settings affecting Windows Search or indexing. Ensure that group policies are not preventing the indexing of certain file types.

Verify Windows Search Filters:

Double-check the Windows Search filters. In the Indexing Options, go to the Advanced tab and click on the "File Types" tab. Make sure the filters for Office documents are correctly set.

If the issue persists after trying these steps, consider checking for any updates or patches related to Windows Search or iFilters.

Hello, thanks for the reply!

Uninstalling the Windows Search Index Feature didn't do anything, the service was still active and running even after reboot.

Didn´t find another official way to reinstall Windows Search Service, we have tried resetting the Search Service via the registry key: SetupCompletedSuccessfully but without any change in function.

The build in troubleshooter didn´t give us anything, it runs a set of quick tests then gives the result that it is fixed, even though it wasn´t.

We have tried both removing the Index database files and changed index location, no change in function.

No errors or warnings were ever listen in the eventviewer so we had nothing to go on in terms of troubleshooting.

We have verified the indexed file types several times, tried different iFilter, tried indexing smaller folders, no change in function.

No GPOs in regards of indexing services.

We made some internal testing on other servers using the same patchlevel of Windows Server 2022 and we couldnt reproduce the error.

We installed the services as we always do, install windows search feature, install Office 2010 iFilter (+SP2 and latest patch) configured folders for indexing and it just works as expected.

So after we tried everything we could think of to solve the indexing issue, after about 10hours of troubleshooting we took the decision to deploy a new VM and migrate disks and services, replacing the current file server OS install with a new server using the same name and IP, configured indexing again as said above and it worked as it should so something in the install was corrupt or bugged, that SFC and DISM repairs couldn´t see.

Really annoying that we couldn´t solve the issue and find the problem causing it, as the next server that we run into this problem on might not be so easily reinstalled / replaced.

Answer 3

It's unfortunate that the root cause wasn't identified, but sometimes complex issues may have elusive causes.

If the problem reoccurs, documenting each step in your troubleshooting process can help in identifying patterns or potential causes for further investigation.

If possible, keeping a backup of a known-working configuration can also be valuable in rapidly restoring services in case of issues.

Answer 4

Hi,

I have the same problem on a file server is running Windows Server 2022 fully patched. Have run through the same steps as above and no luck yet.

Has there been any update or was there a fix found please?

Thanks,

Answer 5

Hi,

I have the same problem on a file server is running Windows Server 2022 fully patched. Have run through the same steps as above and no luck yet.

Has there been any update or was there a fix found please?

Thanks,

Hello,

The problem we experienced actually came back, even though we made a complete reinstall of the fileserver.

So it seems like its a Windows Server 2022 bug / issue as we haven´t seen these issues on previous versions.

We made the complete reinstall, re-indexed everything again with the Office2010 search filters, everything just worked as expected.

So we thought anyway, the issue then came back some days later, so we then began a discussion with the customer to look into migrating to Teams/Sharepoint storage instead, but that was never done, the client accepted to run with the search issues for the moment.

When i looked back and did some search testing now in January, indexing was working as it should, fast and responsive.

Indexing both filenames and contents...

So frustrating, we can´t say what fixed it other than some Windows Patch that was installed, or the index function self healed...