Microsoft has included an Enhanced Search Mode in Windows 11 and Windows 10. Compared to the Classic Mode, Enhanced search mode indexes everything on your Windows PC. In this post, we will share how you can enable Enhanced Search mode in Windows 11/10, and also try to understand how it is different from the Classic search.
Windows Start Search has changed. Press the Start button, and when you type, the results appear categorized into Apps, Documents, Email, Web, Folders, Music, People, Photos, Settings, Videos, and more. It is the primary reason why Enhanced mode came into the picture. Unless everything is indexed, this would not have been useful.
What is Classic Windows Search
Windows 11/10 calls the old search technique a classic search in this version. The Classic search mode is restricted to Libraries and Desktops. End users can choose to customize search locations by manually adding them to the indexer. In simple words, it would index files and folders that users wanted to be indexed. If the search term were not in the index, it would initiate the regular search, which takes a longer time.
What is Enhanced Windows Search
Enhanced Search indexes everything. It is its default nature, precisely the opposite of the Classic search. Users can exclude folders where the Search will not look and index anything that could be personal to them. This also means that it can impact laptop battery life. The initial crawl of your data will only take place when connected to power. During that period, both the CPU usage and battery will take a bit of a hit.
Enable Enhanced Search Mode in Windows 11
To enable Enhanced search mode in Windows 11, follow these steps:
- Press Win+I to open Windows Settings.
- Go to Privacy & security section.
- Click on the Searching Windows button.
- Expand the Find my files section.
- Select the Enhanced option.
Next, choose folders which Windows Indexer should exclude from the Enhanced Seach mode.
Enable Enhanced Search Mode in Windows 10
Here is how you can enable Enhanced Mode in Windows 10 Search :
- Go to Settings > Search > Searching Windows
- Choose the radio button for Enhanced.
- Next, choose folders which Windows Indexer should exclude from the Enhanced Seach mode.
That’s it!
The next time you search, Windows is looking at all the places, and since they are in the index, the results will be faster.
Apart from these, there are two more settings which you should look at.
1] Advanced Search Indexer Settings
Windows 11
Windows 10
Advanced Search Indexing Options allow you to fine-tune how or where Windows will search or which files types Windows will search. It will open the same setting available under Classic search.
2] Run the Indexing Troubleshooter
When you click on it, Windows will start the troubleshooter to fix any Search & indexing issue.
Overall, Enhanced Search mode makes more sense, especially with the option to exclude folders. I can ensure my privacy while still finding what is on my computer.
Read: How to disable Bing Search results in Start Menu of Windows.
How do I make Windows 11 search better?
To make Windows 11/10 search better, you can enable the Enhanced search indexing mode. For that, you need to open Windows Settings, go to Privacy & security > Searching Windows. Here you can find a section called Find my files. From here, you need to switch to the Enhanced mode.
How do I do an advanced search in Windows 11?
There are multiple things you can do to do an advanced search in Windows 11/10. For example, you can select a specific file type – document, image, web, etc. Apart from that, you can search for a particular file extension or type as well. You need to enter .pdf, .docx, etc., along with the file name while searching for a file.
