When you attempt to start the Windows Search (WSearch) service via the Services MMC, the following error may occur:
Windows could not start the Windows Search service on Local Computer Error 21: The device is not ready.
Microsoft recently introduced the Search Highlights feature in Windows 10 and 11. Search Highlights is designed to help Windows users discover more information and related content. Search highlights present noteworthy, informative, and interesting information about what’s special about each day—like holidays, anniversaries, and other moments in time both globally and in your region.Read more
A reader wanted to know how to use Windows Search to search for all files in a specific folder and its subfolders with the file extension .doc. This article tells you how to search for a specific file type suing wild card or Advanced Query Syntax (AQS). If you just doc in the search bar … Read more
Windows 10 1903 (codenamed “19H1”) introduces a new search option named Enhanced under the Find My Files section on the Settings page. Many users may be wondering what the “Enhanced” setting is all about and the difference between Classic and Enhanced search modes.Read more
After you install a Windows 10 feature update, the event viewer may contain Microsoft-Windows-Search Event ID 3104 Gatherer entries showing the error Enumerating user sessions to generate filter pools failed. Details: (HRESULT : 0x80040210) (0x80040210). Here is what the event looks like:Read more
When you use Cortana search to find an installed program, the program may not appear in Start menu search results although the shortcut exists in the Start menu folder. For example, with Word 2016 installed and its shortcut present in the Start menu folder, when you type in “word”, the search results will display WordPad … Read more
When you search for files on your computer using Windows Search via File Explorer or Cortana, the files you expect to find may not appear in the search results. This happens even though the files exist on the computer.
Another situation is that some phantom files appear in search results, whereas you may have deleted the files long back. In some cases, the searches may be very slow whether or not the folder location is included in the index.
This post tells you how to fix Windows Search issues in Windows 10 and earlier.
For some strange reason, the Cortana “Ask me anything” search box in the Taskbar may turn white suddenly without even the user clicking on it. This may have to do with Microsoft’s server settings and not a problem with your Windows 10 settings. Also, the search box registry tweak (WhiteSearchBox registry key) may prove ineffective as it works only for the current login session.Read more
Windows Search and its Advanced Query Syntax (AQS) is a freaking awesome feature in Windows. It lets you quickly find a particular file or group of files with a specific name or metadata, in a folder and sub-folders.Read more
Google Drive client software allows you to automatically back up files from your computer, camera, or SD cards to the cloud. Google Drive sync client, as useful as it may be, there is a small glitch in the setup process. After installing and using Google Drive sync, you may have noticed that Windows search returns … Read more
