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Indexing Is Paused: How to Fix This Issue on Windows 11

Rebuild the search index on unsupported hardware

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

Indexing is useful when you want to quickly find something on your computer, such as an email message or a document. With indexing, you can search through your entire hard drive – everything from documents and pictures to music and videos.

While this is an easy way to find what you’re looking for, you may find that the feature is sometimes plagued by glitches. Users have reported getting a message saying Indexing is paused, meaning their search is cut short. Let’s look at possible fixes for this.

Why is indexing paused?

Below are some possible reasons why your indexing is paused in Windows 11:

How do I fix the Indexing is paused error?

A few preliminary steps that could solve the issue before you proceed to the slightly technical solutions include:

1. Run the Indexing troubleshooter

2. Restart the Windows Search service

3. Rebuild the search index

Rebuilding the Search index is particularly helpful for users who upgraded to Windows 11 with devices that did not meet thesystem requirements. We have already looked at some of the consequences ofusing an incompatible device with the OS, and this happens to be one of them.

4. Run DISM and SFC scans

5. Uninstall recent Windows Update

Remember to keep checking for new updates because if it was a glitch in the released updates, Microsoft might release new ones to fix the known issue.

6. Disable Indexing of Outlook

7. Turn off the battery policy

If none of these solutions work for you, you might have a damaged hard drive. Indexing may not be able to locate the files if it cannot read from the source. In such a case, you first must attempt torepair your hard drivebefore proceeding.

If you’re lucky and have been able to bypass this error, you may be interested inways to speed up indexingfor faster results.

Let us know what solution worked for you in the comment section below.

Indexing Is Paused: How to Fix This Issue on Windows 11#

Why is indexing paused?#

How do I fix the Indexing is paused error?#

1. Run the Indexing troubleshooter#

2. Restart the Windows Search service#

3. Rebuild the search index#

4. Run DISM and SFC scans#

5. Uninstall recent Windows Update#

6. Disable Indexing of Outlook#

7. Turn off the battery policy#