4 ms·

Windows 10 search function is completely broken, it won't even find a program that's in start menu, not sure if it's because I disabled all the online functiona

by Moeg 6y ago

Windows 10 search function is completely broken, it won't even find a program that's in start menu, not sure if it's because I disabled all the online functionality of search. If I want to find something online instead of my computer I use a browser. Thankfully there are great alternatives for the atrocity, such as Everything, it's mind-blowing how a third party program is orders of magnitude faster than native system search.

oefrha 6y ago
If you disable “Background Apps” in Settings, Windows 10 will “helpfully” disable indexing (backed by Cortana service?) as well, rendering your index completely stale, which manifests as items in start menu don’t show, apps deleted a year ago still show, etc. All the garbage “solutions” when you search for this problem online don’t help at all. This problem once wasted me hours.
- atomicfiredoll 6y ago
  Dang. I thought you may have inadvertently pointed me in the right direction as to why I can't even get my indexing service to start. But, no luck. Maybe I'll get around to putting more hours in to fixing it someday.
pier25 6y ago
One of the reasons I won't switch from macOS to Windows 10 for work is how bad search is and the lack of a proper launcher like Alfred. It's absurd that Apple came up with Spotlight in 10.4 (15 years ago) and Microsoft still hasn't caught up with such a fundamental game changer.
- snowwrestler 6y ago
  When I worked for a consultant to Microsoft in the early 2000s, they were excited about the powerful search features they were planning to deliver in Longhorn. But Apple beat them to market with Spotlight, and to my knowledge, search has never turned into a differentiating feature for Windows. It's kind of crazy to think back to those conversations with Microsoft about their long-range plans. Some they have delivered well, like the transition to a subscription model for client applications. Some they have not, like native peer-to-peer social networking in the OS.
- sbisson 6y ago
  See Power Toys Run https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys
  - pier25 6y ago
    I've seen that one and others (eg: Wox), but nowhere near as powerful as Alfred. For example, you can't even just get folders. There's an issue open here about this: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/3347 https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/3347
GordonS 6y ago
It was broken - very broken, so broken that you had to enter the exact text of the thing you wanted. It was that way for years, but at some point recently they finally seem to have fixed it - I can now enter the start, end, or just part of anything I want to find, and it finds it! You know, the bare minimum you'd expect from a search function! I'm actually a big fan of Windows 10, but it boggles the mind how long they left such a key part of the Windows experience in such a sorry state.

by Moeg 6y ago

oefrha 6y ago

If you disable “Background Apps” in Settings, Windows 10 will “helpfully” disable indexing (backed by Cortana service?) as well, rendering your index completely stale, which manifests as items in start menu don’t show, apps deleted a year ago still show, etc. All the garbage “solutions” when you search for this problem online don’t help at all. This problem once wasted me hours.

atomicfiredoll 6y ago
Dang. I thought you may have inadvertently pointed me in the right direction as to why I can't even get my indexing service to start. But, no luck. Maybe I'll get around to putting more hours in to fixing it someday.

pier25 6y ago

One of the reasons I won't switch from macOS to Windows 10 for work is how bad search is and the lack of a proper launcher like Alfred. It's absurd that Apple came up with Spotlight in 10.4 (15 years ago) and Microsoft still hasn't caught up with such a fundamental game changer.

snowwrestler 6y ago
When I worked for a consultant to Microsoft in the early 2000s, they were excited about the powerful search features they were planning to deliver in Longhorn. But Apple beat them to market with Spotlight, and to my knowledge, search has never turned into a differentiating feature for Windows. It's kind of crazy to think back to those conversations with Microsoft about their long-range plans. Some they have delivered well, like the transition to a subscription model for client applications. Some they have not, like native peer-to-peer social networking in the OS.
sbisson 6y ago
See Power Toys Run https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys
- pier25 6y ago
  I've seen that one and others (eg: Wox), but nowhere near as powerful as Alfred. For example, you can't even just get folders. There's an issue open here about this: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/3347 https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/3347

GordonS 6y ago

It was broken - very broken, so broken that you had to enter the exact text of the thing you wanted. It was that way for years, but at some point recently they finally seem to have fixed it - I can now enter the start, end, or just part of anything I want to find, and it finds it! You know, the bare minimum you'd expect from a search function! I'm actually a big fan of Windows 10, but it boggles the mind how long they left such a key part of the Windows experience in such a sorry state.