7 Simple Solutions to Troubleshoot a Broken Windows Search Bar

If the Windows taskbar search bar isn't working in Windows 11, there are a few things you can do to fix it. Though there isn't a singular fix that works for everyone, many users have fixed this issue by restarting the search process, restarting the search service, and reinitializing the search in PowerShell. In this article, we'll go over all of these methods and more to get your Windows search bar working again.

Fixing the Windows Search Bar

If the Windows search bar isn't working, try restarting the search process or restarting the search service. Other users have had good luck reinitializing in PowerShell, rebuilding the search index, and editing their registry.

Method 1

Method 1 of 7:

Restart the Search Process

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1
Open Task Manager. The easiest way to do this is to right-click the taskbar and click Task Manager.
2
Find Search. It's usually near the middle of the processes list, but you can also search for it using the search bar at the top of the window.

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3
Right-click on Search. This will open a contextual menu with several options.
4
Click End task. After a few minutes, the Search service will restart.
- You can also try restarting Windows Explorer in the Task Manager as well. Simply find Windows Explorer in the processes list, right-click it, and click Restart.^{[1]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 7:

Restart the Search Service

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1
Open your Windows services list. To do this, press ⊞ Win+R and type services.msc in the command field, then press ↵ Enter.
2
Locate the Windows Search service. The list is alphabetical, so this service will be towards the bottom of the list.
3
Right-click on Windows Search. A contextual menu will pop up with a number of options available.
4
Click Restart. The Windows Search service will immediately restart. It should only take a few moments for the service to finish restarting.
- You can also restart the Windows Font Cache service, which is sometimes the culprit behind a search bar that doesn't work. Simply find Windows Font Cache Service, right-click on it, and click Restart.^{[2]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 7:

Reinitialize Search in PowerShell

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1
Open PowerShell. To do this, press ⊞ Win+R and type powershell in the command field, then press ↵ Enter.
2
Send the command to reinitialize the search. Copy and paste the following command into PowerShell and press ↵ Enter to run it: Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.Windows.Search .
- After a few moments, the search should be reinitialized.

Method 4

Method 4 of 7:

Rebuild Search Index

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1
Open your Control Panel. To do this, press ⊞ Win+R and type control panel in the command field, then press ↵ Enter.
2
Click on Indexing Options. If you don't see this option, click on the dropdown next to "View by" and click Large icons or Small icons.
3
Click Advanced. It's at the bottom of the Indexing Options window.
4
Click Rebuild. Your computer will start rebuilding your search index. This might take some time, depending on how much space is taken up on your computer.^{[3]
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Method 5

Method 5 of 7:

Edit the Registry

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1
Open the registry editor. To do this, press ⊞ Win+R and type regedit in the command field, then press ↵ Enter. If you're asked to confirm that you want to open the registry editor, click Yes.
- Before changing the registry, make sure to back it up by going to File > Export. Changing the registry incorrectly can cause your computer to not function properly anymore, and if you don't have a backup, it's very hard to get your computer working again without completely wiping it.
2
Paste the PackageList filepath into the field at the top of the screen. Click into the field at the top of the screen that starts with "Computer," then delete everything in that field. Then, paste Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\StateChange\PackageList and press ↵ Enter.
3
Find the correct "MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS" folder. Look for a folder titled MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_1000.26100.[NUMBER].0_x64__cw5n1h2txyewy. You should see multiple folders. Find the folder with the highest value in the [NUMBER] spot in the folder name and click on it.
4
Edit the PackageStatus DWORD entry. Right-click on "PackageStatus" and click Modify.
5
Clear the value data. Delete anything in the "value data" field, then click OK.
6
Restart Windows Explorer. To do this, right-click on the taskbar, click Task Manager, scroll until you find Windows Explorer, then right-click it and choose Restart.^{[4]
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Method 6

Method 6 of 7:

Restart Your PC

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1
Turning your computer off and back on can fix random bugs. While it might not seem like it, turning your computer off and back on again can fix a number of random glitches and bugs, including any that affect the taskbar.
- It's best to restart your computer from the power menu. If you hard shut down your computer by pressing the power button, you may lose any unsaved data you have open.

Method 7

Method 7 of 7:

Update Windows

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1
Open the Windows Update menu. To do this, click the Windows icon on your taskbar, then click Settings, then click Windows Update in the sidebar.
- Installing any pending Windows updates might fix the issue, as the issue could be caused by a random OS bug, glitch, or driver issue.
2
Download and install any available updates. If an update is available, you'll see a Download button near the top of the screen. Click that button to begin the update process. You will likely be asked to restart your computer during this process, so make sure to save any open documents before restarting.