OneDrive indexing for WIndows Search
I am not sure I am at the right place to post this, but since some Microsoft engineer said here would be a more appropriate place for my post in Microsoft Community, here it goes (don't shoot me if this is considered cross posting):
Prior to installing the Fall Creators Update on my Windows 10 machine last week, all my files stored in any of my OneDrive subfolders were indexed and fully searchable through Windows Search. For example, entering ‘content:management‘ in the upper right search box would return all the documents (PDF, Word, etc.) that contained the word ‘management’.
Right after the installation of the Fall Creators Update, none of my files were found when using Windows Search. Either the index was deleted or, to paraphrase Microsoft support people, the option was removed ‘by design’.
However, as I continued to use my machine, I would try to search occasionally to see if perhaps the indexed had been rebuilt. Windows Search would slowly return more and more results as the days went by. I thought the index could not be rebuilt so slowly, one file at a time over the span of several days. At this pace, it would take months to index my 50 GB of files in my OneDrive folder! Today, I discovered as I open files from my OneDrive folders, they are indexed on the fly and thus made searchable by Windows Search.
Is this the new way OneDrive files are supposed to be indexed? Who thought one would only be interested in searching files he or she had previously opened, disregarding the others? While I do understand that the indexing engine cannot index a file not kept on the device (ie. on demand files), is there a way to force the indexing engine to ‘pick up’ all the files that are always kept on the device without the need to open them one by one?
Philippe Bruno
shared this idea
68 comments
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Philippe Bruno
commented
For some obscure reason, OneDrive appears in "Indexing Options" on *one* (and only one) of the Windows 10 (Fall Creators Update) machines I manage. Machines are identical HP desktops... The only difference I can think of is the one where OneDrive appears in "Indexing Options" was upgraded to Fall Creators Update at a later time. How stranger could this get?
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Jedidja Bourgeois commented
It would be great to get some kind of explanation why this feature was removed..
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Anonymous
commented
Josh Calais Burt commented "You do realise you can edit what gets indexed in explorer." - that is not true for local OneDrive forlder.
Also, tried re-indexing of index, OneDrive files (Iocal or not) are still not indexed. Also, tried resetting file properties ("Allow this file to have contents indexed in addition to file"), no results.
I cannot understand how it is possible to ***** up so many things by MS all the time... and then not fix it on months end ...
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Tayfun Dagdelen
commented
That is the worst thing I faced since our enterprise jumped into onedrive environment. I have synced about 100 gb files with thousands of items to search through regularly during the work day. However, I simply can not!! Please add this feature asap to make onedrive even more useful. Hope the responsibles in MS pay attention enough to this issue
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Harut
commented
I agree with Bruce Rusk... I have my Onedrive folders in a separate drive to avoid using space on C: and the OneDrive folder is not selectable in "Indexing Options" and it is not possible to add the location even though I see all the other folders in the same drive and I have local copies of all the files. It would be nice if someone from Microsoft commented on this thread so we know it is something they are working on to correct in the latest Windows 10 Fall Creators' Update.
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Bruce Rusk
commented
In response to the comment from Josh Calais Burt, the problem is that (at least in the latest version of Windows 10) it is not possible to add the OneDrive folder to the selection in the Indexing interface. That folder simply does not appear in the selection dialog. In the past, it appeared as a separate, special entry, just as Outlook, Internet Explorer History, and OneNote do, but that option is gone. This happens regardless of whether any files are set to be on-demand or not.
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Alessandro
commented
I have the same problem. OneDrive files are no more indexable.
Verified on several machines -
Josh Calais Burt commented
You do realise you can edit what gets indexed in explorer.
Or it may just be that the files your referring to may be on-demand and are unable to be indexed until there is a local copy.
