Windows Search appears to be down for Windows 10 users this morning, with the search box showing being completely empty and showing no search results. Windows Central reports that many Windows 10 users have been complaining about the issue on Reddit as well as other places on the Internet, though it’s still not clear if the issue is currently affecting many users.
We encountered the issue this morning on a PC running the Windows 10 November 2019 Update, as well as on a Fast Ring machine running post-20H1 builds. Many Reddit users are reporting that using a registry hack to disable Bing integration in Windows Search will make local search working again, but we didn’t try this solution ourselves. If this is indeed a server issue, it’s probably better to wait for Microsoft to issue a fix.
As of this writing, Microsoft has yet to acknowledge the issue, but it’s still early in the morning in Redmond. Let us know in the comments if Windows Search is also broken for you this morning, and stay tuned to OnMSFT as we’ll update this post if we learn anything new.
Update 9:54 PDT: Windows Search is apparently working again for some users. In our case, it went back to normal after rebooting our PCs. Microsoft has yet to communicate about the issue, and we’ll let you know if we get more information.
Update 10:19 PDT: Microsoft has now confirmed to The Verge that Windows Search should now be working as usual, after a problem with a “third-party networking fiber provider” affected multiple Microsoft 365 services today. “This issue has been resolved for most users and in some cases you may need to reboot your machine,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement.
A Windows search box issue affecting some machines has been resolved for most users and in some cases, you might need to restart your device. Check the Windows message center for the latest updates: https://t.co/asaMInBJN3.
— Windows Update (@WindowsUpdate) February 5, 2020
