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Windows 11 Search Bar Not Working

Hi everyone, not sure if anyone is facing this problem but my laptop shut down unexpectedly and updated on its own. When my laptop restarted, the Windows search bar can't be used anymore, it just turns up blank. I've tried everything but it just seems like nothing is working.. someone please help!! (For reference, I am using a HP Omen)

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Hello there, I'm Gopal an Independent Advisor. I will try my best to help you.

I understand that you're experiencing an issue with the Windows search bar after the Windows update. Does it show any error messages, or does it simply not respond?

Please try the following steps and see if that helps

Step 1: Run the search and indexing troubleshooter

Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog.
Type cmd and press Enter.
At the command prompt, run the following command:
msdt.exe -ep WindowsHelp id SearchDiagnostic
Follow the on-screen instructions.

Step 2: Restart Windows Search

Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, and then select Task Manager.
In the Task Manager window, select the Details tab.
In the Name column, right-click SearchUI.exe, and then select End task.
When you're prompted to end SearchUI.exe, select End process.

Step 3: Rebuild Search Index

Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog.
Type control panel and press Enter.
Go to Indexing Options.
Click Advanced and then Rebuild.
This process might take some time depending on the amount of data on your laptop.



I hope this will help you to sort out the issue. Please let me know if you need further assistance. Thank you!



Regards,
Gopal
Indian Standard Time (UTC +5:30)

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Hello,

See if this fix helps you:

Let us know if this helps!

Note: Included link in this reply refers to blog post by a trusted Microsoft MVP.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Microsoft MVP (Windows IT Pro), since 2014 · Windows Insider MVP, since 2016 · Windows Help (www.kapilarya.com)

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Rebuilding the indexing seemed to work for me, thank you!

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This is the strangest fix I can imagine but it actually worked. I got this from a different thread.

Go here and log in using Microsoft account. The poster said he ignored the question and logged out. I didn't see a question but I had to create a user using my Microsoft account to log in. When I quit the page, the search was working. I don't know what it does, but it honestly worked for me.

I don't know if it installs something to make the website work and that affects the search but something miraculous worked. I have not rebooted to see if it still works after rebooting.

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cannot type in search bar

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cannot type in search bar

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cannot type in search bar

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This just happened to me The other day when I was having boot up problems and then I had missing icons in the task bar, would I ended up doing was running one of the command prompts for an offline scan that will scan your computer when it's rebooted, I forgot what the command line was but that fixed everything after a week of trying everything else I could find online this is the only thing that worked

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This is the video that showed me how to do the offline scan. Just make sure that you put in the correct drive letter for what your drive is if it's c you put c if it's d you put d if it's after you put F etc.. copy and paste this link and it teaches you how to use the command prompt and what you really want to look for I forgot where the time is is for the offline scan. 2 minutes 33 seconds into the video is what you want to do.

https://youtu.be/vd-AA08QXco?si=cbzdqdoP3HExo0HU

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Hello,

See if this fix helps you:

Let us know if this helps!

Note: Included link in this reply refers to blog post by a trusted Microsoft MVP.

This did it for me: Option 3, Find SearchHost.exe service, right click on it, End task.

Thank you!

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Last updated April 23, 2025 Views 79,292 Applies to: