Windows File Search Suddenly Stops Working or Gets Slow — 10 Checks to Fix It Before You Reinstall (Windows 10/11)

Windows File Explorer search not working or painfully slow on Windows 10/11? Fix it in 10 steps before reinstalling: restart Explorer, run the Search troubleshooter, set Windows Search to Automatic, check indexed locations (including Outlook), rebuild the index, enable content indexing for PDFs/docs, and handle network drives/USB issues—plus the “Everything” workaround.