Windows 10 Search Stopped Working? Here’s The Fix

Don’t let Windows 10 get you down! If you’ve found the operating system’s search functionality has suddenly stopped working, it’s possible Cortana is to blame. Unfortunately, killing Cortana won’t have an effect — you’ll need to tinker with Windows Firewall instead.

As one Reddit user discovered recently when trying to use Windows Search, they’d get zero results, despite trying a variety of troubleshooting approaches:

Windows search provides 0 results, kill Cortana, try again, get results, click out, try again, 0 results? I have tried re-indexing, running the troubleshooter and lots of other stuff, anyone have any ideas?

Turns out Cortana is at fault, though you’ll need to block the component’s access to the internet as a workaround:

Win+X

Control Panel

Windows Firewall

Advanced settings (left side)

Outbound Rules (top left)

Search for rule in image above

Double click rule to edit

Select Block

Apply/OK

Hopefully Microsoft will cook up a hotfix in the near future, but for now, this should sort the issue out.

Windows search stops working after being used 1 time… [Reddit, via gHacks]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments