Is It Okay to Disable the Windows Search Service? Should You?

Windows Search helps keeps your results quick and accurate, but can you disable it? And if you did, what would happen?

The Windows Search Service is a very basic and very integral part of the Windows operating system. So why do some people want to disable it? And more importantly, what are the advantages of disabling Windows Search Service and is it safe to do so?

Let’s have a look at what Windows Search Service is, and what would happen if you disabled it.

Why Should You Disable the Windows Search Service?

There is some talk about potentially gaining a performance boost after disabling Windows Search Service. There is little truth to this claim.

The Windows Search Service has almost no performance overhead unless your drive is particularly large and complicated. In that instance, it’s recommended you instead change how Windows 11 indexes files to gain faster search results.

If you don’t use Windows Search Service at all, such as if you’re using an alternative searching program, you may stand to benefit slightly from disabling the Windows Search Service. Doing so won’t cause Windows to stop working, but any future searches will take longer as you remove its ability to create an idex.

How to Disable the Windows Search Service

If you want to stop Windows Search from working, here’s how.

Start by searching for Services in the Windows Start menu.

When the app opens, you’ll be greeted by a rather large list of different services. Scroll down until you find Windows Search.

Right-click on the service and hit Properties.

In the next window, hit Stop to end the service for the time being. To permanently stop the service, change the Startup Type to Disabled.

Should You Disable the Windows Search Service?

Probably not. Windows Search is a mature program, and very capable of scaling its performance to your hardware needs.

There are unique scenarios where you might want this service to stop running, but for the average user, this is unlikely. Unless Windows Search Service is causing you a particular headache, it’s better to just leave this service running.

Getting Your Searching Problems Fixed

It’s not a surprise that some have tried and even recommend disabling the Windows Search Service, as it can sometimes be slow and frustrating to use. Thankfully, it’s a lot easier to fix up than to live without.