How to Change Indexing Options in Windows 8

Using Libraries to Add/Remove Locations

1. Understand the process. The quickest way to add a folder to your search index is to add it to a "Library", which is a collection of locations on your computer devoted to a similar topic. All libraries are automatically indexed by Windows Search.

   1. Any folders currently in your libraries, such as folders in your Documents or Music directories, are already indexed.

2. Find the folder you want to add to the index. Open an Explorer window and find the folder that you want to add.

3. Right-click on the folder. You can select multiple folders in one location before right-clicking if you want to add them all at the same time.

4. Select "Include in library" and then select a library. Select the library that most accurately describes what you are adding, or select "Create new library" to create a custom library. Your libraries will be automatically indexed for quick searches.

   1. You can't include folders from CDs or DVDs, as well as some USB drives. Many USB drives will allow you to include folders on them in the library.^[1]

5. Remove folders from libraries to remove them from the index. If you no longer need a folder included in the index, right-click on it and select "Remove location from library". You can only do this for folders that you manually added to a library. To remove default libraries from the index, see the next section.

6. Avoid adding folders you don't actually need to search often. Windows search will eventually search everything on your computer, so there's no need to add every folder on your computer to the index. All this will do is slow down all of your searches. Limit your index to just the most essential folders for the quickest searches.