Windows Search ate up too much space on my SSD—here's how I fixed it

Published Jul 28, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT Rich Hein is a veteran technology journalist with more than two decades covering developer, consumer and enterprise topics. Rich's career has been dedicated to service journalism, connecting readers to content that informs and delights. Previously, Rich was vice president and editor-in-chief for Simpler Media Group, director of audience development for IDG and editor/writer for sites like CIO.com, ComputerWorld, CodeGuru and other tech-centric publications. He's received numerous accolades, including the IDG Summit and Azbee awards and has been covered by Medium for his work in audience development. When not at his desk, Rich lives in Daytona Beach with his wife and three dogs. He enjoys playing guitar, surfing and staying abreast of the latest in tech. I've been using the Raycast beta for Windows as my main way to launch apps, find files, and move around my PC. It handles most of my search needs, so I rarely have a reason to use Windows' built-in search anymore. That made it difficult to justify the amount of space the Windows Search database was taking up on my SSD. I didn't want to disable it completely, but I also didn't need it indexing thousands of files I was unlikely to search for. Instead, I reduced what Windows was allowed to index and rebuilt the database to bring its size back under control. First, I checked how large Windows.db had become Windows Terminal gave me the number without changing folder permissions Windows doesn't show the size of its search database anywhere in Settings, and the folder that contains Windows.db is protected. Rather than changing ownership of a system folder, I opened Windows Search, typed Terminal, right-clicked Terminal, selected Run as administrator, and clicked Yes when Windows asked for permission. I then pasted the following command into the Terminal window and pressed Enter: Get-Item "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Windows.db" -Force | Select-Object Name,@{Name="Size (MB)";Expression={[math]::Round($_.Length / 1MB,1)}} The command only reads the reported size of Windows.db. It doesn't modify the file or change any permissions. The first time I checked Windows.db, it measured about 1.3 GB, which was larger than I expected for a search feature I rarely use. After moving from Enhanced to Classic search, it dropped to 729 MB. With a starting point established, I could move on to reducing what Windows can index. I reduced what Windows was allowed to index Classic search covered what I needed without indexing everything I opened Settings > Privacy & security > Search, then looked under Find my files. From there, I switched from Enhanced to Classic, selected Customize search locations, clicked Modify, and reviewed the folders Windows was including in the index. I left the Start menu and the locations I still wanted searchable, but removed OneDrive, backup folders, and other places I rarely use through Windows' built-in search. The difference between the two modes is fairly simple. Enhanced search indexes the entire PC, while Classic focuses on common locations such as the Start menu and user folders. Enhanced can be useful if you keep files scattered across several drives and rely heavily on Windows Search, but it was unnecessary for the way I use my computer. OneDrive was an easy exclusion because I don't use it, and I had no reason to make my backups searchable. Downloads, video folders, game libraries, virtual machines, old project folders, and large archives are also worth reviewing because they can contain thousands of files that add to the index without making search meaningfully more useful. Removing a folder from the index doesn't delete anything or make it inaccessible. Files in that location may no longer appear in searches from the Start menu, while searches performed directly inside the folder through File Explorer may take longer. That tradeoff made sense for my backups and OneDrive folders, but readers who rely heavily on Windows Search may want to keep more locations included. I rebuilt the Windows Search index Windows created a new database using the smaller set of locations After I finished reducing the folders Windows was allowed to index, I opened Indexing Options, clicked Advanced, and approved the administrator prompt. On the Index Settings tab, I scrolled down to the Troubleshooting section, clicked Rebuild, and then clicked OK to confirm. Windows warned me that search results might be incomplete while it worked, but I could keep using the PC during the rebuild. Once Indexing Options reported that indexing was complete, I ran the same Terminal command again. The reported size of Windows.db had dropped from the starting size of 1.3 GB to 687 MB, a reduction of roughly 613 MB without disabling Windows' built-in search. How I keep the index from growing back A smaller search scope should keep the database under control Rebuilding the index fixed the immediate problem, but the more important change was reducing what Windows was allowed to search. By enabling Classic search and excluding OneDrive, backups, and other folders I don't use, Windows now has far fewer files to track. The database will still grow as I add files to the locations that remain indexed, but it shouldn't balloon the way it did before. I'll also check the size occasionally and review the indexed locations again if it starts climbing. Windows Search now better matches the way I use my PC This wasn't about squeezing every last megabyte out of my SSD. It was about making Windows Search match the way I actually use my PC. I kept the search available without letting it waste space on files it didn't need to track. And on the occasions when I do use Windows' built-in search, it seems faster and more responsive than it did before.