FIX: File Explorer Search History Won’t Clear in Windows 10
The Windows File Explorer has everything that any Windows user could possibly need in a file explorer, and that includes a quick and accurate Search feature. On the right-hand side of the top of the Windows 10 File Explorer is located a Search bar into which users can type search keywords and have all of the files and folders on their computer searched for those specific keywords. When a Windows 10 user searches for anything using this Search bar, their search query is recorded into the File Explorer’s search history.
Whenever a Windows 10 user clicks on the File Explorer’s Search bar, their most recent search queries and displayed directly underneath it, and whenever they search for something similar to anything they have searched for before, they are provided with suggestions. While the search history that File Explorer records is a pretty neat thing, most people would want to clear it every now and then. Thankfully, the File Explorer’s search history is pretty easy to clear. However, some Windows 10 users run into a problem where their File Explorer’s search history simply won’t clear no matter how many times they try to clear it by opening the File Explorer, clicking on the Search bar, clicking on the Search tab in the toolbar at the top, clicking on Recent searches and then clicking on Clear search history in the dropdown menu that opens.
The File Explorer’s search history can also be cleared using a specific .BAT file, but users affected by this issue see that this method doesn’t work either. Fortunately, there is a method that can be used to fix this issue and have your File Explorer’s search history cleared successfully. If you are suffering from this issue, here’s what you need to do in order to fix it:
Press the Windows Logo key + R to open a Run
Type regedit into the Run dialog and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
In the left pane of the Registry Editor, navigate to the following directory:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft
Click on Windows Search in the left pane to have its contents displayed in the right pane.
In the right-pane, locate and double-click on a registry value named SetupCompletedSuccessfully to modify it.
Replace whatever is in the registry value’s Value data field with 1.
Click on OK.
Close the Registry Editor.
Once you have completed the steps listed and described above, you are going to have to either restart your computer or restart the Windows Search service to have your changes take effect. In order to restart the Windows Search service, you need to:
Right-click on the Start Menu button to open the WinX Menu.
Click on Command Prompt (Admin) in the WinX Menu.
Type the following command into the elevated Command Prompt and press Enter:
net stop wsearch
Once the previous command has been executed successfully, type the following into the elevated Command Prompt and press Enter:
net start wsearch
The Windows Search service will have been successfully restarted, so you can now close the elevated Command Prompt.
Open the File Explorer by pressing the Windows Logo key + E, and you will see that the File Explorer’s search history has been cleared successfully.
