I want to add my own exclusions to Windows Search programmatically, preferably with PowerShell or another script. The older Indexing Options interface lets applications register file extensions such as .gitconfig so Windows Search ignores those files or their containing folders. The newer Settings interface only exposes excluded folders under Privacy & Security > Search. Is there a supported way to add or remove an excluded folder, or ideally exclude files by suffix, without manually editing the registry? The relevant configuration appears to be under HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows SearchCrawlScopeManagerWindowsSystemIndexWorkingSetRules, but those entries cannot be safely edited by hand.
2 Answers
Rather than editing the registry, use the Windows Search COM API. Create a Microsoft.Search.Manager object, obtain the Crawl Scope Manager, add a user-scope rule for the folder you want excluded, call Save, and then restart the Windows Search service. This is more appropriate for scripted changes than modifying the internal WorkingSetRules entries directly.
The registry location you found is the right area to investigate: HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows SearchCrawlScopeManagerWindowsSystemIndexWorkingSetRules. However, directly changing those values can be fragile. A PowerShell example for adding an excluded folder may be a useful starting point, but make sure to back up the relevant settings first.
That helps narrow down the search considerably. I had been looking in several unrelated places before finding the Crawl Scope Manager settings.
Thanks, that gives me a much better direction. I also noticed that the Settings interface can be unreliable: folders removed from the exclusion list sometimes return after restarting, so using the Crawl Scope Manager may be necessary.