How To Hide Files And Folders From Search In Windows 11

You may look for any files, directories, programs, settings, and more on your computer with Windows 11 by using the Menu bar, the Search feature on the Taskbar, or the search button in File Explorer. But, there are situations when you wish to conceal folders and their information (documents) from appearing in Windows 11 search results. So, today, this article will explain to you how to hide files and folders from search in Windows 11.

You may wish to conceal some files and folders from Windows search for a variety of reasons. Maybe you’d like to protect sensitive or private material from public scrutiny. Or you wish to stop other individuals from unintentionally destroying crucial information if you’re using a shared computer.

How to Hide Files and Folders in Windows 11 Using Settings

When you utilize the Windows search to look for a file or folder, it immediately looks through your Documents, Pictures, and other folders.

Consequently, if you would like to prevent a certain file or folder from turning up in search results. You must exclude certain folders holding the file or that folder from the lookup. Take these steps to prevent certain directories from appearing in Windows Search:

To enter the Settings program, make use of the key combination of Windows+I or right-click the Start Menu and choose “Settings.”
Pick “Privacy & Security” in the left sidebar of Windows Settings, then choose the “Searching Windows” icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
There seem to be two choices for where to look for files on the Searching Windows page underneath the “Find my files” portion:

Classic – The classic mode is the standard for displaying search results. If activated, just the User profile folder, including Documents, Pictures, Music, Downloads, Videos, and the Desktop, will be searched for by this approach.

Enhanced – This choice does a comprehensive search of your computer’s windows, libraries, storage devices, and partitions.

For your searches, these methods will also provide results for programs, preferences, functionalities, and other system items.
The collection of folders that won’t be included in the advanced search is located under the “Exclude folders from enhanced search” choice. ProgramData, Windows, AppData, and other system directories won’t by default be indexed in the search.

Furthermore

Underneath the Exclude folders from the advanced search area hit the ‘Add an excluded folder’ option.
Next, discover and choose the folder in the Select Folder box that you wish to keep out of Windows Search and click on it.
In order to remove a folder from the list of excluded folders, simply pick “Remove” by clicking on the vertical ellipse (three dots) adjacent to the folder.

How to Use Indexing Options in Windows 11 to Hide Files and Folders from Search

Utilizing the indexing options, you may hide files and folders from Windows 11 search:

In order to enhance PC searching efficiency, indexing is a Windows function that records files, folders, and other content. Windows dynamically adjust its indexes with the attributes of the files, such as file names, file kinds, etc.

When a certain folder is excluded, Windows 11 search results will no longer show that folder. Here’s how to go about it:

To enter the Indexing Options dialogue box, first, start looking for “Indexing Options” in the Windows search bar and select the first result.
You can view every indexed location (drives, folders) that Windows will look for in the Indexing Options window. The disc or folder you’re attempting to conceal will appear in the Window search if it is included in the list of “Included locations.”
You need to hit the “Modify” tab exempting a folder or a disc from the list.

Another Indexed Location dialogue box will appear as a result. Furthermore, the Index includes all of the relevant drives and folders. Additionally, the Index does not include any of the deselected discs or folders.

You must omit a folder from the Index in order to make it hidden. To view the tree list of folders, double-tap on a disc or the arrow next to the disk name.

Moreover

To stop folders from appearing in Windows search results, just uncheck them. When a folder is deselected, it will show up in the area labeled “Exclude” and then select “OK.”
In order to remove the folder “My project” from the search results, we uncheck it here.
Choose the ‘Advanced’ tab when you go back to the main Indexing Options bar.
You must have admin permissions in order to unlock the Advanced Options. You will have to input the username and password to view the Advanced settings window if you are not currently connected to an administrator account.
After that, you need to select “Rebuild” from the Troubleshooting section’s menu.
In order to rebuild the index, press the “OK” key in the confirmation window but it will take some time to complete the procedure.
When indexing is finished, the folder won’t appear in the Windows search results.

The steps to Hide an Entire Drive in Windows 11 are as follows

In Windows 11, you may also conceal a whole drive, but you must use the Disk management panel. With the help of the Windows disc management panel, you can manage drives, partition devices, examine and format discs, and conduct other tasks. To conceal drivers in Windows 11, adhere to the following steps:

For example, we wish to conceal the disc labeled “Secrets.”

To begin, either launch the Run dialogue box and type Diskmgmt.msc and press Enter, or right-click the Start menu and choose “Disk Management.”
Right-click on the disc you wish to conceal in the Disk Management utility and choose the “Change drive letter and pathways…” feature. Additionally, be careful to choose the suitable drive from the appropriate disc.
A little dialogue box will appear as a result where you choose the drive letter and then hit the “Remove” option.
Simply press the “Yes” option and disregard the alert when the Disk Management warning box appears.
You’ll notice that the drive (Secrets) is not displayed when you reopen the file explorer.

Conclusion

Finally, these are some of the tactics we have used to hide files and folders from search in Windows 11.