Windows 10, by default, indexes over 500 file types on your PC. This means that the Windows search shows all file types in search results. Only encrypted files are not indexed by default in Windows 10.
Depending on how you use your PC, you may or may not want to see certain file types from appearing in Start/taskbar and File Explorer search results. For instance, you might want to prevent picture files from appearing in search results.
Users who often share their PCs with others might want to prevent certain file types from appearing in search results.
As with the case of earlier versions, Windows 10 also allows you to add or remove file types from the search index. Using this setting, you can configure the Windows search to stop showing certain file types with ease.
In this guide, we will see how to configure the Windows search to stop showing certain file types in search results.
Hide specific file types from search results in Windows 10
NOTE: In addition to file types, you can also configure Windows search from showing certain files (not file types) in search results. Refer to our how to hide files and folders from search results guide to hide your important files from appearing in search results.
Step 1: In the Start/taskbar search field, type Indexing Options and then press Enter key to open Indexing Options dialog. Alternatively, open Control Panel, change View by to Small icons, and then click Indexing Options to open the same.
Step 2: Click the Advanced button to open Advanced Options dialog.
Step 3: Switch to File Types tab. Here, you can see all file types that are currently being indexed by Windows search. To add a new file type, simply type the file type and then click Add button.
To remove a file type from Windows search, locate the file type in the list, uncheck the box next to it and then click OK button.
When you see the following dialog, click OK button to begin rebuilding the search index.
Note that the file type might continue to appear until Windows search does a fresh indexing of files. This typically happens in a few hours.