Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Configuring Indexing of Encrypted Files

Indexing files encrypted using EFS are disabled by default in Windows 7, but you can enable them by using Indexing Options in Control Panel or by using Group Policy. Beginning with Windows 7, indexing the contents of encrypted files is supported, which makes searching encrypted content as easy as searching unencrypted content. (In Windows 7, the non-encrypted properties of a file are always indexed, regardless of whether the file itself is encrypted.) The only limitation is that users can search only encrypted content stored on the local file systems of their computers, not encrypted content stored on network shares. Prior to Windows Vista SP2, only encrypted files that were made available for offline use could be indexed.

Important If you decide to enable indexing of encrypted content on a computer running Windows 7, Microsoft recommends that you use Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption to encrypt the disk volume on which the index resides on your computer. Microsoft does not recommend using EFS to encrypt the index.