Windows 11 KB5120998 Auto-Indexes Your Most-Used Folders

Microsoft has added a more adaptive indexing option to Windows 11. In the KB5120998 preview update for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, Windows can automatically index a user’s most-used folders so files in those locations can appear in subsequent Search results even when the folders were not part of the usual indexed scope.

The setting is exposed under Settings > Privacy & security > Search as “Automatically find additional relevant locations.” Microsoft lists the feature in the gradual-rollout portion of KB5120998, so installing the update does not guarantee that every eligible PC receives it immediately.

Windows Search has traditionally made users choose between a relatively focused indexed set and broader indexing. That can be awkward for people who keep active projects in custom folders such as C:\Work, a development tree, a separate data directory, or another location outside the standard libraries. Search can be fast in indexed locations while files elsewhere are harder to surface consistently.

The new behavior gives Windows another way to expand coverage: instead of requiring the user to manually add every active folder or switching immediately to a much broader Enhanced scope, Windows can identify additional relevant locations from usage and add them to the index. Microsoft does not document the precise scoring algorithm it uses to decide when a folder qualifies as “most used.”

The benefit is straightforward: a folder can become searchable because it matters to the user, not because it happens to live in one of the traditional default locations. That is particularly relevant on PCs with several project trees or custom storage layouts, where manually maintaining the indexed-location list is easy to forget.

There is also a resource and privacy dimension. Indexing means Windows processes file metadata and, for supported file types and configurations, searchable content. A large source tree, media archive, virtual-machine directory, or other frequently accessed folder may not be something every user wants added automatically. Microsoft therefore exposes a switch for the behavior rather than making the expanded scope uncontrollable.

The feature directly addresses one common Search boundary: a file exists locally, but its folder is outside the indexed locations that make repeated searches fast. Automatically adding an active folder can improve that case without requiring a user to understand the older indexing controls first.

It does not repair every Windows Search failure. A frozen Search interface, an excluded folder, an unsupported content type, an unavailable cloud or network location, or a damaged search catalog are separate problems. The new adaptive scope is best understood as another indexing policy, not a generic Search repair mechanism.