How to Hide Specific Folders From Search Results in Windows 11

You want to hide the contents of a folder from search results on Windows 11.Windows has a built-in search feature that allows you to search for documents from a specific folder or the entire PC.

The Windows Search service indexes content for faster results when searching for files and other content from specified locations. By default, Windows uses Classic indexing to index and return search results. Classic indexing will index content found in user profile folders, including Documents, Pictures, Music, and Desktop.

With Advanced indexing, Windows indexes the entire contents of your computer, all hard drives and partitions, including your library and desktop, by default.

Whichever indexing option you're using, you can hide specific folders that you don't want Windows to find. Content that you do not want included in the search results, which may damage your system, may be hidden from the Windows Search service.

To get started hiding specific folders from Windows Search, continue below.

1. Open Settings, you can use the keyboard shortcut Windows key + I

2. In Settings, click on Privacy & Security and select the Search Windows tile on the right pane 

3. On the Searching Windows , the Exclude Folders From Enhanced Search section displays the folders that are hidden from the search results. To add your folder here, click Add an Excluded Folder.

4. Next, browse to the location and select the folder you want to exclude from Windows Search.

5. All folders you exclude will be listed under Excluded folders from advanced search.

6. If you want to remove a folder from the list of excluded folders, simply click on the vertical ellipse (three dots) and select Remove.

And that’s how you keep certain folders from being shown in Windows 11’s search results. Very useful for privacy-focused users!