Can I exclude Outlook results from the Start Menu search in Windows 7?

Question

When I use the search from the Start Menu in Windows 7, results/mail from Outlook shows up.

How can I disable this? I only want to disable showing the mails when I search from the Start Menu - I don't want to do anything that affects indexing/searching mails from within Outlook itself.

Solution 1

I think removing outlook from Windows' search index does affect searching in Outlook.

But there's a way to remove this via policies. Just write this into a .reg file and "run" it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies]
"NoSearchCommInStartMenu"=dword:00000001

Solution 2

Search for "Indexing options" from the start menu. Open it.

• Click Modify
• Untick the checkbox next to Microsoft Office Outlook
• Click OK

You should not see search results from Outlook anymore.

Note: the checkbox does not appear unless you have Outlook set as your default Mailto: / MAPI handler in "Default Programs"

Solution 3

Just a heads up, the "Indexing options" solution that someone mentioned will also disable your ability to search through your e-mail within outlook. You'll have to turn it back on if you want to have any search capabilities without Outlook. And what's worse, you can't simply turn back on this feature. It needs to re-index all of your e-mail, which can take quite a while.

Solution 4

Try adding (without the quotes) "-type:message"

Seems to work for me in the search box in Windows Explorer.

I personally wouldn't touch the Indexing just in case it causes Outlook to reindex.

View more solutions

Comments

[Admin]

Refer to this link.

[nos]

And this will not affect indexing/searching mails from within outlook ?

[Siim K]

According to my experience, no, it does not affect outlook search. Outlook 2007 has its own search/indexing options (Tools->Options->Preferences->Search Options)

[bwDraco]

Is this a comment or an answer? Answer posts need to actually attempt to answer the question.

[Andrew]

Yes, this appears to be the correct answer. Turning off indexing in Outlook does seem to disable searching within Outlook.

[Eric Eskildsen]

Disabling indexing breaks Outlook search. Adding this registry value is a better option for removing results from the Start Menu specifically.

[rkm]

This is the correct key for me on windows 7: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\‌​Policies\Explorer