Window Search service fails to start with: Error 5: Access Denied

I have been chasing this error for months now. Ever since I upgraded to Windows 11 last year Windows Explorer would hang for about 30 seconds repeatedly. After much troubleshooting I discovered that if I disable the Windows Search service then Explorer would no longer hang. But, of course the Windows search features no longer work.




I have searched extensively for a solution and found some fixes, but nothing has worked. Especially I found this one on MS Learn:

Fix problems in Windows Search

I have tried all the solutions but nothing has worked.

My system is fully up to date. I have a couple of VirtualBox VM running the same OS version. On one of them, Windows Search is running fine but the other one fails the same way as my main host system. On the one that works I did a clean install. The other one and my main system I have not done a clean install since I clean installed Windows 10 many years ago. Doing a clean install on my main system is an absolute last, last resort because of the time and difficulty of getting my system setup again to the state it is. Everything else is working great.

I have repeatedly run the sfc /scannow and DISM /online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. No issues were found.

I then used ProcMon to run a trace on both the VMs. I can see where the startup deviates on the one that fails But I can't determine why that event is leading to the abort. I can post the ProcMon traces if that would help.

Any and all help with this will be greatly appreciated.

System:
Processor 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700K (3.60 GHz)
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 25H2
Installed on ‎6/‎15/‎2025
OS build 26200.7628
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.275.0

Disks:
C: 463.99 GB SSD
D: 931.39 GB SSD
E: 1.82 TB HDD
F: 1.82 TB SSD

Have you changed permission on any system level folder, file, or registry entry? ie "take ownership"

Welcome

You could try the following tutorial: Option One if your System is a Windows 11 25H2 capable system.
Follow the tutorial with patience, read everything in the Option. If you do so, you will keep all files and apps. It's actually fairly painless.


I can't promise it will repair it, but it's a good start to trying to.

Since you have done all those things in that Microsoft article as well as the other stuff that was appropriate to try, here's the only other things I would try::

Create another local user account to test with. Make sure you change its account type to "administrator" If it works in this account, it's an indication your user account is corrupted.

Repair install. Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade


If still no joy, bite the bullet, back up your data and clean install. I understand your pain if it comes down to this as I has to do it 4 months ago. It ain't fun, but th result of running a clean system is so well worth it once you finish. The difference is like daylight and dark.

1) Please run the V2 log collector > post a share link




2) Run Tuneup plus > post a share link

antspants said:

Welcome

You could try the following tutorial: Option One if your System is a Windows 11 25H2 capable system.
Follow the tutorial with patience, read everything in the Option. If you do so, you will keep all files and apps. It's actually fairly painless.

I can't promise it will repair it, but it's a good start to trying to.

Click to expand...

glasskuter said:

Create another local user account to test with. Make sure you change its account type to "administrator" If it works in this account, it's an indication your user account is corrupted.

Repair install. Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the suggestions. Actually, I upgraded to Windows 11 mid 2024.

Repair install did not fix it. Start of Windows Search service fails on all users and a new administrator user also. I really, really don't want to do a clean install. I've got a number of legacy programs that I'm not sure I could get reinstalled correctly. Not to mention I'd need to find my Product Key, unless I can retrieve it somehow. Usually I'm pretty good at keep these keys, but it's been awhile.

zbook said:

1) Please run the V2 log collector > post a share link

2) Run Tuneup plus > post a share link

Click to expand...

I'm not sure how a BSOD capture will be useful.

The log collector required a name.
The name is not able to be renamed for each purpose.

DoctorRashir said:

I really, really don't want to do a clean install. I've got a number of legacy programs that I'm not sure I could get reinstalled correctly. Not to mention I'd need to find my Product Key, unless I can retrieve it somehow. Usually I'm pretty good at keep these keys, but it's been awhile.

Click to expand...

If Windows is activated with a digital license, it is associated with your hardware on MS servers. You should be able to clean install the same version of Windows without a product key and the clean install should activate automatically.

Have you tried a clean boot to eliminate software conflict causing the issue. If it doesn't happen in a clean boot, you have some software conflicting with Windows. You have to use process of elimination to find which one. Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 11 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts Tutorial

DoctorRashir said:

Ever since I upgraded to Windows 11 last year Windows Explorer would hang for about 30 seconds repeatedly. After much troubleshooting I discovered that if I disable the Windows Search service then Explorer would no longer hang. But, of course the Windows search features no longer work.

Click to expand...

DoctorRashir said:

I have a couple of VirtualBox VM running the same OS version. On one of them, Windows Search is running fine but the other one fails the same way as my main host system. On the one that works I did a clean install.

Click to expand...

The prime time to have gotten to the bottom of this would have been then when you should have made an image before the upgrade that could have been restored.
I'm curious about the VM that doesn't work. Was that a Conversion of your physical Windows machine to a VirtualBox VM?


,

glasskuter said:

If Windows is activated with a digital license, it is associated with your hardware on MS servers. You should be able to clean install the same version of Windows without a product key and the clean install should activate automatically.

Have you tried a clean boot to eliminate software conflict causing the issue. If it doesn't happen in a clean boot, you have some software conflicting with Windows. You have to use process of elimination to find which one. Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 11 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts Tutorial

The prime time to have gotten to the bottom of this would have been then when you should have made an image before the upgrade that could have been restored.
I'm curious about the VM that doesn't work. Was that a Conversion of your physical Windows machine to a VirtualBox VM?

Click to expand...

That's good to know that the activation should work. I should have realized that since the VM stayed activated after the clean install.

Yes, just tried a Clean Boot. I disabled almost all startup apps and services. It'll take a bit more to shutdown those processes that wouldn't stay shutdown. Such as Antivirus, and a couple others. The failing VM is pretty stripped down and doesn't have those apps installed.

I must have misspoke. I don't remember the Explorer hang being present just after the upgrade was done. I would have noticed it right away. I've been working on this for months so I think it cropped up later, well after the upgrade. Maybe an update applied sometime after the upgrade is involved?

The failing VM started as an install of Windows 7, I then it was cloned and upgraded to Window 10, then cloned again and upgraded to Windows 11. The VM that doesn't have the issue was created the same way and I did a clean install on it, so I know that works.

DoctorRashir said:

The failing VM started as an install of Windows 7, I then it was cloned and upgraded to Window 10, then cloned again and upgraded to Windows 11. The VM that doesn't have the issue was created the same way and I did a clean install on it, so I know that works.

Click to expand...

Sorry but I'm not the one to give much decent advice with that. I never clone as I have seen it cause all kinds of stuff to happen. Instead, I make an image and then restore the image. Neither do I upgrade any OS version more than once. IMO there's just too much junk left behind that can stack up over time and muddy the waters later. But that's just me. There are many people here who do both so maybe they have some ideas.

I want to add something to what I said about activation. My statement "If Windows is activated with a digital license, it is associated with your hardware on MS servers." does apply when the install is a standard windows install directlly onto physical hardware. I can not say if that would hold true on virtual hardware. All the VMs I have ever run were clean installs with an appropriate purchased license key. MS may handle licensing differently on virtual hardware and Microsoft no longer accepts Windows 7 license keys to activate Windows 11. @Bree don't you run VMs. Maybe you know for sure.
If not, I know @jimbo45 knows the ins and outs of VMs.

FYI You can always purchase one of the cheap Windows 11 Pro licenses keys floating around on the internet if you have to clean install the VM. (However, not all of the vendors selling them are legitimate.) I purchased one of such licenses that did successfully activate from StackSocial and it activated as retail.. It is now $10 Microsoft Windows 11 Pro | StackSocial

glasskuter said:

....Neither do I upgrade any OS version more than once. IMO there's just too much junk left behind that can stack up over time and muddy the waters later. But that's just me. There are many people here who do both so maybe they have some ideas.

Click to expand...

Sometime you have no choice, not if you want to keep installed software that cannot be reinstalled....

Bree said:

My System One started life as an OEM Windows 7, took every Windows 10 upgrade, then got migrated to a new machine to be eligible for its Windows 11 upgrade.

Click to expand...

Win 10 even on VM can install in < 10 mins and update to W11 is better - post #8

glasskuter said:

I want to add something to what I said about activation. My statement "If Windows is activated with a digital license, it is associated with your hardware on MS servers." does apply when the install is a standard windows install directlly onto physical hardware. I can not say if that would hold true on virtual hardware. All the VMs I have ever run were clean installs with an appropriate purchased license key.

Click to expand...

A VM is exactly the same as a physical machine, it has its own unique hardware ID. And like a physical machine, once it has a digital license you can clean install without needing a new key. To preserve your digital licence for re-use it is vital that you don't just delete the VM when you've finished with it. Creating a new VM creates a new hardware ID, you need to save its hardware ID for the next time. How you do this varies, depending on what you use for the VM.

For Hyper-V you can export the VM, and import it later, making sure to Restore the virtual machine (use the existing unique ID). As the disk is not part of the hardware ID you can detach it before exporting.


For Virtualbox you just need to save the value of 'Machine UUID' from the VM's .vbox file (it's a text file). When creating a new VM, edit the new VM's .vbox to put back the UUID that has an existing digital license.

The license is linked to the Machine UUID which is held in .vbox file typically in the $HOME/VirtualBox\ VMs/<VM name>/<VM name>.vbox

Click to expand...

Can I activate two Windows 10 in the same VirtualBox? - Windows 10 Help Forums - post #2

All the VM talk is informative but the VM is really not the issue. It's only relevant because I have two nearly identical OS installs where one has the issue and one doesn't. Therefore, I can do radical things to try and fix the Windows Search issue and can easily recover any damage to the OS. The real issue is my main host system where the issue is causing a serious loss of functionality. I do have a full system backup so I can recover the host fairly easily.

As far as System Restore, I am almost never successful using it. So never depend on that being my recovery method.

As Bree said:

Bree said:

Sometime you have no choice, not if you want to keep installed software that cannot be reinstalled....

Click to expand...

Any thoughts on an update introducing the issue?

As I posted, I have VM where I where can try radical stuff and, hopefully, get closer to the origins and a solution, of this issue. Therefore, I have been running experiments. To me the results are very interesting, But I'm getting close to another wall.

Here's my results.
Start conditions:

• Start with a VM running Windows 10 now on 22H2. Based on the update history:
  • Updated continuously from 2020 to though last update to 22H2 on 12/2024.
  • Continuous updates as released to 11/28/2025.
  • Currently on this VM Windows Search is running.
  • Installed apps: Acronis True Image, Bitdefender, Chrome, HP Smart, Firefox, Quicken, Teamviewr,Wireshark.

Test One:

• Cloned the starting VM and verified Windows Search is running
• Started upgrade to Windows 11 using current 25H2 *.ISO
  • Selected don't install updates.
  • Upgraded with keep apps and files.
• At first boot, checked and Windows Search fails: Error 5: Access is denied.

Test Two

• Cloned the starting VM and verified Windows Search is running
• Clean install Windows 10 22H2 iso.
  • Selected don't install upates
  • Selected Keep nothing.
  • Verified Window Search is running.
• Started upgrade to Windows 11 using current 25H2 iso.
  • Selected don't install updates.
  • Upgraded with keep apps and failes.
• At first boot, checked and Windows Search is successfully running.

This appears to me, that something about the Window 10 existing updates in Test One corrupted something that Window 11 sfc /scannow or DISM restorehealth can not find. And a Repair Install can't correct.

I don't know how widespread this issue is but it seems, at least in my case, this issue was propagated from my Windows 10 environment. It could be one of those apps so maybe I need to do more tests.

Any thoughts or suggestions are very welcome. I am determined to not Clean Install my current system. That would be exteamely painful.

I ran across another thread of yours Explorer - Navigation Pane - Expand to Current Folder not working

We discovered in that thread you used 3rd party software that altered the GUI. I asked that you completely uninstall the 3rd party app in order to test. You indicated to me you did not even try that suggestion.
Your answer was "You are correct I have a 3rd party app that restores the ability to locate the taskbar on the left and right sides of the screen. It also affects the look and feel of the Start menu and Explorer. But I have also verified that the same behavior occurs on a different user and a different system where this app was never installed."

Then, in my post above (regarding this VM) you answered:

DoctorRashir said:

The failing VM started as an install of Windows 7, I then it was cloned and upgraded to Window 10, then cloned again and upgraded to Windows 11. The VM that doesn't have the issue was created the same way and I did a clean install on it, so I know that works.

Click to expand...

Is the VM installation you are referring to in this thread the same installation OR A CLONE OF the system you referred to in that other thread?

glasskuter said:

Is the VM installation you are referring to in this thread the same installation OR A CLONE OF the system you referred to in that other thread?

Click to expand...

Sorry for the long delay. I didn't notice you had replied until now.

All my current Windows VMs started from one Windows 7 VM. That VM was cloned twice. The two cloned VM where then upgraded to Windows 10. And then cloned again and the second Gen clone of each one was upgraded to Windows 11. While working on the Windows Search issue on my main host, I went back to one of the Windows 10 clones, cloned it again and performed a Clean install on the new clone. Then upgraded to Windows 11. In that upgrade Windows Search is running, no Access is denied error. On the clone where I did not perform a clean install, but then upgraded to Windows 11, Windows Search does fail with Access is denied.

On my Main system, I believe I performed a Clean install of Windows 10 on my new system installed in June 2022. On that system I upgraded to Windows 11 in June 2025. That system in encountering the Windows Search failure. I believe I noticed the failure early on but did not appreciate the seriousness of the impact. I've been working on this on and off since.

So my impression is if you have a old installation of Windows 10 with many updates,, then upgrade to Windows 11 the potential for Windows Search to fail is present. I can repeat the upgrade process on the VMs and the result is repeatable. Clean install of Win 10 then upgrade, Search works. Old install of Win 10 then upgrade to Win 11, Search fails.

Oh, these VMs don't have that Window Taskbar app installed. They have minimal apps installed. Browsers, Wireshark, Adobe Reader, I few other standalone tools.