How to fix large Windows.edb on Windows 10

On Windows 10, the Windows.edb is the database that stores the indexing content for the Windows Search feature to provide faster results for files, emails, and many other content.

Although it’s an essential system file (located in %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows), over time, it can grow very large as you store more files on your device. Also, if you use an email client like Outlook, and Windows Search is configured to index a PST file, the size of the Windows.edb database can eventually become a huge file (hundreds of gigabytes), making the system unusable and preventing you from storing anymore files.

If you notice that the ProgramData is too big, or you have already identified that the Windows.edb is the reason your computer is running out of space, there are at least two workarounds to reduce the size of the Windows Search database.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to delete (and reduce the size of) the Windows.edb database when has grown very large and you’re running out of space and you can no longer operating your Windows 10 computer.

How to delete Windows.edb file on Windows 10
How to reduce Windows.edb file size on Windows 10

How to delete Windows.edb file on Windows 10

To delete and recreate the Windows.edb file, use these steps:

Open Settings on Windows 10.
Click on Search.
Click on Searching Windows.
Click the Advances Search Indexer Settings option.

Searching Windows search indexing option
Click the Advanced button.

Indexing Options advanced button
Under the “Troubleshooting” section, click the Rebuild button to delete the “Windows.edb” file.

Delete and rebuild Windows.edb file
Click the OK button.
Click the Modify button from the “Indexing Options.”
Clear the Microsoft Outlook option.

Windows Search stop indexing emails (PST)
Click the OK button.
Click the Close button.

Once you complete the steps, the Windows.edb file will be deleted and replaced with a new smaller version to index the Windows Search database file returning the ProgramData folder and Windows.edb file to their normal size.

How to reduce Windows.edb file size on Windows 10

Alternatively, if you don’t want to rebuild the index database on Windows 10, you can defrag the Windows.edb to reduce its size.

To defragment the Windows.edb database, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to prevent Windows Search from starting automatically and press Enter:
```
sc config wsearch start=disabled
```
Type the following command to stop the search service and press Enter:
```
net stop wsearch
```
Type the following command to defrag the Windows.edb file to make it smaller and press Enter:
```
esentUtl.exe /d %AllUsersProfile%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Windows.edb
```
Reduce the size of Windows.edb with defragmentation
Type the following command to delay the Windows Search during startup and press Enter:
```
sc config wsearch start=delayed-auto
```
Type the following command to start the search service on Windows 10 and press Enter:
```
net start wsearch
```
Restart Windows Search service on Windows 10

Once you complete the steps, the process should reduce the size of the Windows.edb file reclaiming a lot of space on the hard drive making your device operational one more time.

If you don’t have a lot of files, but you’re using the Outlook app, it’s also recommended to reduce the amount of emails that client downloads to prevent the database to growing too big quickly.