How to disable that new "FileContentIndex" folder (and .vsidx files) in VS 2022 17.2.0?

Question

Since update to VS 2022 17.2.0, a new folder called "FileContentIndex" is created in "...\.vs\[soln name]".

This seems to be related to ServiceHub.IndexingService.exe. There's also a new file type of ".vsidx" and a "merges" folder.

There's not much info around at the moment. At the time of posting, StackOverflow returns no search results on the above.

I want to disable this feature. I've gone through all the Tools > Options settings but can't seem to find anything relevant. Any ideas?

Thanks

Added screenshot: VS 2022 17.2.0 Tools > Options

Answer 1

I have found that this works for me on VS 2022 17.5.4 (ARM64)

1. Close Visual Studio

2. Rename your project index folder:

.vs\{my-project}\FileContentIndex_renamed

Start VS 2022, again: VS 2022 will recreate the folder, and hopefully your indexing will be working again.

Before this change, using VS 2022 17.5.4 (ARM64), would be constantly indexing the project, and never completing. At the bottom left corner of VS, it would animate the Ready Background tasks icon, and if you were to hover over the icon, in my case I would see two tasks running, both indexing.

Answer 2

I was experiencing the same issue. I'm running Visual Studio 2022 ARM version 17.4.0 preview 4.0.

I found this work around in the Microsoft Developer Community.

Basically, rename or delete the Indexing.servicehub.service.json file from the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\[Community,Pro,Enterprise,Preview]\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\Editor\ServiceHub folder.

You can then delete the .vs\[Solution Name]\FileContentIndex folder.

That folder was 185GB on my machine. I followed this work around and the folder has not come back.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I can confirm that the option does not appear in the Preview Build of VS 2022 17.3.

My problem is that this folder is taking up a whopping 197GBs. Ridonculous!

Answer 4

Please check Tools > Options > Environment > Preview Features > Enable indexing for faster find experience option:

See also https://devblogs.microsoft.com/visualstudio/code-search-in-visual-studio-is-about-to-get-much-faster/