# How do I rebuild my search indexes?

> Trigger a search index rebuild from Administration > Search Indexing, and what to expect in the log and the Background Tasks Report while it runs.

URL: https://www.hannonhill.com/cascadecms/latest/articles/cascade-administration/search/rebuild-search-indexes.html
category: Cascade Administration
article-type: how-to
content-kind: faq
release-availability: all
tags: interface, search
updated: 2026-10-06

Search indexes can be rebuilt by following these steps:

1. Click **Menu > Administration**.
1. In the **Search** section, click **Search Indexing**.
1. Confirm your **Index Location** is correct. This directory should exist on the application server directly under the tomcat folder, named *indexes* by default.
1. Check **Rebuild Search Index**.
1. Click **Submit**.

A background process begins rebuilding the indexes, and this message appears in the *cascade.log* file:

```bash
INFO [SearchServiceImpl] Rebuilding search index
```

Once complete, a message similar to the following appears:

```bash
INFO [SearchServiceImpl] Rebuilding search index finished in 5 minutes
```

> **This can take a while**
>
> A rebuild takes anywhere from a couple of minutes to several hours, depending on the size of the database and what else is running at the time. Check progress, and how long previous rebuilds took, in the [Background Tasks Report](https://www.hannonhill.com/cascadecms/latest/articles/content-management/reports/background-tasks.html) filtered by *Task Type: Build Search Index*.

For search indexes to be maintained successfully, the OS account that starts the Cascade CMS process — shown under **Administration > Logs & System Information > User Name** — must have full control of the directory in the **Search Index Location** field.

Search indexes are rebuilt automatically when a Site is renamed or the environment is restarted.