Search Very Slow (3 minute response)

[Napsterbater 31]

I've been dealing with this issue for quite a while now, and just now stumbled across this thread. 

 

This really needs to be fixed, And it's kind of ridiculous how long it's been going on.

[Napsterbater 31]

@Luke Any update?

[Luke 42519]

12 hours ago, Napsterbater said:

@Luke Any update?

Hi, we are looking into improving this. Thanks.

[Napsterbater 31]

Right now, seems anytime anyone touches search, it completely cripples the server for about 3-5 mins or so until whatever is happening times out/completes, this is a huge issue, it's not just the lack of being able to search (unless you wait and twiddle thumbs) which is only a relative minor annoyance. No users can navigate anything during that time.

Do you need additional logs from us, is there any info we can provide to speed this up?

If it's easier, can we include an option to disable to the search box?

[kingom 8]

One thing i noticed in my environment. slow search only happens when using some kind of app.

When i use the Webinterface search is fast as normal.

Can someone else confirm this? (Maybe this helps to circle in on the problem)

[Rumzzz 44]

My issue happens regardless of what's being used (app vs web).

[kingom 8]

On 5/10/2026 at 7:41 PM, Luke said:

Hi, we are looking into improving this. Thanks.

One question is coming to my mind.

Why not simply undo changes and roll back to a version where this issue does not exist and start from there again?

Or is this not possible because of database changes etc. that are not backwards compatible?

[Gerbs 0]

On 11/05/2026 at 05:07, Napsterbater said:

Right now, seems anytime anyone touches search, it completely cripples the server for about 3-5 mins or so until whatever is happening times out/completes, this is a huge issue, it's not just the lack of being able to search (unless you wait and twiddle thumbs) which is only a relative minor annoyance. No users can navigate anything during that time.

Do you need additional logs from us, is there any info we can provide to speed this up?

If it's easier, can we include an option to disable to the search box?

Exactly what's happening to me currently. 

Unraid, emby server beta in docker, up to 5gb memory usage. Server hangs for a few minutes unless I force a restart from unraid docker page. 

[Rumzzz 44]

In my case, as soon as a tab that's attempting to search is closed, the server will unblock and my CPU/Fans immediately slow down.

[crash1015 8]

I’m starting to wonder if it makes sense to completely uninstall Emby, remove all related files, and rebuild everything from scratch. I’ve been putting that off because I know it’s probably the most disruptive route.

Before I go nuclear, are there any less destructive options worth trying first? For example, would manually clearing the databases and re-adding the libraries potentially help? I’d really like to preserve as much as possible for the users if there’s a cleaner recovery path.

I’m also hoping someone can provide some insight into what might actually be causing this, so I can better narrow down other things to test before taking the destructive route.

[visproduction 360]

I suspect Windows file indexing might be getting in the way of Emby Search function.  On the one hand, I would think these and a Windows setting for search cannot be the cause, but a lot of us have no delay at all in Emby searches.  Have you tried turning off Windows file indexing? On an older, average speed workstation, Windows can take sometimes more than 10 minutes to open an xplorer search for a directory that has thousand of files and folders.  It can be so slow, it's ridiculous.  Many faster and newer computers don't have this problem.

Check out some suggestions here:
 https://windowsforum.com/threads/speed-up-windows-10-11-search-configure-indexing-options-rebuild-index.382226/
From search:
 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=WIndows+index+causes+search+delay+slow&ia=web

Maybe there is some strange connection and changing the Windows Index settings might help.

[crash1015 8]

2 minutes ago, visproduction said:

I suspect Windows file indexing might be getting in the way of Emby Search function.  On the one hand, I would think these and a Windows setting for search cannot be the cause, but a lot of us have no delay at all in Emby searches.  Have you tried turning off Windows file indexing? On an older, average speed workstation, Windows can take sometimes more than 10 minutes to open an xplorer search for a directory that has thousand of files and folders.  It can be so slow, it's ridiculous.  Many faster and newer computers don't have this problem.

Check out some suggestions here:
 https://windowsforum.com/threads/speed-up-windows-10-11-search-configure-indexing-options-rebuild-index.382226/
From search:
 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=WIndows+index+causes+search+delay+slow&ia=web

Maybe there is some strange connection and changing the Windows Index settings might help.

That’s a good point. I do remember changing some Windows Indexing settings a while back, though I’m not sure if that lines up with when this started happening. Either way, it’s worth disabling it to test. I’ll report back tomorrow with the results.

[Rumzzz 44]

From what I understand, this was caused by changes to the searching query logic. There was a recent update that introduced searching by multiple phrases (where previously only exact phrases would be searched, even when multiple words were entered). Now when you search, the database is being queried by every word you entered, individually. That's why I believe in some (but not all) cases, putting your search query in quotes "" will make the search actually return, but even then it's still not guaranteed. Emby either needs to revert this change or formally optimize the search query logic.

[bandit8623 241]

6 hours ago, visproduction said:

I suspect Windows file indexing might be getting in the way of Emby Search function.  On the one hand, I would think these and a Windows setting for search cannot be the cause, but a lot of us have no delay at all in Emby searches.  Have you tried turning off Windows file indexing? On an older, average speed workstation, Windows can take sometimes more than 10 minutes to open an xplorer search for a directory that has thousand of files and folders.  It can be so slow, it's ridiculous.  Many faster and newer computers don't have this problem.

Check out some suggestions here:
 https://windowsforum.com/threads/speed-up-windows-10-11-search-configure-indexing-options-rebuild-index.382226/
From search:
 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=WIndows+index+causes+search+delay+slow&ia=web

Maybe there is some strange connection and changing the Windows Index settings might help.

this is possible.  i have emby running on server 2025 and indexing is off.  i have no issues

[Rumzzz 44]

Hmmm, my indexing on windows 11 is off, at least specifically for the Emby installation folder. Still having the issue.

[Napsterbater 31]

On 5/15/2026 at 10:00 PM, Gerbs said:

Exactly what's happening to me currently. 

Unraid, emby server beta in docker, up to 5gb memory usage. Server hangs for a few minutes unless I force a restart from unraid docker page. 

@Gerbs isn't even running Windows and has the issue. 

So I definitely feel it's not a Windows indexing issue.

[crash1015 8]

On 5/25/2026 at 1:22 PM, crash1015 said:

That’s a good point. I do remember changing some Windows Indexing settings a while back, though I’m not sure if that lines up with when this started happening. Either way, it’s worth disabling it to test. I’ll report back tomorrow with the results.

I can confirm totally disabling indexing did not help, issue still persists :(

[crash1015 8]

I am back with good news possibly. I don't want to jinx it, but it seems after removing all libraries and re-adding them, things are MUCH more stable. Haven't had it hang in almost 24 hours now. 

[crash1015 8]

19 hours ago, crash1015 said:

I am back with good news possibly. I don't want to jinx it, but it seems after removing all libraries and re-adding them, things are MUCH more stable. Haven't had it hang in almost 24 hours now. 

Still don't want to jinx it, but it's been 2 days since the last hang. Re-creating the Libraries seem to do the trick.

[visproduction 360]

So, in one case, recreating libraries improved the speed.

From: https://www.loadview-testing.com/blog/5-most-common-database-performance-issues-fixes/

Quote

Database Optimization

Database optimization involves fine-tuning the database settings to ensure that it runs efficiently. This includes tasks such as rebuilding indexes, updating statistics, and defragmenting the database. Regular optimization can significantly improve database performance by reducing the time it takes to execute queries and minimizing database downtime. 

Are there any tools to check for dbase issues and help optimize? Do any log file errors show this?

[crash1015 8]

Crashes are back:(

[crash1015 8]

Can confirm issues are back sadly. Ugh. Not sure what to do from here. I'm scared re-installing won't fix it.

[visproduction 360]

It's tricky to comment, when I don't see it happening.  It could well be the code change in the search query; handling each word individually, that is causing this.  I can imagine that it's tough to QA because it depends on what words are used in the search and what media is in a collection.  When an update search code is pushed out, perhaps 30 different search tests are run with common words and possible slow downs, can easily be missed.

Just searching online for comments comes up with a lot of optimization code tips and tricks.

 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=multiple+word+search+query+select+database+issue+slow+results+optimize+code&ia=web

Emby works from the admin's server, so that is going to be different hardware, per Emby server.  Each admin's server cannot easily duplicate an online server search speed, which could have load balancing, cached searches and even a stand alone separate search server. So, just adding such features into Emby, might cause the search to be too slow for 95% of Emby's admin servers. 

Google search budget is in the millions of dollars and they are using their own custom servers..  Thinking a quick couple of tweaks will fix search for all Emby's admin servers is probably not feasable. Maybe a proper answer, is to keep the search simple and perhaps remove the fancy search update for each word.

This is just a guess. I cannot see the problem and I have no experience with this search code.

[Rumzzz 44]

Not to sh*t on the devs, but I wish they would let me into the codebase. I optimize database queries for work, and would gladly try to help fix this ancient bug lol.