diff --git a/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Languages/en.xaml b/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Languages/en.xaml
index a989327be..031cb108b 100644
--- a/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Languages/en.xaml
+++ b/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Languages/en.xaml
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
     <system:String x:Key="plugin_explorer_deletefilefoldersuccess">Deletion successful</system:String>
     <system:String x:Key="plugin_explorer_deletefilefoldersuccess_detail">Successfully deleted the {0}</system:String>
     <system:String x:Key="plugin_explorer_globalActionKeywordInvalid">Assigning the global action keyword could bring up too many results during search. Please choose a specific action keyword</system:String>
+    <system:String x:Key="plugin_explorer_windowsSearchServiceNotRunning">The required service for Windows Index Search does not appear to be running</system:String>
+    <system:String x:Key="plugin_explorer_windowsSearchServiceFix">To fix this, start the Windows Search service. Select here to remove this warning</system:String>
 
     <!--Controls-->
     <system:String x:Key="plugin_explorer_delete">Delete</system:String>
diff --git a/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Search/SearchManager.cs b/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Search/SearchManager.cs
index 2aa389f89..c7b1b6180 100644
--- a/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Search/SearchManager.cs
+++ b/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Search/SearchManager.cs
@@ -12,13 +12,13 @@ namespace Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer.Search
 {
     public class SearchManager
     {
-        private readonly PluginInitContext context;
+        internal static PluginInitContext Context;
 
         private readonly Settings settings;
 
         public SearchManager(Settings settings, PluginInitContext context)
         {
-            this.context = context;
+            Context = context;
             this.settings = settings;
         }
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ namespace Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer.Search
             var isEnvironmentVariable = EnvironmentVariables.IsEnvironmentVariableSearch(querySearch);
 
             if (isEnvironmentVariable)
-                return EnvironmentVariables.GetEnvironmentStringPathSuggestions(querySearch, query, context);
+                return EnvironmentVariables.GetEnvironmentStringPathSuggestions(querySearch, query, Context);
 
             // Query is a location path with a full environment variable, eg. %appdata%\somefolder\
             var isEnvironmentVariablePath = querySearch[1..].Contains("%\\");
@@ -141,8 +141,9 @@ namespace Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer.Search
             if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(querySearchString))
                 return new List<Result>();
 
-            return await IndexSearch.WindowsIndexSearchAsync(querySearchString,
-                queryConstructor.CreateQueryHelper().ConnectionString,
+            return await IndexSearch.WindowsIndexSearchAsync(
+                querySearchString,
+                queryConstructor.CreateQueryHelper,
                 queryConstructor.QueryForFileContentSearch,
                 settings.IndexSearchExcludedSubdirectoryPaths,
                 query,
@@ -178,8 +179,9 @@ namespace Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer.Search
         {
             var queryConstructor = new QueryConstructor(settings);
 
-            return await IndexSearch.WindowsIndexSearchAsync(querySearchString,
-                queryConstructor.CreateQueryHelper().ConnectionString,
+            return await IndexSearch.WindowsIndexSearchAsync(
+                querySearchString,
+                queryConstructor.CreateQueryHelper,
                 queryConstructor.QueryForAllFilesAndFolders,
                 settings.IndexSearchExcludedSubdirectoryPaths,
                 query,
@@ -192,7 +194,7 @@ namespace Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer.Search
             var queryConstructor = new QueryConstructor(settings);
 
             return await IndexSearch.WindowsIndexSearchAsync(path,
-                queryConstructor.CreateQueryHelper().ConnectionString,
+                queryConstructor.CreateQueryHelper,
                 queryConstructor.QueryForTopLevelDirectorySearch,
                 settings.IndexSearchExcludedSubdirectoryPaths,
                 query,
diff --git a/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Search/WindowsIndex/IndexSearch.cs b/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Search/WindowsIndex/IndexSearch.cs
index cfb564924..c22b489e2 100644
--- a/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Search/WindowsIndex/IndexSearch.cs
+++ b/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Search/WindowsIndex/IndexSearch.cs
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
-using Flow.Launcher.Infrastructure.Logger;
 using Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer.Search.QuickAccessLinks;
 using Microsoft.Search.Interop;
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Data.OleDb;
-using System.Linq;
+using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
 using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
@@ -84,7 +83,8 @@ namespace Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer.Search.WindowsIndex
              return results;
         }
 
-        internal async static Task<List<Result>> WindowsIndexSearchAsync(string searchString, string connectionString,
+        internal async static Task<List<Result>> WindowsIndexSearchAsync(string searchString, 
+                                                                  Func<CSearchQueryHelper> queryHelper,
                                                                   Func<string, string> constructQuery,
                                                                   List<AccessLink> exclusionList,
                                                                   Query query,
@@ -94,12 +94,29 @@ namespace Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer.Search.WindowsIndex
 
             if (regexMatch.Success)
                 return new List<Result>();
+            
+            try
+            {
+                var constructedQuery = constructQuery(searchString);
 
-            var constructedQuery = constructQuery(searchString);
-            return RemoveResultsInExclusionList(
-                        await ExecuteWindowsIndexSearchAsync(constructedQuery, connectionString, query, token).ConfigureAwait(false),
+                return RemoveResultsInExclusionList(
+                        await ExecuteWindowsIndexSearchAsync(constructedQuery, queryHelper().ConnectionString, query, token).ConfigureAwait(false),
                         exclusionList,
                         token);
+            }
+            catch (COMException)
+            {
+                // Occurs because the Windows Indexing (WSearch) is turned off in services and unable to be used by Explorer plugin
+                return new List<Result>
+                {
+                    new Result
+                    {
+                        Title = SearchManager.Context.API.GetTranslation("plugin_explorer_windowsSearchServiceNotRunning"),
+                        SubTitle = SearchManager.Context.API.GetTranslation("plugin_explorer_windowsSearchServiceFix"),
+                        IcoPath = Constants.ExplorerIconImagePath
+                    }                    
+                };
+            }
         }
 
         private static List<Result> RemoveResultsInExclusionList(List<Result> results, List<AccessLink> exclusionList, CancellationToken token)
@@ -137,9 +154,17 @@ namespace Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer.Search.WindowsIndex
 
         internal static bool PathIsIndexed(string path)
         {
-            var csm = new CSearchManager();
-            var indexManager = csm.GetCatalog("SystemIndex").GetCrawlScopeManager();
-            return indexManager.IncludedInCrawlScope(path) > 0;
+            try
+            {
+                var csm = new CSearchManager();
+                var indexManager = csm.GetCatalog("SystemIndex").GetCrawlScopeManager();
+                return indexManager.IncludedInCrawlScope(path) > 0;
+            }
+            catch(COMException)
+            {
+                // Occurs because the Windows Indexing (WSearch) is turned off in services and unable to be used by Explorer plugin
+                return false;
+            }
         }
 
         private static void LogException(string message, Exception e)