Windows Search treats words that differ only by accents as the same by default: a search for “resume” can match “résumé.” To make those words distinct, use the Windows Search diacritics control. On a centrally managed PC, an administrator can set the Allow use of diacritics policy; on an unmanaged PC, Windows uses the local setting configured through Control Panel when no policy is configured.
What diacritic sensitivity changes
Diacritics are marks such as the acute accent in “é.” Microsoft says the Windows Search engine and catalog are insensitive to diacritics by default. With sensitivity disabled, “resume” and “résumé” are treated as the same word. Enabling sensitivity makes words that differ only by diacritics distinct.
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This setting concerns how the Windows Search catalog matches indexed text. It does not change how you type accented characters, edit file contents, or choose which folders Windows indexes. The behavior described here is for Windows Search; it should not be assumed to describe every search box in Windows or every third-party application.
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| Control | Who it is for | Effect | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local Control Panel setting | Users of PCs that are not centrally managed | Sets local behavior for words differing only by diacritics. | Microsoft’s policy documentation confirms that this local setting is used when the policy is not configured, but the sources do not establish a current click-by-click path to the specific control. |
| Group Policy or MDM policy | Administrators managing supported Windows devices | Sets whether diacritic variants are treated as distinct at device level. | Applies to Windows 10 version 1607 and later on Pro, Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions. A configured policy can supersede the local setting. |
| Catalog Manager | Developers configuring a Windows Search catalog | Changes catalog diacritic sensitivity through a programming interface. | This is not an ordinary Windows Settings page. |
Change the setting on a personal PC
When the AllowUsingDiacritics policy is not configured, Windows uses the local setting configured through Control Panel. The default behavior is to treat words differing only by diacritics as the same.
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Microsoft’s general indexing guide documents routes for choosing indexed locations and file-type options, but it does not confirm the current navigation sequence to the specific diacritic setting. Avoid treating Settings > Privacy & security > Search as the path to this control: that area covers indexing configuration, not the policy that determines whether accents distinguish words.
Set diacritic sensitivity with Group Policy or MDM
Group Policy
On a supported managed edition, open the policy at Computer Configuration > Windows Components > Search > Allow use of diacritics. Enabling it treats words that differ only by diacritics as different; disabling it treats them as identical. If the policy is left unconfigured, the local Control Panel setting applies.
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Policy identifiers for administrators
- Policy value:
AllowUsingDiacritics - Registry policy location:
SOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindows Search - MDM policy URI:
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Search/AllowUsingDiacritics - Supported policy scope: Windows 10 version 1607 and later, on Pro, Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions.
For the policy’s configuration details and mappings, see Microsoft’s Search Policy CSP. On a work- or school-managed PC, ask the administrator to check the device policy if the local setting does not control the result.
Do not confuse accent matching with indexing coverage
A search can miss a file because its folder is not indexed, its file type is not set to include content, or the relevant text is not present in indexed properties. Those are separate from diacritic sensitivity.
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Windows indexing can cover file names, paths, properties, and—in supported text file types when configured—file contents. The Windows Search indexing guide describes location and file-type controls. The File Types tab can select properties-only indexing or properties-and-content indexing; neither option sets whether “resume” and “résumé” are considered the same.
When rebuilding the index may help
If you changed indexed locations or file-type/content settings and results still omit expected files, first verify those settings. Rebuilding is general troubleshooting advice for making the index reflect changes; Microsoft does not say that changing diacritic sensitivity specifically requires a rebuild.
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- Windows 10: Open Settings > Search > Searching Windows > Advanced Search Indexer Settings > Advanced, then select Rebuild.
- Windows 11: Open Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows > Advanced indexing options > Advanced, then select Rebuild.
- Allow the indexer up to 24 hours to rebuild, as Microsoft’s troubleshooting guidance advises.
These rebuild paths address the index generally, not a documented requirement for changing the accent-matching behavior. See Microsoft’s Windows Search troubleshooting guidance for the rebuild steps.
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Developer details: catalog and query behavior
For developers, Microsoft documents changing catalog sensitivity through Catalog Manager. Its technical guidance says that terms with diacritics in FREETEXT and CONTAINS clauses are normalized at query time as they are at index time, while matching against the catalog is always diacritic sensitive. Microsoft also identifies exceptions for character ranges 0x2e81-f8ff and 0x1100-0x11ff. See Diacritic sensitivity in searches for the API and query details.
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Windows Search uses language-specific resources, including word breakers and stemmers, during indexing and query processing. Microsoft outlines this context in Miscellaneous linguistic and Unicode considerations.
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