2.4. Starting indexing

Indexing is performed either by the recollindex program, or by the indexing thread inside the recoll program (use the File menu). Both programs will use of the RECOLL_CONFDIR variable or accept a -c confdir option to specify the configuration directory to be used.

If the recoll program finds no index when it starts, it will automatically start indexing (except if canceled).

It is best to avoid interrupting the indexing process, as this may sometimes leave the index in a bad state. This is not a serious problem, as you then just need to clear everything and restart the indexing: the index files are normally stored in the $HOME/.recoll/xapiandb directory, which you can just delete if needed. Alternatively, you can start recollindex with option -z, which will reset the database before indexing.