Rebuild library index

Created: 2026-08-16 · Updated: 2026-08-16

Galleries, the manager and search do not read from disk every time you open them — they read from an internal index of all library objects. That keeps them fast, but it also means: objects that get into the library behind PPPTools' back never show up there on their own.

Rebuild library index rebuilds that index by hand.


Accessing

Settings → burger menu (≡) → "Bibliothek neu einlesen"


When do I need this?

  • Objects were copied into the library folders by hand
  • Objects arrived through a sync folder (OneDrive, Dropbox, network drive)
  • Someone dropped objects straight into the folder for you
  • Objects were deleted outside PPPTools but still appear in the gallery

Not needed after a restore

After a backup restore, PPPTools re-reads the affected object types automatically. This page describes the manual fallback for every other case.


Choosing object types

Each object type is its own checkbox; the "All" and "None" buttons set them in one go. All are ticked by default.

Object type Content
Snippets Saved snippet items
Slides Saved slide items
Storylines Saved storyline items
Actions Saved action items
Texts Saved text items

Picking a subset makes sense when you know where something is missing: re-reading only Texts is noticeably faster than scanning the entire library.

If no type is selected, the message "Please select at least one object type." appears.


How it runs

  1. Tick the object types
  2. Click Neu einlesen (rebuild)
  3. Follow progress and log

Below the button you get:

  • a progress bar across the selected object types,
  • a status line naming the type currently being read (e.g. "Lese: Slides · 2 / 5"),
  • a log with one line per type (✓ Texte — 42 Objekte gelesen).

The button is disabled while it runs; PowerPoint stays usable. Afterwards galleries, manager and search show the new state immediately — no restart needed.


What it does — and what it doesn't

The index is replaced, not merged

For every selected object type, the previous state is fully replaced by what is on disk. So objects deleted outside PPPTools disappear from the gallery too. That is intentional — the index is meant to mirror the disk.

Files are left untouched

Rebuilding is a read-only operation. Nothing is copied, moved, renamed or deleted. An accidental click does no harm.

One broken type doesn't take down the others

If an object type cannot be read, the log says so (✗ Actions — nicht lesbar: …) and its previous state is kept. The remaining types are still read to completion.


License

For everyone

Rebuilding the library index is available in every license tier, including the free version.

See also Backup & Restore and Storage locations.