---
title: "Search word length"
manual: "ke_search"
version: "main"
source: "Configuration/SearchWordLength.rst"
rendered: "2026-09-25T08:10:48+00:00"
---

# Search word length {#configuration-search-word-length}

By default ke_search only finds words with a minimum length of four characters. This corresponds to the MySQL setting
`ft_min_word_len` which is set to `4` by default.

> [!TIP]
> **Hint**
>
> As standard ke_search uses [MyISAM as storage engine](StorageEngine.html#configuration-storage-engine-innodb-vs-myisam) for the
> index table.

The value can be adjusted by following these steps:

1.  Change `ft_min_word_len` to the desired value in your MySQL configuration

    This can be done, e.g. in file `my.cnf`. In the example below it will set to `3`:

    ```text
    [mysqld]
    ft_min_word_len = 3
    ```

    A better way would be on Debian-derived systems to use a file like `/etc/mysql/conf.d/fulltext.cnf`
    to separate the default values in `my.cnf` with your custom settings.

    After the adjustment the MySQL server has to be restarted.
1.  Set **Basic** \> **Change searchword length** in the extension configuration to the same value

    ![Change searchword length in the extension configuration](../Images/Configuration/extension-configuration-searchword-length.png)
1.  Re-index your content

    Either by just [running the indexer](../CommandLine/Index.html#commandline-indexing) again (full indexing is necessary)
    or by executing the following SQL command:

    ```sql
    REPAIR TABLE tx_kesearch_index QUICK;
    ```

> [!TIP]
> Find more information about [fine-tuning the full-text search](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/fulltext-fine-tuning.html) in the MySQL documentation.