CloudSee Drive’s Fast Buckets Indexing allows Administrators to connect, scan, and sync metadata from Amazon S3 buckets. Once a bucket is indexed, users can search it like a traditional file system—no need to sift through AWS folder by folder.
This feature transforms S3 data into an intuitive, searchable drive. You can:
Search across large buckets with instant results
Filter and sort by metadata like file name, size, tags, last modified date, and more
Quickly view files and folders stored in the cloud
Fast Buckets Indexing is ideal for teams that rely on large S3 repositories and need fast access to files without navigating AWS infrastructure. It’s easy to set up and does not move or duplicate your files—key object metadata is saved for searching.
Sign In to CloudSee Drive. Sign in to your CloudSee Drive account using your credentials. Only users with Admin privileges can perform Fast Buckets Indexing.
2. Access Fast Buckets Indexing. From the top-right corner of your dashboard, click the gear icon to open the settings menu. Select Fast Buckets Indexing from the dropdown options.
3. The Manage Fast Buckets Indexing screen will open. Here you’ll see a list of all your S3 buckets.
4. Select Buckets to Index. In the Manage Fast Buckets Indexing screen, browse or use the search bar to find the bucket(s) you want to index.
5. Check the box next to each bucket you'd like to index.
6. Click Save in the bottom-right corner to begin indexing.
7. Indexing in Progress. After you click Continue, CloudSee Drive will begin syncing the selected buckets in the background.
8. Select the CloudSee logo (upper left) to return to the home screen.
9. Navigate to the Drives tab from the left-hand menu.
10. Find the drive that corresponds to the indexed bucket.
11. Observe the greyed-out drive and loading icon—this signals the drive is currently read-only and indexing is in progress.
Note: Indexing time will vary based on the size and number of files in the bucket.
12. View and Explore Indexed Files. After indexing is complete, files and folders from the S3 bucket will appear in the drive view.
You can now:
Browse the full folder structure.
Search for files by name, description, or AWS Tag.
Filter and sort by metadata like:
File name
Last modified data
File size
Storage class
Project and category tags
Note. CloudSee Drive does not allow users to unindex a bucket once it has been added via Fast Buckets Indexing. If you need a bucket removed or un-indexed contact CloudSee Drive Support.
13. Completion Confirmation. To confirm that indexing is complete return to the Fast Buckets Indexing panel and ensure the Synced Status of your selected bucket shows “Completed.”
Re-Sync a Failed Bucket
If a bucket fails to index (e.g., due to a permissions issue), you’ll see a “Failed” status in the Fast Buckets Indexing panel.
To fix and re-attempt:
Review the error message under the Message column. Click View Detail to expand the full error message.
Resolve the issue (e.g., update endpoint, set permissions).
After the issue is resolved, click the Re-Sync icon (red circular arrow) under the Action column to restart indexing for that bucket.
By following these steps, Admins can easily activate and index S3 buckets for fast, intuitive file access inside CloudSee Drive. Indexed drives behave like folders—complete with filtering, search, and metadata visibility—without needing to browse S3 manually.