---
sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/platform-administration

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration

ft:clusterId :

    - platadm

bundleId :

    - platadm

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Refresh content for an external content connector

# Refresh content for an external content connector {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read  
Refresh searchable content and metadata, including unchanged items, for an external content connector by running a one-time full or partial content crawl.

## Before you begin

To run crawls for external content connectors, your instance must have inbound mTLS support enabled. For details on verifying that this feature is enabled on your instance, see [Verify whether inbound mTLS support is activated for your instance](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/Oovf4kLrRD88wcb0VAncwQ "Check whether inbound mTLS support is activated for your ServiceNow AI Platform instance. You need this feature activated to run crawls for external content connectors.").

Role required: sn_ext_conn.xcc_admin

## About this task

You can force an external content connector to refresh some or all of its searchable content and metadata by performing a one-time content crawl. This crawl ignores the change history for crawl locations and retrieved items.
As a result, unchanged items that would normally be skipped are instead retrieved and reindexed along with changed items.  
Warning:  
Refreshing content for a connector may take hours or days to complete, depending on the scope and scale of the content crawl.

## Procedure

1. Navigate to AllExternal Content ConnectorsExternal Content Admin Home. {#refresh-content-external-content-connector__navigate-ext-content-connectors-admin-home-step}
{#refresh-content-external-content-connector__navigate-ext-content-connectors-admin-home-step}
2. In the Connectors list, select the record for the external content connector that you want to refresh content searchable content and metadata for.
3. In the connector editor's Settings tab, select Index management. {#refresh-content-external-content-connector__select-crawl-settings-step}
{#refresh-content-external-content-connector__select-crawl-settings-step}
4. In the Force reindex section, select Force reindex all content.
5. Select Start reindex crawl.

## Result

The external content connector runs a one-time full content crawl to refresh its searchable content and metadata.

This one-time crawl appears in the connector's crawl history with name Force reindex so you can monitor its status. For details on monitoring crawl history, see [Review crawl history for an external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/tpl7XZpOM6TO0gLa9WidyA "View crawl history records for an external content connector. Drill into a crawl history record to see metrics and alerts for the crawl in question.").

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