Methods and computer-readable media for indexing an encrypted file by impersonating a user is provided. A set of keys may be associated with a particular encrypted file. Once these keys are identified, the users who own these keys may then be identified by consulting an association of keys to users, which may be updated immediately upon the addition of new keys. If one of the users is currently logged on, the logon information associated with that user may be used to access the content of the encrypted file. The encrypted file may then be indexed based on the accessed content. To allow more than one user to use the same index, security identifiers may be assigned to index records associated with encrypted files to protect content of encrypted files from unauthorized users.