Techniques and mechanisms are disclosed to optimize the size of index files to improve use of storage space available to indexers and other components of a data intake and query system. Index files of a data intake and query system may include, among other data, a keyword portion containing mappings between keywords and location references to event data containing the keywords. Optimizing an amount of storage space used by index files may include removing, modifying and/or recreating various components of index files in response to detecting one or more storage conditions related to the event data indexed by the index files. The optimization of index files generally may attempt to manage a tradeoff between an efficiency with which search requests can be processed using the index files and an amount of storage space occupied by the index files.