Index Types in MongoDB
From the MongoDB cheat sheet · Indexes & Performance · verified Jul 2026
Index Types
Different index types for various use cases
javascript
// Single field index
db.users.createIndex({ email: 1 }) // 1 = ascending
db.posts.createIndex({ createdAt: -1 }) // -1 = descending
// Compound index (multiple fields)
db.orders.createIndex({
customerId: 1,
createdAt: -1
})
// Unique index
db.users.createIndex(
{ email: 1 },
{ unique: true }
)
// Text index for search
db.articles.createIndex({
title: "text",
content: "text"
})🟢 Essential - Indexes make queries fast
💡 Compound indexes support multiple query patterns
⚠️ Too many indexes slow down writes
📌 Index order matters in compound indexes
⚡ Use explain() to verify index usage
indexesperformance