Advanced search in Windows or how to find a file in Windows? Search with some number of missing words.

In this article, you will learn some very interesting things about the built-in file Windows search and after reading the material you can even find files lost in folders about which you know bits of information.

It is not difficult to guess what will be discussed in this material about advanced search in Windows. Undoubtedly, every computer user periodically uses the form of a standard Windows "search engine", but not everyone knows that this search engine can be used much more productively and this is not an easy tool as it might seem at first glance.

Options and parameters that expand search capabilities

Despite the fact that there is the word "expanding" in the title, these same options will help us put additional screening filters on our search query by files and folders in Windows and will actually narrow down the number of files found, which is just to our advantage.

* - Means any sequence of any characters, i.e. all characters.

? - Any single character

~<" something" - Search for a name (File name, author, etc., depending on where to put it) which must begin with what is in quotes. The example looks for a name where the beginning something.

~>" something" - Search for a name that must end with what is in quotes.

=" Course work" - Search for an exact match with what is in quotes.

~=" Well" - Search for names that contain the exact set of characters like the one in quotes. Those. on request filename:~="course" there will be files not only with the word Well, but also simply containing this sequence of characters (Kursovoi, Kursach).

~!" Well" - Search for files that do not contain what is in quotes. Those. this option is completely opposite to the previous one.

<> - Means as "neither is", "not". Those. where is the query view:<>picture , will search for everything except images.

() - Parentheses serve to separate and specify the combination group where the operators act.

"" - The quotation marks are used to find the exact order of the characters inside the quotation marks. Because of this, operators inside quotes do not work at all, as well as filters.

OR- Operator OR. For example, a request filename: kurse OR work will look for files where the words either term paper or Job well, or both. In the English version OR.

And- Operator And. For example, a request filename: k ursic and work will look for files where there are both words, and there is no difference in what places they are located and not necessarily next to each other. In the English version AND.

NOT- Operator NOT. For example, a request filename: term paper NOT will look for files where there is a word term paper but no word Job. In the English version NOT.

Here are some examples of using operators:

size:10MB and- Finds Ivan's 10 MB files that have been changed since 2009.

filename: (*156*) AND type: (PNG OR JPEG) - It will find files where the name contains 156 and its extension is either PNG or JPEG.

Now the filtering options.

Below we will list the filtering options you can use when searching for files and folders.

File name:- Name of the searched file. Analogue on English Windows - filename.

type: Indicates what type of file is being searched for this moment. Can accept as values ​​of file extensions (For example, type: PNG) and their logical definition (For example: type: music or type: picture ). Analogue on English Windows - type.

view:- same as type:. Analogue on English Windows - kind :

Date of change:- Indicates when the files were modified. Can accept exact values, ranges, as well as verbal values ​​(a long time ago, yesterday, etc.). Analogue on English Windows - datemodified.

modified date: 05/25/2010

modified date: >2009

date of change: 21.01.2001 .. 05.01.2014 (Required two points in the range)

date of creation:- Indicates when the file was created. It takes the same values ​​as Date of change. English equivalent datecreated.

the size:- Specifies the size of the searched files. It can take both exact values ​​up to decimal numbers, and a range of sizes. The units of measurement are Kb, Mb, Gb. English parameter - size:.

the size:<=7Мб >1.5Mb - files larger than 1.5 megabytes but less than or equal to 7.

attributes:- Sets an additional search mask for tags. The parameter is rarely used due to the fact that tags are rarely used.

owner:- Search for files of a specific owner.

executor:- Specifying this attribute is relevant when searching for music of a particular artist.

Combination of filter options

You can use several different options at once when searching, and this will even be better, because it will reduce the list of found files, while increasing their relevance. For multiple search filters, put a space between them, in fact it replaces the AND operator.

Attention! Operators AND, OR NOT are never highlighted in blue in the search bar. If you have highlighted, then you forgot either quotes or brackets or something else. Please note that some filters may not work with certain operators. For example, it cannot be type:(bmp and png), since any file can only be of one type.

For example, you can use the query:

size:5KB..20 KB type:picture filename:~<"m" *little* датаизменения:‎01.‎03.‎2014 .. ‎31.‎03.‎2014

This app ros looks for images between 5 and 20 kilobytes in size with a file name that starts with a letter m and in which the word occurs little. In this case, the file had to be changed during March 2014.

As you can see, with such capabilities, you can easily search for files from many years ago, remembering at least some little things about it.

Multiple Templates

In order for you to understand everything better and to be able to try Windows advanced search yourself, we decided to make some of the most commonly used advanced search templates that can often come in handy.

How to find all files in a folder?

Sometimes a person wants to count how many files are in a particular folder and the question arises how to do it. With Windows Search? But then what to enter? The input originates from regular expressions, and those who know firsthand what it is already guessed what kind of character should be entered in the search field.

In the search field you need to enter: * (asterisk).

How to find all files of the same type (Extensions)?

If you want to find, for example, only images, use the type:image filter, and if you want to find files of a specific extension, then you can use either *.jpeg or Type:JPEG.

How to find files created at a specific time?

For this you need to use a filter Creation Date:DD/MM/YYYY. It has been written about above. You can also set a filter not by the exact time the file was created, but by the interval. For example, from September 2011 to December 2012. The correct formulation of a search query with such a filter is described above.

How to find files of a certain size?

You need to use a filter the size: and specify the required file size in kilobytes, megabytes or gigabytes. You can read above about how you can search in a range of sizes and how to correctly specify the size of the files you are looking for.

We really hope that this material will be useful to you, and if you have something to add, then write in the comments.

Mastering the search tools in File Explorer is perhaps the most important thing you need to know. And the biggest performance boost comes when you realize that you can save files in one folder and quickly find them there, instead of having to tediously nest folders.

Each search in the file explorer consists of three parts:

 Search area. This is where you search. It can be a folder (with or without subfolders), a library, or some other place to look for.

 Filters. To limit the search results, you can use specific filters - by date, file type, tags and other details, usually selected from a list or control.

 Search terms. This is the text you enter in the search field. Windows finds matching files and folders by file name or file content.

You can, of course, search for files using the search field on the taskbar. Search for the term you want, then click on one of the small icons at the top of the results list to see documents, folders, images, music files, or videos that match that term.

However, this is more than just a search, the search box in the file explorer is a logical starting point.

Create a search using the ribbon

Over the years, the tools for creating searches in Windows have evolved a lot. On Windows 10, you can create searches using collections of point-and-click lists. In the upper right corner of the file explorer window, click in the search field, the search toolbar will open.

These search tools only appear after the cursor is positioned in the search field. For more complex searches, you can combine multiple criteria.

The search tools you select are applied in the context you specify. For example, in the image above, OneDrive is selected in the navigation bar and the location on the ribbon is the All Subfolders group (default). By clicking on the "Modified by date" criterion and selecting "Today" from the drop-down list, you will see two files that were added or changed in the OneDrive folder today.

If you are looking for notes you created after a meeting and remember that the meeting was in this month, you can, in the edit by date section, click on the "Last month" option. If the number of results is too large, apply additional filters or click in the search field and enter a word or phrase known to you in the file name or its content.

The top three filters in the Refine group, on the search tools tab, are:

 Change by date. This property defines the new date of the saved file or folder that was created or last modified. For a downloaded program file, it shows the date you saved the file locally, not the date it was created by the developer.

 sign. This field shows predefined groups of file attributes, including some items not stored in Explorer. The most common choice is a document that includes text files, any office and PDF files. If you're looking for digital media, try the word music or pictures.

 The size. This value suggests a range of sizes. If you want to clean up your system disk, select "Large" (from 16 to 128 MB) or "Giant" (greater than 128 MB) size. This is a great way to find large files that you can safely delete or archive to an external drive.

Click the "More Properties" option on the search tools tab and view four additional filters with which you can refine your search results:

Type. This property uses the file type attribute. You can enter the file extension (such as pdf, xls, or docx) or any part of the description (such as Excel, Word, image, text, or folder).

Name. Here you can enter a text string. The list of results will show any files or folders containing this string in their name.

 folder path. Enter a text string here. The list of results will show all files and folders containing this string in full path. For example, enter doc; the results will include all files and folders in the "My Documents" folder and any of its subfolders (since Documents is part of the path for those subfolders), as well as the contents of any other folders that have those three letters in their name.

 tags. Almost all data files contain this field, which is stored as metadata in the file itself. You can add one or more tags to any file in the details panel or in the properties dialog box of the details tab.

Using tags for precise searches

Entering tags requires extra effort, but it's worth it, especially in large projects. The advantage of tagging a group of files, such as "Project X" or "2016 Finance" is that you can count on finding those files even if there is no tag text in the file name or content. Because tags are stored as metadata, they can be used to identify files as part of a project group.

You can create a search by combining values ​​from different fields. For example, in the list of changes by date, you can enter - this week, and in the features area - document. The result filters out all items older than the start of the current week and any files that don't match the attribute, such as MP3 files and photos.

However, in the drop-down list, more than one value for a particular field cannot be selected. For example, if you specify the value - last week, it will replace any previously specified value.

Using filters to find groups of files

Using the tabs on the ribbon for periodic, one-time fine searches - the search tools are often faster and more flexible than switching to the detail view in File Explorer and using its built-in filtering options. The figure below shows an example of filtering files in a library by type. Unlike the corresponding Explorer options, on the search tools tab, you can specify multiple file types by checking the boxes in the type drop-down list.

In detail view, click on the right edge of any column heading and open the drop-down list built from the contents of this folder, then check the boxes to view the corresponding files.

It should be noted that this method only filters what is currently displayed in the content pane, usually the content of a folder or library. Subfolders are not searched.

Combined search and filters

To expand the filters in the detail view so that they include all subfolders, click in the search field and enter the wildcard character *. Now the list will display all files and folders of the current folder and all its subfolders. After that, to refine the results, you can switch to the detailed view and use the filter drop-down list on any column heading.

Noteworthy is the change date filter. As shown in the following figure, the current month's calendar is displayed here, and just below, some predefined options.

Calendar management looks simple, but has more options than it looks.

The options list at the bottom is dynamic, showing only alternatives that return valid search results. This is the main difference from the fixed search tools tab menu.

Calendar management is much more versatile than it seems. By default, the current month is displayed. Click on the heading of a month, which will change the display to all 12 months of the current year:

In this view, you can use the Shift key and click or click and drag to select multiple consecutive months in the same year. (Unfortunately, you can't Ctrl+click and select non-contiguous months.)

Click on the year heading and view all 10 years of the current decade:

In addition, to view files of two or more consecutive years, you can use click and drag. This is useful if you are viewing a long-term archive of files and folders.

If you like the calendar management feature, you can add it to your searches in the main search box. To do this, click in the search box and type datemodified:(don't forget the colon). If there is already a /datemodified filter in the search box, click on it (note that in the list below the calendar, you can select several options):

This calendar control works exactly like the headings option in the detail view's change by date filter. However, the fixed menu options are slightly different.

Creating complex searches

Search capabilities in Windows 10 are a direct descendant of the "Date" function. These original search tools ran on the so-called Advanced Query Syntax (AQS), which still works today, but usually in documentless form.

Some remnants of AQS, you can see when creating a search using the search tools tab. Each entry you make on the feed adds a matching query to the search box.

The search operator is easily distinguished from the search string and is displayed in blue followed by a colon. If you use an equal sign (=) and enclose the search string in quotation marks, you force an exact match.

If you're in the mood to fiddle with bits, you can try manually creating your searches. For example, if you only want to see folders whose names start with the letters A through E, in the search box type type:="File folder" name:(>A AND .