Questions tagged [windows-search]

Windows Search is the functionality built into the Windows OS for finding files, folders and programs on a PC or in connected storage.

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"I'm Feeling Lucky"-style behavior in Windows 8.1 search?

Is it possible to make Windows 8.1 automatically select the most relevant search result, so that I could just press Enter to execute it? Right now, I have to press down-arrow each time to select it, ...
vorou's user avatar
  • 165
2 votes
5 answers
14k views

How do I exclude specific directories from a Windows search?

I want to search for a file on drive C:. I know for sure it does not exist in a specific directory(s) (say Program Files). So to shorten my search time, I want Windows to exclude searching in those ...
happybuddha's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

How do you search for a file in all previous versions of a folder?

So far in my searches (one two) I've been unable to find an answer to this. Let's say I had a file somefile.abc, in folder c:\xyz, but have deleted it at some point in the past. I have Windows 7's ...
E.T.'s user avatar
  • 287
2 votes
1 answer
13k views

Outlook 2007: instant search not working

I have tried so many things to try to fix this problem with no results. The machine is running Windows XP SP3 with Microsoft Office 2007 Standard. What is happening is that the instant search not ...
qroberts's user avatar
  • 5,229
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Move Folders Containing Certain File

I'm trying to sort out a bunch of folders in Windows 7. I have a bunch of folders and some contain a file index.txt and some don't. What I want to do is move the folders that do have index.txt into a ...
Funkafied's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Index Network Location in Windows 7 [duplicate]

I want to make the default Windows search to index and search files in network too. Is there any way or tool from which I can do it?
Elmo's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
5k views

What does "Don't use the index when searching in file folders for system files" do?

I've checked "Don't use the index when searching in file folders for system files", but I don't see a way to tell Windows 7 that I'm looking for a system file. What does this option actually do, and ...
A Student at a University's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
320 views

Problem with my eyes? In Windows 7, search everything finds half of everything

As far as I can remember I've had problems with Windows' Search and I had become used to using old-style dir /s to find my things. However, today was particularly weird on a freshly installed windows ...
Abel's user avatar
  • 1,473
2 votes
1 answer
215 views

Can you start Windows Search Service in Index Snoozing mode?

I am using Windows Search on Windows XP, I would like it to start-up in "Index Snoozing" mode. Is there an argument I can pass to the WindowsSearch service to enable that option?
Sephrial's user avatar
  • 125
2 votes
1 answer
4k views

Outlook 2007 OST File Indexing and OneNote 2007 Indexing are Broken

I'm running Outlook 2007 under Windows 7 Home Premium RTM. My OST file was previously being properly indexed but eventually searches significantly slowed down so I suspected a problem. Searching and ...
Matthew's user avatar
  • 2,620
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

How to remove Windows 10 Bing / Copilot recommendation from search

For quite some time now I have this annoying Recommended section pop up in my search (when clicking the search bar), suggesting me to try out "the new Bing" with "Your AI-powered ...
geisterfurz007's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
1k views

Windows 11 Start button and search menus unresponsive

Earlier, my taskbar was blank with no icons, Start menu or search bar. I went into regedit, to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell\Update\Packages, created ...
Rebecca Haninger's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
3k views

Windows 10 Search does not show new applications installed

Windows 10 search stopped showing any of the newer apps that I have installed. I can search for older apps (apps that I have installed prior to May 2017) however any apps that I have installed after ...
Sync's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes
1 answer
157 views

In Windows, if I type date stamp YYMMDD within file names (or content) can I later search for results within a particular YYDDMM range? How?

I use Windows 10. If I use date stamps ( YYMMDD ) within my file names how can I go back and search for files with names that contain YYMMDD values within a certain range? If I used the date stamps ...
snaik's user avatar
  • 25
2 votes
0 answers
366 views

Icons broken in search results of Windows 10 [duplicate]

Basically, it looks like this- I tried doing this but it did not work out. Is there any way this could be solved?
Prithvish Baidya's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
1k views

Search is broken on Windows 2008 R2

The ability to search for anything on one of my Windows 2008 R2 servers has, for reasons unknown, stopped working. For example I can't search for anything via the Start Menu: Clicking "See more ...
Kev's user avatar
  • 2,249
2 votes
0 answers
203 views

Windows 10 search doesn't find links or portable apps

I am new to Windows 10 and did a fresh install of the pro version. I disabled Cortana because I didn't want all my personal information going to Microsoft. But now, Windows search will not find ...
Penny's user avatar
  • 21
2 votes
1 answer
354 views

How can I sort all the files in a folder by subfolder name, then by name?

I have a folder like this: Main Folder subfolder 1 image 1 image 2 image 3 subfolder 2 image 1 image 2 image 3 (actually, there are many more ...
D. Joe's user avatar
  • 73
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Search/Indexing in windows 10 broken [duplicate]

I recently tried moving the location of windows's Index files from my C (SSD) drive to another regular drive with more space... I went to the Advanced Options under Indexing Options and put the 'new' ...
Dog's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes
0 answers
185 views

How do I get Windows Desktop Search (in Windows 7) to index my Exchange mailbox after installing Outlook 2016?

When I search something into the Windows 7 search box and choose "See more results" as usual a list of found emails and files appears. I can open other file types by double-clicking, but there is no ...
Kostas's user avatar
  • 21
2 votes
1 answer
70 views

is there a parameter to inhibit IFilter feature on windows 7 search?

This question originates after this one. The two questions are independent even if they share a common problem basis so I'm asking this now hoping somebody can help me with at least one of the two. ...
danicotra's user avatar
  • 1,986
2 votes
1 answer
601 views

Windows XP search for files which have specfic name length

I want to look for all .txt files in a folder, which their filename starts with r and is 4 character length or lower (<=4) What's the query? (in Windows XP)
kikio's user avatar
  • 445
2 votes
1 answer
597 views

Highlight first result in Windows 7 search?

Is there any way to have the Windows 7 start search bar highlight the first result found so I can just hit Enter on the result rather than have to use the down arrow 2 times? Currently, when I search ...
Andy Shinn's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
203 views

How to make the "~~" in Windows 7 search default

From experimental data, I try to put in some "metadata" directly into the filename (for various compatibility reasons), one such example is: 2-187a_cc_f5p5Hz_tc1s_Vds5V_Rds100MO_T0p445K_Ch75_VgSwV_B-...
tkott's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes
1 answer
3k views

Search doesn't work for Windows 7 offline folder

Ever since the My Documents folder was setup for offline use on my new laptop I can no longer use the search box in explorer, neither when I am online nor offline. My admin says this is normal. I don'...
Graeme's user avatar
  • 269
2 votes
1 answer
420 views

DiskInternal's Linux Reader Search

A 2TB external hard drive having multiple reiserfs, ext2/3 and similar linux file systems on it. In need for a quick search from within windows xp I found Linux Reader from DiskInternals. It ...
panny's user avatar
  • 665
2 votes
1 answer
234 views

Search for folders with x amount of files in Windows 7?

I would like to search for folders with a certain number of files, but currently I cannot figure out the syntax on how to achieve this. I have searched the Windows Search site, but have only found ...
win7guru's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

How do I exclude an Outlook folder form Windows Search Index in Windows 7?

I have a pretty big (~30GB) email archive (Outlook + Exchange: .ost file) and I would like to use the Outlook Search Feature (Windows Search technology). I would like to exclude some folders from the ...
Pokot0's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes
3 answers
433 views

Windows Vista not indexing files

I'm using Windows Vista's search index service to quickly launch programs by typing Super + name of program. However I'm having a hard time trying to understand why certain files won't appear. I ...
kevin's user avatar
  • 2,234
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

How can I stop files hidden using `attrib +h +s somedir` from showing in searches?

I use Windows 10 and I've hidden a folder using attrib +h +s C:\MyUser\HiddenDir\ which contains some files like MySecretDocument.docx. I have Folder Options set to Show hidden files & folders so ...
Edward Snowden's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
302 views

Windows 7 Search By Filename

I'm getting better at understanding the Windows7 search, but am still not happy with it. Is there a way to search for all filenames that end with a certain extension? If I search on filename:*.ext ...
sdoca's user avatar
  • 690
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

How to add multiple file extensions to the search inside feature in WIndows 7?

I know how to add a single file extension to be searched inside, but I'd like to add a bunch of different extensions and avoid the tedious job of adding every single one. Is there a command line tool ...
Fábio's user avatar
  • 125
1 vote
1 answer
11k views

Is there a wildcard for "any number" in Windows search

When you search for a file in Windows 10, how do you specify a wildcard for any number? To give you an example: I know that a file is called something like: some-picture-100x100.jpg. I do not really ...
TheKidsWantDjent's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
5k views

How to find video files with length less than 30 minutes on windows 10

I want to search for all video files that have a length that is less than 30 minutes, so that I can delete them. How can I do that?
Daydreamer067's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
147 views

How to tag applications

There is much advice on how to tag files in Windows 7, 8 and 10. For example, this Google search has loads https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=how+to+tag+files+windows+search Also, tagging files is ...
MyDaftQuestions's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

Windows 7 Search for Content Only [duplicate]

I do not see any way to use Windows 7 search to search file content ONLY w/o it also including file names. For example, how do you search for files that contain "L:\" and only files that CONTAIN "L:\"?...
fupsduck's user avatar
  • 131
1 vote
3 answers
2k views

How to search only the filename for a substring in Windows?

Following on from this question, I'd like to know whether Windows Search also shares the same shortcomings, or whether it is possible using Advanced Query Syntax to search for a substring in the ...
Karan's user avatar
  • 56.5k
1 vote
1 answer
8k views

How to index a hard drive on Windows 7?

I want to index my 2 partitions made on my Windows 7 machine for better search performance. I did however, when I was prompted to index, not do so at the time. Any other way to do this? Note: I ...
Rudolph's user avatar
  • 2,732
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Search in windows control panel lose focus after typing one character

When I open windows' control panel, click the search bar and start typing, it always lose focus after typing in one character. If I click it again to regain focus, the problem wouldn't happen again. I'...
Xun Yang's user avatar
  • 171
1 vote
2 answers
999 views

Is it possible to make Windows 8 searches more advanced? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Can I use wildcards in Windows 8 search? I know that I can easily search for a document -- provided I can remember what I named it or a non-common word it contains -- by ...
B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
3k views

Search files by extension in windows

I want to search only svg files in a folder containing svg and svgz files. I typed "*svg" in the search bar but I get all the files begining with the svg extension including svgz. How do I exclude ...
mohamed mouad's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
389 views

List files in folder that match kind

In Windows Search I can use kind:=music OR kind:=video to get all results in a folder/ subfolders which are that type of media. Is there a way to replicate this with a command like dir on the ...
Greedo's user avatar
  • 787
1 vote
2 answers
47 views

Search with OR in Windows

I have a folder with countries flags "us.svg", "fr.svg", "de.svg" etc... I need to remove all but there 3... So, is it possible to search with "OR", something like us | fr | de in order to cut ...
serge's user avatar
  • 703
1 vote
1 answer
3k views

How to change windows 10 search results order

Is there a way I can change the order of my windows 10 start menu search results? I want for example, when I press "V" to have the first result as "Viber", instead of "Visual Studio".
user2975038's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
19k views

Notepad not opening from Start menu search Windows 10

After checking for corrupt files (sfc /scannow in cmd returning no corrupt files detected) and rebuilding the index from index option in the control panel, notepad does not open from the Start menu. ...
George Tian's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
158 views

Given a list of filenames, how can you iterate through subdirectories and return a list of where those files exist?

I have discovered an old playlist that I'd really like to listen to. Unfortunately, it's one that was created for a USB stick that had music copied out of my collection into a flat folder. What I ...
Iain Fraser's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
513 views

Recycle bin in Windows start menu search

Is there some way to add a Recycle Bin entry to the Windows start menu's search? Click for full size Note I'm asking for something that will come up at the top when a part of Recycle Bin is typed, e....
Bob's user avatar
  • 61.7k
1 vote
1 answer
191 views

How do I search all indexed locations in Windows 7?

I have a dual-boot system with two copies of windows and six harddrives with one partition each. How do I perform a search in all indexed locations across disks without touching any non-indexed ...
Flugan's user avatar
  • 113
1 vote
3 answers
3k views

Should this folder called Data be indexed?

In the indexing options of Windows 7 there is a folder called Data which is excluded from indexing for the C:\ drive by default. Can someone confirm this, please? I was not able to locate that ...
panny's user avatar
  • 665
1 vote
2 answers
4k views

Windows Search refuses to start

I was working on my tablet the other day, and OneNote 2007 started to complain that it was unable to index my notebooks since the search service was offline. I figured it had crashed or a program had ...
Urda's user avatar
  • 850

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