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I need to search for an old file in a large directory.
Unfortunately, the index isn't able to locate it, and I only have keywords to search for which may be in the body of the file rather than the filename.

I'd like to perform a non-indexed search (I know this will take a long time to search), because I'm certain the file is there somewhere, and I do not have any other copies of this file.

I know you could circumvent the index in previous versions of Windows, but I can't seem to figure out how to do it in Windows 10.
Perhaps I've simply forgotten how to do it. ;)

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  • Isn't it the same like in Windows 7? Enter content: yoursearchhere in the search bar in Explorer. Also you can go to Tools > Folder options…. Search tab and select Always search file names and contents Again currently on Windows 7 so aint sure if its the same in Windows 10.
    – Davidenko
    Jun 16, 2016 at 16:01
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    @Davidenko Those methods still utilize the index, unfortunately. My main issue is I need to perform a barebones old-school non-indexed search, and let it run for a couple hours.
    – Giffyguy
    Jun 16, 2016 at 16:12
  • To use content: you don't have to have this location pre-indexed, you can plug portable drive or search network map like this... Please try it if it doesn't work explain more because I don't understand why my solution isn't good enough.
    – Davidenko
    Jun 18, 2016 at 7:17
  • Just use an external program like UltraSearch, assuming you have enough RAM. That one works (fast) by loading the (NTFS) MFT in RAM. Microsoft keeps messing up this basic OS functionality. Why they can't get this right in a multi-billion dollar corpo, is beyond me. Wait, they managed to get ISO image mounting in Win 10, and it wasn't there in Win 7. Maybe in Win 12 they'll manage to make search work without ridiculous hassles.
    – the gods from engineering
    Feb 3, 2022 at 20:51

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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In file explorer, check the option View | Options | Search | Always search file names and contents (this might take several minutes).

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I just stumbled upon this question and needed the same.

I did not find a native windows solution for this via the UI. I achieved this by using 3rd party applications. (CSearcher, FileSeek, ...)

However there is a method using PowerShell. You can search using Get-ChildItem and pipe it into the Select-String cmdlet

Example:

Get-ChildItem –Path D:\MyFolder -Include *filename* -Exclude *.pdf -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-String -Pattern "MyContentPattern"
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The findstr command line tool works very well for text searches on Windows. It supports regex patterns and wildcards for file names.

Example to search: findstr /m /s /i pattern *somefile*

  • /s search all files in the current directory and subdirectories
  • /i case insensitive
  • /m print only the name of the files with the pattern
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