Enhancing your Windows Explorer search capabilities can significantly improve your efficiency in locating files. Here are some advanced search techniques, often referred to as “cheat codes,” to help you refine your searches:
1. Size-Based Searches:
- Exact Size: To find files of a specific size, use the
size:operator followed by the size.- Example:
size:10MB
- Example:
- Greater Than: To locate files larger than a certain size, use the
>symbol.- Example:
size:>10MB
- Example:
- Less Than: To find files smaller than a specified size, use the
<symbol.- Example:
size:<10MB
- Example:
2. File Extension Searches:
- To search for files with a specific extension, use the
*.wildcard followed by the extension.- Example:
*.jpg
- Example:
3. Date-Based Searches:
- Specific Date: To find files created or modified on a particular date, use the
date:operator.- Example:
date:08/10/2023
- Example:
- Relative Dates: To locate files from relative time frames:
- Today:
date:today - Yesterday:
date:yesterday
- Today:
4. File Type Searches:
- Use the
kind:operator to search for specific types of files:- Documents:
kind:documents - Music:
kind:music - Pictures:
kind:pictures - Videos:
kind:videos - Folders:
kind:folders
- Documents:
5. Boolean Operators:
- OR: Finds items containing either of the specified keywords.
- Example:
keyword1 OR keyword2
- Example:
- NOT: Excludes items containing the specified keyword.
- Example:
keyword1 NOT keyword2
- Example:
6. Property-Based Searches:
- Slide Count: To find presentations with more than a certain number of slides:
- Example:
slidecount:>10
- Example:
- Duration: To locate media files of a specific duration (in minutes):
- Example:
duration:3
- Example:
- Dimensions: To find images with specific dimensions:
- Width:
width:100 - Height:
height:100
- Width:
For a comprehensive list of search syntaxes and operators,
refer to Microsoft’s official documentation on Advanced Query Syntax.