How to get the most out of Windows 10 search

Windows 10 has a pretty good built-in search, which for some reason few people use. In the meantime, this is a really cool tool that comes in handy if you are not very neat in sorting your files into folders. And in general, it is often easier to open documents with a search than to go through the full path to the file.

There are two ways to start looking for files. You can click the search (magnifying glass) icon on the taskbar. Or just open the Start menu and start typing your search term.

Here are some tricks to help you search quickly and efficiently.

Filtering search results

Search in Windows 10. Filter search results

Start searching for files, apps, and settings as usual. Then click on one of the three icons at the top of the Start menu that filter apps, documents, and web pages, respectively.

You can also click on the Filters button at the top to specify what to look for: folders, music, photos, settings or videos.

Simple search for settings

Windows 10 Search. Simple Settings Search

One of the drawbacks of Windows 10 is that it is not obvious about the setup. Being a mixture of Windows 7 and Windows 8, the "dozen" since the release has confused many users with the presence of two control panels at once. The settings in them are not very logical, and it is easy to get lost in them.

But Windows 10's search makes it easier to navigate through settings. If you need a particular item, just start typing it in the Start menu and the corresponding option will be found. It doesn't matter in which of the two control panels it is located.

Search in "Explorer"

In Windows 10 Explorer, as in previous versions, there is a panel for quickly finding files and folders. Enter the name of the file or folder and Windows 10 will find it. The search bar also allows you to sort the found files by type, size, modification time and other parameters. And in the "Explorer" there is another cool feature - to save the search query for the future, like a smart folder. To do this, simply click "Save Search Condition".

Fuzzy search

If you want to search for something but don't know what it is, Windows 10's search ability will help you guess the words in your search. For this, special wildcards are used.

* - a wildcard that replaces one or more characters in the search expression with any possible ones. Suppose you enter cat *. Windows 10 will find files containing the words cats, which, boiler, and so on.
? - allows you to search for only one missing character. For example, upon request to? T, the system will find both a cat and a whale.
# - is used to find any number. For example, 5 # 3 will find files containing numbers 513, 573, and so on.

Search for a file by its properties

Let's say you want to find a file you don't know the name of, but remember its format, size, or the time you created or last modified the file. Start searching for any files with a query *, and then in the search filtering settings, specify a format or time range that approximates the file you are looking for. You can search by properties such as date, file type, author, and so on.

Note that when you change the terms of the search filters in the panel, incomprehensible words appear in the search bar. Here's what they mean:

kind - file type. You can enter kind: document or kind: video to search for documents and videos, respectively.
tags - tags with which the file was marked. Don't use tags on Windows 10? In vain. Tag the files you want, and then search for them with queries like tags: work or tags: read.
author - the name of the user who created the file. For example, you are sure that your wife, Ophelia, with whom you share a computer, has created some kind of file that you need. Enter author: Ophelia and you will see all the files it creates that you have access to. Most importantly, write the correct name of her account.

Expressions "and", "or", "no"

These expressions will allow you to use multiple search terms at the same time.

AND (and) - searches for multiple words or phrases that are present in one file. For example, query cats AND dogs will find files for you that talk about both cats and dogs.
OR (or) - searches for files that contain at least some words and expressions. The query cats OR dogs OR hamsters will find all files that contain either cats, dogs, or hamsters.
NOT (no) - searches for files that do not contain the mentioned expression. For example, Heavy Metal NOT Justin Bieber will find documents or music for you that are heavy metal and do not contain even the slightest hint of Justin Bieber.
«» - looking for files containing a certain exact phrase. For example, a search for "cats and dogs" will find exactly the file cats and dogs, not mad cats and patient dogs.
() - looking for words that can be located in the file in any order. That is, the query (cats, dogs, hamsters) will find both hamsters, cats, dogs, and dogs, cats, hamsters.
> and < - looking for files with inaccurately specified values. For example, date:> 2018-01-01 will find all files created after the first of January of that year. size: <10MB will find files less than 10 MB.