In Windows x, you tin search for files and other content using the built-in Search tool on the Taskbar. Only you tin can also search for files directly through File Explorer. With the Windows 10 November 2019 Update, Microsoft has integrated Windows Search into File Explorer. This means you tin click or type a keyword in the search field, and File Explorer volition advise files based on your search term. But even without this latest enhancement, there's more to searching in File Explorer than meets the heart. Permit's look at how to use the Search tool in File Explorer.

SEE: 20 pro tips to brand Windows ten work the way you lot want (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

First, to take advantage of the integration of Windows Search into File Explorer, brand certain yous've upgraded to the Windows 10 November 2019 Update version 1909. Be aware, though, that at that place is a bug in this update that sometimes renders the search field in File Explorer unresponsive when you click in it. The Microsoft support document Fix problems in Windows Search offers some workarounds for the consequence. You'll as well desire to check for the latest updates following Windows 10 version 1909 to come across if Microsoft has fixed the glitch.

Open File Explorer to a specific folder that you desire to search. Click in the Search field. If the functionality is working, yous should see a list of items from previous searches. Type a character or two, and the items from previous searches friction match your criteria (Figure A).

Figure A

Press Enter to see all the search results in the window. Click on the right search result to open the corresponding certificate or other file (Figure B).

Figure B

With the Search Ribbon in File Explorer, you lot tin can have advantage of different commands, options, and criteria to refine your searches. To expand the location of the search to your unabridged computer, click on the icon for This PC. To limit the location to just the current folder and no subfolders, click on the icon for Current Folder. To include the current folder and all subfolders, click on the icon for All Subfolders. And to search in other spots, click on the icon for Search again in and choose a different binder (Effigy C).

Effigy C

To search by date, click on the icon for Date Modified and select from Today, Yesterday, This Calendar week, or another timeframe. Click on the Kind icon, and you lot can specify the type of file you're seeking, such every bit a document, picture, video, or program. Click on the Size icon to narrow the search to specific file sizes, such as Pocket-size (xvi KB to ane MB), Medium (1MB to 128 MB), or Large (128 MB to 1 GB) (Figure D).

Figure D

Click on the icon for Other Backdrop. Then click on ane of the choices from the menu: Type, Name, Binder Path, or Tags. In the Search field subsequently the holding name and colon, you lot tin then type a specific value. For example, if y'all select Type, you tin enter document or pic as the specific type. If you select Binder Path, you can enter a specific pathname. You lot tin can also add multiple backdrop to a single search (Figure East).

Figure E

To admission by searches, click on the icon for Recent Searches and select the search you want to run again. Next, Windows indexes and looks in certain locations to speed up your searches, merely you tin alter that. Click on the Advanced Options icon. Click on the pick to Change Indexed Locations.

From the Indexing Options window, you can add together or remove locations in the alphabetize. Click Close when done. Go back to Advanced Options. Select or deselect any of the three not-indexed locations that you want to include or exclude in your search, specifically File Contents, Organization Files, or Zipped (Compressed) Folders (Figure F).

Figure F

To save your current search criteria and options, click on the icon to Salvage Search. Blazon a name for the search or leave the default name. Proceed the default location. Click Save (Effigy G).

Effigy Thousand

Finally, to open up the unabridged folder for a specific file from the search results, click on the file so click on the icon to Open File Location. When finished with your search, click on the icon to Shut search.