Search for hidden files and folders in Windows 7

Anonymous
2010-01-26T18:40:43+00:00

How for an individual search do I tell the search process to examine hidden files and folders.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2010-01-27T17:56:36+00:00

Hi,

There is only one way to do it, Select the option Show hidden files from folder options and then search for the files using the start search box.

  1. Click Start.
  2. Type "search" in start search box.
  3. click "Change search options for files and folders".
  4. Now, Click on View tab .
  5. Under View,

       a)Select the radio button labeled Show hidden files, folders, and drives 

       b)Remove the checkmark from the checkbox labeled Hide extensions for known file types.

       c)Remove the checkmark from the checkbox labeled Hide protected operating system files.

  1. Click on Apply and Ok.

For more information on search, click on the following link:

 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Advanced-tips-for-searching-in-Windows

 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Searching-in-Windows-frequently-asked-questions

 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Find-a-file-or-folder

Thanks and Regards:

Swati K- Microsoft Support Engineer

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-04-28T21:31:06+00:00

    Okay, I have changed the search options, but I still don't know how to find non-indexed, hidden and system files.  Specifically, how do I look at ALL of these to choose the ones I need to check on? There are no prompts to help me as in older 'advanced search' Windows versions, so how do I proceed?

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-02-16T16:21:32+00:00

    On the subject of Hidden Files.

    When you receive a PDF file in Microsoft Outlook, and you open the file, a copy of the pdf file is automatically saved in a hidden file.

    I am told after you have received 99 PDF files, this hidden folder is full, and you can no longer open a pdf file from Outlook until the files in this hidden folder are deleted.

    I believe the following is the path to one of these hidden folders, but on other Windows 7 PC's it doesn't seem to be the same folder:

    C:\Users\ad0976\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\ALWQZ40U

    Is there a way to stop Microsoft Outlook from saving a copy of every PDF file that you open and print?

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-04-14T16:29:49+00:00

    Even I have the options set up as you have mentioned, after I did a search (Windows key + F) it didn't show folders and files that are in the appdata folder in the search results. I know they are there, because I can manually look for them.

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-07-22T06:08:06+00:00

    I'm totally agree with you DM. Microsoft is just trying to make the search integrate with online searches since most people search online and are not technical to search for hidden or system files(Most of them don't even know there are hidden files.) Therefore MS took away those functions or make it harder to find and use. For advance people like us, I think MS can do a better job than this. They are trying to make the search smarter but it turn up to be smarter in the online world but stupid or almost useless in the local machine world. Just to design something better and smarter doesn't have to sacrifice other functions. No wonder they can't beat GOOGLE.

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