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

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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
    2011-04-14T16:29:49+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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  2. 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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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-08T16:43:51+00:00

    That don't even work half the time. Test for yourself, after applying all the unhides go into your user\appdata\roaming youll see that yes they are unhidden (wont see appdata if not anyhow) then try to search for something from that roaming folder in the home directory USERS (meaning it should search all user and now unhidden DEFAULT but it does not) easiest proof is navigate to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned type anyone of the shortcut names in the home directory search, it should find them but it does NOT. But go into the hidden folder appdata and it will. You need to be in the lower most hidden folder you want to search in or it will still be ignored, so basically even with everything unhidden win7 search is still a Craaap shoot.

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-08-25T14:59:46+00:00

    this isn't working for me I can't search file contents in windows\temp

    why?

    search in windows 7 is busted, buggy, difficult to configure, not working properly and is an embarressment. c'mon MS get this fixed.

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