What is the syntax of Windows 7 file search (wildcards, logical signs...) ?__

Anonymous
2009-11-16T14:40:26+00:00

Hello,

I am looking for it everywhere but I can't find it.

When in Windows search and you are looking for a file, you can type in *.txt to look for a '.txt' file.

But it seems that the syntax of file name to look seems more complex that it looks first.

For instance, the quote character (") and the equal sign (=) seem to have there own significance.

And I think I have heard that it was possible to use 'not' and 'and ' signs.

Please, where can I find the complete syntax of the search paterns?

Thank you a lot

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-09-12T14:33:35+00:00

    It's so fitting that questions like this are NOT answered on MSFT's own website. Thanks MSFT for stomping on older links that might have divulged useful information.

    This is a reminder to me that if I have a question about Windows, the LAST place to go is its creator.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-10-12T07:00:38+00:00

    This page helped me with something similar to wildcard search.

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows7/advanced-tips-for-searching-in-windows

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-10-12T14:42:27+00:00

    How does a windows 8 advertisement help me?

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-10-12T15:26:30+00:00

    Things change in four years ...

    The page Hannes3's post referred to is this one: Advanced Query Syntax. A few things have changed slightly since it was written in XP days, but it's still a good guide.

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