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

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.

0 comments

55 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2012-12-13T12:27:17+00:00

    Unfortunately this link now displays a commercial for Win 8.  Is MS admitting that win 7 search is useless?  Anyone have an alternative way to find the original material?

    Follow this link:

    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/technicalresources/advquery.mspx

    This should be included in Help and Support.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2012-12-13T13:09:52+00:00

    I didn't look at the original link so I'm not sure what was contained there.  I did find this link which has some good information under the Advanced Tips link near the bottom of the page.

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/windows-search

    See if that helps.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2012-12-13T14:15:51+00:00

    Thanks Nikki605

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2012-12-15T00:25:44+00:00

    Noel, you misunderstood me. Yes, it's useful to search for files with particular properties (as long as the default is the file name), but what I was complaining about is having a search engine that searches the contents of the file (e.g. the text in a Word file), not file name or other properties of the file. Searching for file properties and searching inside a file are (or should be) two quite different functions.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments