How do I add search filters?

Anonymous
2009-11-12T04:08:15+00:00

When trying to search I click in the search field in my file explorer window. I see "Add a search filter" and a couple options below that "Date Modified" &  "Size" that I can select. How do I add more "clickable" search filters? I can only select those two filters. How do I add more to select?

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

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Anonymous
2009-11-12T22:02:24+00:00

Hello and thank you for your question.

In the explorer search window, you can click on those options you mentioned like “Date Modified” or “Size” to give you a list of even more refined options. For example, if you are in your music folder:

Without clearing the Search box, click Genre in the list of filters, and then click Jazz from the list of dynamic values. Windows Explorer adds Genre to the existing Length filter, allowing you to refine your search further.

*For a downloadable word document on Windows Search Walkthrough, please visit: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=188af621-c80a-4b0c-9629-7fa4949803ae&displaylang=en

Please let me know if you need further assistance!

Lisa

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-10-24T00:32:46+00:00

    Well said. though I now understand how to customize the search, the original question has not been answered.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-10-24T00:30:11+00:00

    Thank you Rohit.  I wanted to search by Authorand where looking for ways to add it to the search filter. 

    Thanks to your post I found out what to do and have explained it below so others can use it to.

    All I had to do is type: **"****Authors:" (**without the quotes) in the search bar. Then the author. 

    "Authors: **** Tracey"

    wanting to refine the search even more I also added 

    "File:" and typed "doc" for Microsoft word document

    "Content:" for words in the file, followed by the words I want the search to find "smart watch"

    So my refined search in the search bar looked like this:

    Authors: **** Tracey **File:**doc **Content:**smart watch

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-02-05T20:14:00+00:00

    Hey, I took care of it!  I don't have any problems with this dumb a$$ search functionality anymore!  I dumped my Windows 7 laptop and got my first MacBook.

    I can find stuff again.  What a concept.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-02-05T16:14:24+00:00

    I appreciate the short list of query syntax, but how is this, or more importantly how is the 10 page list of search syntax functions easier than having a UI with a dropdown of searchable fields? How is an average Windows 7 user expected to know that searches require learning pages of syntax? Look at the masses of people on just this forum having issues with it. Was there anywhere near this level of concern with the Win XP advanced search? I would have to assume not.

     

    I needed to find a file created today of a particular file type and it took me 20 minutes to do that (Much of the time was on this forum reading how to enter the syntax) and I still don't trust the results. 

     

    Maybe this truly is more powerful once you know all the search criteria names and how to use them, but this seems like a massive leap backwards and none of the responders seem to address how this search tool can ever be either quick or intuitive for advanced searches. 

     

    That might have been a rant, but I'm frustrated like everyone else it seems. I've got to now download a google app to perform a function that worked just fine on Windows 95.

     

    It is completely unbelievable. Something that was soo simple in XP completely removed and replaced with this horrible Win 7 search. Being unable to add search filters totally sucks. Those saying you have to expand the search box to see them all are incorrect. When I click mt c:\ drive the only filter that shows up is size... The all knowing Microsoft has decided what I can search for and it changes depending on the folder I an in. Wake UP MS.

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