How do I search a folder WITH ITS SUBFOLDERS in Windows7 please?

Anonymous
2010-02-01T02:40:52+00:00

when I run a search in Windows 7, only one folder at a time is searched.  How do I broaden a search to a folder and all of its subfolders?  Vista did that automatically; Windows 7 does not seem to do so.

Thanks!

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

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Anonymous
2010-10-31T05:05:32+00:00

I had the same prob & none of the answers on this page helped. I mucked around a bit & ticked a box in the search options folder Called "Don't use the index when searching in file folders for system files" Problem fixed... although the title of the tick box has nothing to do with searching sub folders, whenever it's not ticked I can't search any subfolders.

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Anonymous
2011-04-02T09:12:35+00:00

Ok here is the scoop. If you are searching in a folder selected from underneath the "Libraries" folder (Documents, Videos, Music, Pictures, Etc.) it does not search subfolders. I do not know why, but if you go to your "C:\Users'username'" and open the needed folder (or even just in your UN folder), it will search subfolders. I think it is either a glitch, or because Libraries is just a phantom name for a grouping, the search doesnt work. You have to be directly in the folder, or the folder directly above it, not in a windows "cloud" version of it like the ones in Libraries.

Sorry if this is hard to follow, i'm a better techy than a teacher. Hope this helps

Rick Flach

Live Out Loud Media & Design

Hi Rick

Open Windows Explorer.

Select Organize / Folder and Search options.

Select the Search Tab.

In the How to search section, select the Include subfolders in search results when searching in file folders option.

Regards

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Anonymous
2010-02-25T19:32:17+00:00

Hello,

Entering an asterisk (*) in the search box immediately returns all files in the current folder and all its subfolders.

Lisa

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

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

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Anonymous
2012-12-10T18:07:03+00:00

Ok here is the scoop. If you are searching in a folder selected from underneath the "Libraries" folder (Documents, Videos, Music, Pictures, Etc.) it does not search subfolders. I do not know why, but if you go to your "C:\Users'username'" and open the needed folder (or even just in your UN folder), it will search subfolders. I think it is either a glitch, or because Libraries is just a phantom name for a grouping, the search doesnt work. You have to be directly in the folder, or the folder directly above it, not in a windows "cloud" version of it like the ones in Libraries.

Sorry if this is hard to follow, i'm a better techy than a teacher. Hope this helps

Rick Flach

Live Out Loud Media & Design

This is the only thing that has worked for me (including every other "fix" on the 4 pages before my post).  Clearly the search functionality is borked if you start your journey by clicking on one the the "Library" folders.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-03-16T03:30:36+00:00

    Hi there,

    .psc = papyrus script

    Yes, it worked.

    Observations:

    The search was quicker, now the index was built. But there is no difference in speed when either of the folder options in "What to search" are selected. This implies that, for reasons of comparison,  once you have the index built for a specified location, you do not have the option to search there without it.

    The whole index had to be rebuilt just for one file type change. Surely the algorithm needs improvement.

    Before the index was built, the above search displayed nothing irrespective of the choice in "What to search." Perhaps indexing should be turned on by default in OS install? Or a big warning message on every filename or filename & contents search (with a "do not display this warning again" checkbox) indicating its reliability.

    When pasting in a new search string in the textbox in the topright of folder, the contents search brings up no matches, but when I specify one of the 5 "search again" options below: "contents", the search is successful. {I cannot reproduce this now, but at the time I went and did something else like running Visual Studio. Maybe SetCurrentFolder?)

    Based on file activity, how often does the index need to be rebuilt anyway? Can this be monitored, and hence automated?

    Also, some logic also missed in previous OS, what if a user requires a match in  *just* the file contents and not the file names? Searching for text inside files does not necessarily imply the same text is required in the filenames.

    Thanks for your interest.

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