Want to search ONLY file names in Windows 7 Explorer?

Anonymous
2011-02-06T06:17:16+00:00

I usually just want to seach for a "word in a file & folder name" -- and often can give a a date range. In Windows 7 Explorer, as soon as I type the word, I get all files that contain the word in the content, as well.  How can I have it search only the file or folder name?

I also don't use "my documents" or "Libraries"...I create my own subfolders -- and generally on a stick drive...so I don't really understand "indexing" or if it's relevant to how I organize my files.

I miss the Windows XP search feature in Windows 7 Explorer!

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

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Anonymous
2011-02-06T06:32:16+00:00

How can I have it search only the file or folder name?

Folder:

foldername:example

Word in name:

name:example

I miss the Windows XP search feature in Windows 7 Explorer!

Let Microsoft know you want Windows Explorers features returned:

Since many people seem to agree that some or all the changes made to Windows Explorer have actually made it less user friendly, you can go to the Windows 7 Feedback page and (politely) let them know your suggestions for improving it:

http://mymfe.microsoft.com/Windows%207/Feedback.aspx?formID=195

Note: don't make the message too long, there is a size limit to your message even though the page doesn't tell you about it.


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@CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2011-02-06T18:05:52+00:00

No need for anything complicated.  Just type what you're looking for.  If it's in the filename, those results will be returned first, above any results where your search term isinside the file.  Easy.

Non-indexed locations such as stick drives can still be searched, but take a little more time to search (sort of like XP).


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  1. Anonymous
    2013-03-08T15:53:28+00:00

    Finally...the fix: Name:Thank you!!!

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-01-25T20:26:15+00:00

    "No need for anything complicated.  Just type what you're looking for.  If it's in the filename, those results will be returned first, above any results where your search term isinside the file.  Easy."

    This IS NOT true!!!  Most times I search for a file with 'xyz' in name, the top of the list contains files with obscure references to xyz somewhere inside the file, and the files with xyz in the name are hidden half way down the page.  

    My main reason for wanting to use search is to save time.  I usually know the file name and the directory it's in, but there may be 50 other files in that directory, so I want to save time by not having to look through a list of 50 files to find the one I want to open.

    Now with Windows 7, that's exactly what I have to do, unless I type  file:xyz

    there's no easy auto completion by typing the f - it doesn't default to file: so that I can fill in the bit that I want - it goes to a previous search, and trying to remove the previous file name and insert the new one is more effort than retyping 'file:'   In fact, it's usually easier just to look through the 50 or so filenames.  Sorting them by date and looking for the file you want is now usually the quickest option.  

    My question is why did Microsoft come up with something so stupid, and why haven't they fixed it?  There is the odd occasion (maybe once a month, compared to dozens of times a day for the normal search) where I need to search through file contents, so the indexing can sometimes be handy, but not giving users the option turn off looking through file contents suggests they really are out of touch with their users.  

    Isn't it about time they started to do something about it - or at least fix this problem by providing the option to make the default search only for filenames in the search box, and an option c:xyz if you want to search for contents?  Even an abbreviation f:xyx instead of file:xyz would save the time!!!

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-01-03T09:09:13+00:00

    file:search_string  works, but it's very tedious having to type the extra 5 characters than weren't required in XP every time you need to do a search.

    Surely there must be some way of setting up a default search option or a filter to limit the search to filenames, rather than contents?

    I often have different versions of the same file, so want to sort by date as well as part of the file name.  The last thing I want is to have additional matches that happen to have the same string somewhere in the contents of the file.

    Removing the option to search only for filenames without additional typing makes the Windows 7 search much less useful than the XP one. 

    I do hope people are and continue to use the feedback form (and any other available methods) to ask Microsoft to fix this error.  

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