Missing search tab - File Explorer (Windows 10 - 1909)

As per every thread in the Microsoft community, let me preface this response with:

Hello, and thanks for reaching out. I am Fred, an independent advisor, and I will be ecstatically over the moon to help you with your problem today, the one which I have not bothered to read the details of. Here is a link to some web page to run a completely irrelevant-to-your-question diagnostic tool. You can rest assured that this is safe, because this solution is contained in my "join the dots" support crib.

>> Ok, so I don't see where you can actually type a specific date or enter a user date range??  Seriously, why is this so difficult? smh

Roger that. It's absurd beyond reason. But hey, File Explorer has a {gasp} RIBBON! now, and that makes everything soooo discoverable. Except maybe for this.

Once you enter something in the search box and press Enter, resulting in the Search tab finally appearing (oh no, this isn't a bug... much), then you will see the Date Modified button. This will give you the following drop-down:

"But Microsoft", I hear you say, "I want to put in a SPECIFIC date!"

"Tough", says the Windows 10 development team. "Take what you're given."

However you CAN in fact search by a specific date but you need to use the oh-so discoverable and intuitive advanced query syntax to do it. Suppose that I want to find all mp4s created between 1 and 2 April (note that my machine uses international DD/MM/YY dates; US viewers need to adjust accordingly) I can enter the following syntax into the search box:

*.mp4 datemodified:>=‎1/‎4/‎2021<=‎2/‎4/‎2021

Obviously if you want just one date you leave out the greater than sign and second date, and just do it as =.

Imagine me as Maximus, standing in the arena yelling to the crowd "IS THAT NOT 'DISCOVERABLE'???"

Top job, Windows team. Top, top job.

> Doesn't it seem counter intuitive to provide search options only after searching?

Yeah, just a {sarcasm} liiiitle {/sarcasm} bit. But hey, no, it's not a bug, it's a feature.

> What really irritates me, is you cannot select the when to install updates. I uninstalled the new 20H1, and MS had then re-installed it after restarting also removed my old build 1903 so I could not revert back to the old version.

Well, at least you were able to install that. My computer keeps failing on that install. I believe that the failure may be connected with my Sennheiser headset software. Yeah, that sounds reasonable; that headset software can stymie a system update. Of course Microsoft have done nothing to address the issue, or generate any USEFUL error messages along with the failure. Windows Update - quality you can rely on. (Just not in a good way.)

LOL!  You NAILED it!!  Tx for writing the code.  I've needed that many times.  FYI - if you purchase Windows Professional version, you can customize when to allow updates.  Of course, I keep getting messages, and one forced update that Win 10 is no longer supported so I need the NEW Win 10.  So who knows if that Professional version will still allow customized updates.  Like I want to voluntarily sign up for that Pandora's box!

and here we are 2 years or so later, and the defect still isn't fixed. lol

Agreed, if you type in the kind: or size: it shows up but is should show up as soon as you click in the search box to initiate a search.

Well, was forced to update to the newer Win 10 version (20H2),  Now, the box to enter the search text is large enough to see what you are typing.  You still don't get the search tab until you enter text and run the search. smh