How To Search Files In Windows 10

Windows 10'due south Start card can search your files, simply information technology seems like Microsoft is more interested in pushing Bing and other online search features these days. While Windows still has some powerful search features, they're a bit harder to find—and you might want to consider a third-party tool instead.

The Start Menu (and Cortana)

The Offset carte search functionality on Windows x is handled by Cortana, and it searches Bing and other online sources in addition to the files on your local PC.

In the initial version of Windows 10, y'all could click a "My Stuff" button while searching to search only your PC. This characteristic was removed in the Anniversary Update. At that place's no mode to just search your local PC'south files while searching your PC—not unless you lot disable Cortana via the registry.

However, y'all can even so use the Start menu for some bones file searches. Search for a file stored in an indexed location and it should announced somewhere in the list.

This won't always piece of work because the Start bill of fare only searches indexed locations, and there's no way to search other areas of your system from here without adding them to the index.

Past default, the Start menu searches everything information technology can—indexed files, Bing, OneDrive, the Windows Store, and other online locations. You can narrow this down by clicking the "Filters" push and selecting "Documents", "Folders", "Photos", or "Videos".

The trouble is that at that place's no way to search just all your local files. These categories are all narrow and include online locations, like your OneDrive.

RELATED: How to Choose Which Files Windows Search Indexes on Your PC

To improve the results, click the "Filters" option in the carte and and then click the "Select locations" button at the lesser of the menu. You'll exist able to choose your indexed search locations. Windows automatically scans and monitors these folders, building the search index information technology uses when y'all search via the Get-go menu. By default, it will index information in your user account'south folders and not much else.

File Explorer

If you frequently discover yourself frustrated with the Start card search feature, forget about it and head to File Explorer when you want to search. In File Explorer, navigate to the folder you want to search. For case, if you lot merely want to search your Downloads folder, open the Downloads binder. If yous want to search your entire C: bulldoze, head to C:.

Then, type a search into the box at the elevation right corner of the window and press Enter. if you're searching an indexed location, yous'll get results instantly. (You can make this a scrap faster past telling Windows to always start searching when you blazon in File Explorer.)

If the location you lot're searching isn't indexed—for example, if y'all're searching your entire C: drive—y'all'll see a progress bar as Windows looks through all the files in the location and checks to see which match your search.

You can narrow things down by clicking the "Search" tab on the ribbon and using the diverse options to choose the file type, size, and properties you're searching for.

Note that, when searching in not-indexed locations, Windows volition only search file names and not their contents. To change this, you lot can click the "Advanced options" button and enable "File contents". Windows volition do a deeper search and observe words inside files, but information technology may take a lot longer.

To brand Windows index more than folders, click Avant-garde Options > Change Indexed Locations and add the folder you desire. This is the same index used for the Kickoff menu search characteristic.

Everything, a Tertiary Party Tool

If you're not thrilled with the integrated Windows search tools, you may want to avert them and get with a third-party utility. In that location are quite a few decent ones out in that location, but we like Everything—and yes, it'due south free.

Everything is very fast and simple. Information technology builds a search index equally you lot use it, so you lot tin just start searching and it will work immediately. Information technology should be able to alphabetize most PCs in merely a few minutes. It'south a lightweight, small application that uses uses minimal system resources. Similar many other great Windows tools, information technology'due south also available as a portable application.

Its one downside, compared to Windows' built-in search, is that information technology can only search file and folder names—it tin can't search the text inside those files. Merely it's a very fast manner to find files and folders by proper name on your entire system, without dealing with Cortana or telling Windows to index your unabridged system drive, which could potentially slow things down.

Everything works very quickly. It builds up a database of every file and binder on your computer and searches happen instantly as you type. It runs in your notification surface area (aka the arrangement tray) and you lot can assign a keyboard shortcut to quickly open up the window from Tools > Options > Full general > Keyboard, if you lot like. If you want to chop-chop search all the files on your PC, this is a much better solution than the integrated Windows search tools.