How to use the file search command on Windows, find saved files

Long-time computer users are certainly familiar with searching for files on Windows by typing related keywords. However, the search results are sometimes very general, confusing and making it difficult for you to find the file you need. To solve this problem, the Windows file search trick helps you filter and classify files easily, accurately and more effectively without installing any software.
 

Commands and syntax to search files on windows 7,8,10

 - Kind: Specify the type of file you want to search such as documents, folders, images, calendars, must be in English: Video, doc, images.

- Datecreated: Searches for those created during the selected time period.

- Datemodified: Search by the time the file was modified, you can select the time range "from date" . "to date" by holding the Shift key and selecting the times you want to search.

- Datetaken: Find image files by selected date.

- Name: File name to search.

- Type: Search by specific extensions such as .jpg, .bmp, .pdf, .docx, and .mp3. 

- Tags: Search for files by the metadata tags included inside.

- Size: Search by file size. The syntax can customize the size range like - Datemodified. For example: size:=10mb.50mb.

- Length: Search by length of music or video files.

- Authors: Search by the author name of the file with some file types that have author such as text and images, audio.

How to combine file search commands

With the search method mentioned above, you can add some commands as below to search for files according to more specific information, using a combination of commands will give the results you want.

kind:photo datetaken:11/12/2016  : Find photos taken on 11/12/2016.

kind:doc datecreated:11/12/2016  : Finds .doc files created on 11/12/2016.

kind:video datemodified:11/12/2016  : Find videos modified on 11/12/2016.

ext:doc author:Taimienphi.vn  (author name): Replace TipsMake with the author's name to find that person's files.

kind:music artist:Taimienphi.vn  (singer name): Replace TipsMake with the name of the singer or band you want to find the file for.

How to use commands to search for files on Windows

1. Search command from Start Menu Search.

Normally, when you type a keyword like video to find video clips on your computer, the results returned will be very diverse. Including all files and tools on your computer related to the keyword video .

However, when using the kind:video command, we will be able to filter only video clips.

Similarly you can quickly find songs with the extension .mp3

The same goes for the keyword image , Windows search results are very diverse, making it difficult for us to find the desired file.

However, when using the kind:image command you will only receive images.

2. Search command from File Explorer

Searching on My Computer returns even more confusing results.

But when using the kind:image command , the result is only images.

Windows search commands make it easy for users to find and filter files quickly, especially when working with large numbers of files. For more detailed searches, you can  search for files using DocFetcher  to find files by specific criteria such as name, size, creation date, or modification date, providing accurate and fast results.

When hard drive space is limited, storing large files can become a problem. FILEminimizer Suite is an effective solution to reduce file size without compromising file quality. This saves storage space and makes it easier to send files over the Internet faster.

Lesley Montoya

Update 20 December 2024