Tips for quickly finding files, folders, and directories on your computer.

Computers have a built-in search system that helps you find the files you want. However, to search more efficiently and accurately, users need to know the following tips for quickly finding files on their computers . Of course, we can use search software to replace the computer's default tool. However, before using that search software, try these tips for quickly finding files on your computer.

Tips for quickly finding files, folders, and directories on your computer.

1. Use logical algorithms for searching.

TipsMake wants to share a tip for quickly finding files on your computer: use the logical OR, AND, and NOT algorithms. Note that these algorithms only work when you capitalize all the letters, and this quick file search tip applies when searching in Windows Explorer, not the Start Menu.

- With OR : The results will display files that match the values ​​you are searching for. For example: File_1 OR File_2 , the computer will display all files with names containing one of these two terms.
- With AND : The results must satisfy at least two or three conditions to be displayed. For example, File_1 AND File_2 means the file must contain both words to be displayed; this is an exact match search.
- With NOT : The results will filter out files that meet the first search condition, then filter those that do not contain the second condition.

2. Use wildcards to search.

With this quick file search trick on your computer, users can search for files based on a specific pattern, even if they don't know the exact characters used in the search.

- For example, if you want to search for the file TipsMake.JPG but don't remember its name, you can use ? to replace any character, like Taimienphi.??.JPG -> so the two characters ?? will replace the word VN.

- Another example: if you want to find the file TipsMake.JPG but only know it's an image and don't remember its name, you can simply search using the syntax *.JPG. However, this method is disadvantageous if the folder contains many images.

3. Find the exact file

To search for files most accurately, we use quotation marks. The search results must exactly match the phrase inside the quotation marks, whether it's two words, three words, or a long sentence. For example, if you want to find files named "TipsMake" without any prefixes or suffixes, you would use "Taimienphi.vn" to search.

4. Find files by size.

Another way to search for files on your computer is by their size. Use the syntax Size: file size to search. The system also provides several search options, such as:

- Size: Empty -> Searches for files with a size of 0 KB (empty files).
- Size: Tiny -> Searches for files with a size of 0 - 10 KB.
- Size: Small -> Searches for files with a size of 10 - 100 KB.
- Size: Medium -> Searches for files with a size of 100 KB - 1 MB.
- Size: Large -> Searches for files with a size of 1 MB - 16 MB.
- Size: Huge -> Searches for files with a size of 16 - 128 MB.
- Size: Gigantic -> Searches for files with a size > 128 MB.

If you want to search for a file like a video with a size of around 800 MB, you can use Size:>=750MB <=> or Size:750MB.850MB

5. Use the Start Menu to search.

The Start Menu is a very useful tool for quickly searching for a specific file. While it doesn't search for everything, the Start Menu is the most convenient and fastest way to find files. This is especially true on Windows 10, where the Start Menu has been improved to search for many file types, and the results prioritize the types of files you use most often.

6. Search by file type

Searching by file type such as Folder, Date, Tag, and Size is a quick file search trick on computers or Windows. Its strength is that the results will display the exact file type you're looking for, but its weakness is that it doesn't perform wide searches, and if a folder contains many different file types, it may not yield accurate results.

7. Use software to search for files.

Using software is a good trick for quickly finding files on your computer, helping you achieve your goals faster. Currently, there are many free file search software programs available. Here, we recommend Everything; with Everything , you can search for anything, and you can apply the file search tips mentioned above.

Above are some tips for quickly searching for files on your computer that TipsMake wants you to know and understand, because at some point they will be helpful for you in your work. If you are using Windows 10 and encounter problems searching for files, try the solutions for fixing the file search error on Windows 10. TipsMake has written a very detailed guide on how to fix the file search error on Windows 10, and you can also check out our article on quickly searching for files on Win 10 .