Learn How to Use Windows 7′s Advanced Search Operators
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While many people feel searching in Windows is less than ideal, 7’s abilities are fairly amazing. The big trick to unlocking them, however, lies in Advanced Query Syntax. Using these advanced operators can make finding files dead simple. Advanced Query Syntax Windows 7 eschews a proper “Advanced Search” option in favor of using Advanced Query Syntax. It was developed alongside the Windows Search tool and has been seamlessly baked into 7’s goodness. http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/...09/sshot-2.png AQS allows you to use special operators and searching syntax to quickly pare down results. The biggest benefit to this is that if you know the operators, you can find results more quickly because you can type faster than you can click. AQS feeds off of natural language keywords along with specific operators to get the job done. You enter your search terms, you put down an “operator,” then follow up with a “property” that can be mathematical, from a specific list, or from everyday speech. If you refuse to memorize things on principle, though, you don’t need to worry; you can add operators and select properties with the mouse, as well. The best part is you can use AQS anywhere you search, including the two most prominent areas: the Start Menu and in Explorer windows. Searching and Omitting Pop open an Explorer window and search for something. I searched for “photo” because I’m looking for things with that in the title or location. http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/...09/sshot-3.png But, let’s say I wanted to eliminate anything that had “adobe” in the title or location? That’s easy! Just add a dash before words you want to “subtract” from your results. http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/...09/sshot-4.png You can see that my search options changed a bit. If you want to search for exact phrases, you can use quotes (just like with Google). http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/...9/sshot-10.png It’s important to note that Windows Search does not differentiate between letter case. Here’s a list of AQS operators that have to do with text searching:
Let’s take things a bit further and search for a specific kind of file. If you click on the search terms, you should see a box pop up asking if you want to add a search filter. http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/...09/sshot-5.png If you select “Kind,” you’ll get a drop-down list of different types of files. “Picture” seems appropriate in my case. http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/...09/sshot-6.png You can also choose “Type” instead. http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/...09/sshot-8.png Now you can choose a specific extension or a group of extensions for a known type. For example, you can search with the extension “.jpg” or you can search for “JPG File.” The latter will pick out “.jpg” and “.jpeg” files. Date and Size Maybe we knew we had edited the file at some point. Choose “Date modified” and you’ll be able to select a range of dates with your mouse. http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/...09/sshot-7.png Yes, I searched for modified files from midnight to several days into the future. Sometimes, you just want to be sure. Alternatively, you could also use the following syntax instead of using the mouse: search terms >mm/dd/yyAs you can see, AQS accepts a very diverse set of operators and mathematical and natural language cues. You can search for size in a similar fashion: search terms size: giganticThe “size” operator has a list of properties that correspond with specific file size ranges.
Searching with Natural Language As mentioned, a huge (64mb) advantage is that if you know the operators, you can use normal words as properties. This makes AQS fairly easy to learn and use daily. There’s such a wide plethora of options out there for you search with. Here are a few more examples: size:>=3mb <=9mbPretty amazing, isn’t it? Because AQS has this crazy range of input, here are a few guidelines you should follow, in general:
Oh, and of course, you can stack multiple operators together: http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/...09/sshot-9.png For more information about what operators you can use with AQS and what properties they take, check out Microsoft’s article on; Windows Search AQS. |
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