As I showed you in a contempo article, "Speedily find what yous need with the Search app in Windows eight.1," Windows 8.ane's new Search characteristic is a spectacular tool that volition assist yous to find just about anything that you're
looking for on the web and your hard disk. However, as you may take noticed,
the Search app is a fiddling as well good at its job when information technology comes to finding files
on your hard disk drive. For case, my instance search turned up 1834 documents.
While I did utilize a pretty generic search term, you can see how such
a broad open search could make finding what you want fairly hard in some situations.

Fortunately, for those times when y'all need a more discerned search
of the files on your hd, you can turn to File Explorer and its multitude
of Search filters. In this commodity, I'll prove you how to utilize and take advantage
of the Search filters built into File Explorer's Search box in Windows 8.1.

The Search tab

Permit'southward begin with an overview of the Search feature. When you
select the Search box, which you lot'll observe in the upper right corner of File
Explorer, you'll immediately see the Search tab appear (Effigy A). As you can
meet, the Search tab is populated with a host of filters and additional search
features arranged in several categories: Location, Refine, and Options.

Figure A

The
Search tab is populated with a host of filters and additional search features.

However, you don't have to use whatsoever of those filters or
additional features to begin your search. Equally soon every bit you begin typing
letters in the box, File Explorer immediately begins sifting through the search
index for that text in binder names, file names, the contents of files, and file backdrop. It so displays the results in File Explorer.

For case, I typed Can
in the Search box in the Documents Library and instantly turned up 51 items (Figure
B).

Figure B

The
Search process is fast and efficient.

While that'south not a lot, manually weeding through 51 files to
the find the ones that I desire would exist a very fourth dimension-consuming task. Fortunately,
I tin can use Search filters to do the work for me. Let's take a closer look.

Location filters

Using the filters in the Location category, I can better
target my search. Equally you can see, the default Location is All subfolders, which
will conduct the search in the selected folder and in all subfolders
underneath it. If yous're non certain where the file is on your hard disk, you tin
expand the search by selecting This PC, which will search everywhere on the
computer. If y'all know that the file is in the current folder, you tin can narrow
the search by selecting Current folder, which volition search simply in the selected
folder and non in whatever of the subfolders.

If the file or text y'all are looking for was not constitute in
these iii almost common locations, you can select Search again in and select
from any of the bachelor options (Effigy C). The options that you lot notice will
vary, depending on your situation. Now, every bit yous can come across in my example, the
choices on the bill of fare include such things as my Homegroup, Microsoft OneNote, and
the Internet, which volition of course direct the search to Bing.

Figure C

The
Search again in carte will display options relevant to your system.

Refine filters

Using the filters in the refine category will allow you to
narrow your search even further. Earlier we move on to specifics, I want
introduce y'all to the idea that the filters in the refine category actually
invoke a base version of the Windows Search Advanced Query Syntax. With that in mind, let's move on.

When you select the Appointment modified filter (Effigy D) you'll
see a card that allows you to select 1 of the bachelor timeframes, such as
Yesterday or Last year.

Effigy D

The
Engagement modified filter provides you with a menu where you tin select one of the
available timeframes.

When yous select one of the options on the Date modified
carte du jour, you'll encounter the Advanced Query Syntax for the filter announced in the search
box in low-cal bluish text. For example, if you select Last calendar week, yous'll see datemodified:terminal calendar week appear the
search box (Figure E) along with the original search term.

Figure E

The
Date modified filter invokes the Advanced Query Syntax.

In the instance of the Date modified filter, the basic
timeframes tin likewise be refined. To do so, just place your cursor in the Search box, right after the last character, and click. When y'all practice, you'll run across a panel appear
that contains a calendar, and y'all can select a date (or appointment range) only past
clicking the dates on the calendar (Effigy F). You lot can also select i of the
other basic timeframes.

Figure F

Using
the calendar, you lot can refine your appointment modified search to bodily dates.

When yous select the Kind
filter, you'll see an extensive menu that shows the different kinds of files
that you tin search for. In my example, I've selected Document from the list
and the Avant-garde Query Syntax base term kind:=certificate
appears in the Search box (Figure 1000). This would then allow y'all to narrow your
search to only files classified as documents by the Kind filter. My search turned upwardly .txt, . docx, and .rtf files that contained the
word Tin in the title, properties, or contents.

Figure G

Using
the Kind filter will allow yous to essentially narrow your search to a specific
file type.

Looking at the available Kind filters reveals some very
interesting ways that yous can refine your search. For instance, you lot can specify
content from Contacts, Instant Messages, Recorded Idiot box, and Web History, simply to
mention a few. If you click the query text in the Search box, a panel will
appear that allows you to select ane of the other Kind filters.

If yous know roughly the size of the file that you're searching
for, y'all can use the Size filter (Figure H) to assistance you lot to narrow your search.
If you lot click the query text in the Search box, a panel will appear that allows you to select one of the other Size filters.

Effigy H

Using
the Size filter allows you narrow your search to a specific file size.

If you select the Other properties filter, you can select
some of the most common file backdrop. However, these filters work a bit differently
that the others in that they require y'all to add information to the filter. For
instance, I selected Tags from the card (Figure I), and equally you lot tin see in the
Search box, the proper noun of the tags that I desire to search for accept to be manually entered correct after the colon ( : ).

Figure I

The
Other properties filter require user input.

Options

The items in the Options section aren't filters, but they'll assistance you lot to conduct your search operation more efficiently. Recent
searches essentially displays a history list of all your recent search
operations (Figure J). There'southward also a Articulate search history command so that you
tin easily clean upward the listing when you no longer need it.

Figure J

Contempo
searches displays a history of all your contempo search operations.

From the Avant-garde options menu (Effigy K), you can change
which folders are indexed for fast searching or add non-indexed locations to a
search operation. For example, you tin can configure the tool to include the
contents of System files and Zipped folders.

Figure Chiliad

The
Advanced options allows you lot to change indexed and non-indexed locations.

If yous find yourself performing the aforementioned search over and
over again, you tin can save your search so that
you can easily access information technology anytime you need information technology, correct from File Explorer'south
Navigation pane. All y'all have to exercise is click Save search, and save the search in
the Search Connector folder (Effigy L).

Figure 50

Y'all
tin salve yourself time and effort by saving the search.

Every bit y'all tin see, saved searches appear in the Favorites
section of the Navigation pane (Figure G), so that y'all can easily run a search
whenever yous need to.

Figure One thousand

If
you accept a search operation that you run on a regular basis, you can save the
search.

Looking back at Figure One thousand, y'all'll see the Open file location
command. Selecting this control will open the folder containing the file that
is currently selected. Selecting the Shut search control will exercise exactly what
information technology says — information technology volition close the Search tab and remove the results from the file
pane.

What'due south your take?

Have y'all used whatsoever of these Search filters or Search Tools?
If so, what's your favorite feature? Equally e'er, if yous have comments or
information to share most this topic, please take a moment to participate in the give-and-take thread below.