Windows 10: Searching by known filename exact or partial, has no results.

I am in DESKTOP folder and searching for files with the exact name and I KNOW they are in the Desktop folder as I am looking directly at them, the search window yields no results "No items match your search". Downloads and Docs behave the same way.


Other folders works fine inside and outside of C:\. What in the heck is going on?

:)

 

File Explorer Search fails wildcard partial numeric name search.

The indexing trouble shooter did not find any problem.
System File Check result was: Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool Version: 10.0.10586.0 found No component store corruption detected.

I do not believe that my system has any problem as the wildcard partial numeric name search issue occurs on all Windows 10 systems of family and friends.
I believe the priority of this issue should be raised because the Search Results vary depending on the number of files involved creating confusion and incorrect results. With less than 40 files the wildcard partial numeric name search returns the correct
results. With more than 50 files the wildcard search becomes a whole number search only listing files that have the exact number. With *2345 in the search box and more than 50 files in focus, Search will Not list 123456.txt but will only list 2345.txt.
With less than 40 files in focus All files with any numeric string containing 2345 will be listed.

 

File Explorer Search fails wildcard partial numeric name search.

Wildcard Searches in a single folder that has less than 50 empty files with 10 character filenames and that does not have any subfolders work as expected. More characters in the filename will cause the Search to fail with fewer files. With fewer characters
the Search will not fail until more than 50 files exist.

If subfolders exist then their contents affect Search failure. In testing I created a new folder and used “New Text Document” to create files with numeric names like: 1234567890.txt, 2345678901.txt etc. Using *2345 in the Search box every 10 or so files added,
worked as expected listing all files that had 2345 as part of the name, but after the 50th file was added the Search results showed only files that started with 2345. These results continued with shorter searches like: *3 should have listed all 50 files but
instead only listed files that started with the number 3.

I have rebuilt the Indexing Options many times including selecting only the test folder, which had no affect at all.

My actual filenames are quite long, all start with alpha acronyms or abbreviations followed by a dash, model and part number. There are over a thousand files in 8 sub folders. My real Searches are for a partial model number. This problem has cost me many
hours of research and recreating what I thought were missing drawings and documents.

 

Windows Search for exact filename and extension only

If you want to match only filenames and not file contents, you can qualify the search with name: like:

If you want an exact filename match, you can qualify the search with name:= like: