Windows 10: Windows Syntax & Search

Hi!
.
I want to search for strings that occur within the contents of text files.
.
I am definitely missing something with respect to Windows' search syntax or Windows in general...sorry!
.
To avoid the complexity of my specific issue, I created the following test scenario.
.
1) I created a file called test.txt on my Desktop
.
2) I entered the string "abc123abc" in test.txt
.
3) I double checked that test.txt is indexed...it IS
....a) I deleted and rebuilt my index database
....b) I double checked that test.txt is indexed again...it IS again
.
4) I attempted to search, unsuccessfully, for test.txt
....a) My search strings are
........i) not "test"
........ii) "abc"
........iii) "123"
........iv) "*abc*"
........v) "*123*"
........vi) "?abc?"
........vii) "?123?"
.
I really do not understand what I am missing.
.
Please help!
.
Thanks,
Mark
.
PS: Those dots everywhere are to counter this forum's automatic white space edit.

:)

 

Searching for Phrase in File Explorer

You may have noticed that there is a link in that help page that Ron showed you to a reference for Advanced Query Syntax. Unfortunately it redirects uselessly now so you need to find a new one based on that hint.

Using Advanced Query Syntax Programmatically (Windows)

(BING search for

advanced query syntax search windows phrase wildcard

)

Looks like the search syntax you might want to be trying is $="search for a phrase" However, I think you could also try the DOSWILDCARD syntax ~"search for a phrase" -- just make sure you don't need any questionmarks or asterisks in your "phrase".
; )



Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle

---

 

Search Query Syntax?

Is there any documentation pertaining to the Windows Photos App search box query syntax? Something like this: Advanced
Query Syntax?

I tried something like: date:2016 and it yields results for photos taken in 2016. Searching:
camera:canon causes the photos app to close abruptly (crashes).

[Moved from:
Windows / Apps on Windows 10 / Photos]

 

Search for a file containing a specific string in file contents:

contents:string

Search for a file with two specific strings in file contents:

contents:string1 AND contents:string2

Search for a file with at least one of three specific strings in file contents:

contents:string1 OR contents:string2 OR contents:string3

Search for a file with one of two specific strings in file contents, excluding files which also have a spefic string:

contents:string1 OR contents:string2 NOT contents:string3

Note that logical operators AND, OR, NOT must be given in all uppercase.

 

Thank you for your reply Kari.
.
Please help me understand another detail.
.
When I enter into the search text box, the following strings,
...."contents:abc"
........I find test.txt
...."contents:123"
........I do not find test.txt
...."contents:*abc*"
........I find test.txt
...."contents:*123*"
........I do not find test.txt
...."contents:?abc?"
........I find test.txt
...."contents:?123?"
........I do not find test.txt
.
Why do I not find test.txt when searching for "contents:123", "contents:*123*", and "contents:?123?" while I do find test.txt when searching for "contents:abc", "contents:*abc*", and "contents:?abc?" ?
.
Thanks,
Mark

 

Add double tilde (~~) to search a partial string within a string:

contents:~~123

Without two tildes, the partial string you are searching for must be at the beginning of the string. Double tilde tells it can be located within a longer string.

 

With respect, I still do not understand because my searches for both

contents:~~abc

and

contents:~~123

fail to find test.txt.

Is there documentation regarding Windows syntax that you can refer me too?

Thanks,
Mark

 

Advanced Query Syntax (Windows)

 

Hi, it seems the difficulty is that you must specify text from the start of the string.

The question is discussed here:
File Explorer how to search content using wildcards


Neither * nor ? are recognised as wild card characters in content search- * seems to be ignored.
(They are valid for filename search though).

What works (for me!)
abc*
abc
abc123

Note that
*abc finds the file, which might suggest
*3abc would, but it doesn't.

What doesn’t work:
*123abc
???123*
???123???
123abc
abc*abc

Advanced Query Syntax gives a lot of information, but is old and not complete.
Even 'How to Geek' only gives a simple example of text content search
Learning Windows Search: Use Boolean, Dates, and Wildcards to Give Your Searches a Boost

3rd party tools are just simpler.. even if they don't index content like this one:



Here I started from 'Everywhere' (both disks), specified txt documents containing 123abc

The result was fairly quick.

 

Thanks for your help. I decided to use Notepad++ and/or Grep for Windows.