Searching in Windows 7 is easy. Simply press the Windows key on your keyboard (next to your Alt key) or type in the search box at the top of any open window, and start typing. The search begins automatically - ideal for those of us who are touch-typists, watching our monitor - but not for those who use hunt-and-peck. Items that match your search term(s) will appear, based on text in the file or folder name, text in the file and other properties the item might have.
If you get way too many results, perhaps you know you can use double quotation marks (" ") in the same way you might when you search the web or in Outlook.
But what if you know the title of the document or folder and want to use that to limit what you find?
Here’s how:
1. Press WIN + F or navigate to the folder from which you want to search.
2. In the Search box (CTRL + E, anyone?) in the top right hand corner, type name: followed by (part of) the item’s title.
3. If necessary, exclude certain items, using a hyphen (-).
For example, if you want to exclude pdfs or jpgs, simply type
name:whatever -pdf -jpg.
Or, if you want to find folders only, you can type
name:whatever kind:folder.
(By the way, the search is NOT cAse sENsiTIve so it doesn’t matter whether you type, for example, “name:whatever” or “Name:WHATEVER” or “NAME:Whatever”.)
So, once you know how, it is very simple to search by title only. But why on earth did Microsoft not put Name as an option in the search box - whereas it did include Kind, Date modified, Type and Size?!
(With thanks to Tina for this week’s tip inspiration!)
PS I'm committed to sharing the best of what I know with others so please don't keep these tips a secret. If you enjoyed today's tip, please forward it to anyone you feel may benefit or reprint it (with full copyright and subscription information) in your newsletters and message boards. Got a tip to share? Submit it by emailing karen@roem.co.uk - if your tip is selected, I'll publish it along with your name; the bragging rights will last a lifetime.
5 May 2014
Karen Roem offers software training and support through her company Roem Ltd. Contact her by email (Karen@roem.co.uk) or visit her website at http://www.roem.co.uk
Please note: Cambridge Network and Learning Collaboration members have the opportunity to book places on Roem Ltd courses at a reduced rate.
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