How to Search Files in Windows 10 and 11

 

In this article, I will show you the easiest ways to search your files in Windows 10 and 11.

 

 

1. Taskbar search

 

With Windows Taskbar, you can rapidly search for files in your indexed folders. Besides the document search, you can also use it to search for settings, applications, emails, folders, and different types of files – images, music, videos, and others.

 

Here is a quick guide on how to search with the Taskbar:

 

1. Click on the search bar at the bottom left of your screen or press the Windows key.

 

 

2. Type your keywords.

 

If you want to display only the documents, click the "Documents" tab.

 

Click the "More" tab to display a specific category of files like Music, Photos, Videos, and more.

 

It is important to mention that the Taskbar allows you to search only the indexed folders. In the Windows Indexing section, you can see how to add a folder to the index so that you can search it with the Taskbar.

 

2. File Explorer

 

File Explorer is the built-in file manager in Windows. It offers many functional capabilities for searching your files and folders.

 

Search by file name

1. Open the folder you want to search. If you choose "This PC," you will search all drives on your computer.

 

2. Click on the search box and type the name or part of the name of the file you are looking for.

 

 

The more files in the folder, the longer it will take for the search to complete.

 

Search file contents

You can also use File Explorer to search the text content of files. If you want to find a document whose name you don't remember, search for words you think are in the file's contents.

 

To search the text of the documents:

• In Windows 10, click on "Advanced options" -> "File Contents."
• In Windows 11, type the search words and click on the "Search options" -> "File Contents."

 

This helpful feature also has some disadvantages compared to the external search tools:

• Finding all the files takes a long time, especially in a large folder.
• You can't see the found text until you open the file and search for the same words again.

 

Windows indexing

When searching for files in Windows, you will mainly use File Explorer and Taskbar. While the File Explorer can search any folder, the Taskbar is limited to indexed folders only.

 

Indexed folders are pre-read and cataloged by your computer, so you get fast results when you search through their contents. Non-indexed folders need to be read by your computer on every search, which makes the process very slow for folders with large numbers of files.

 

This is why you might consider indexing your important folders.

 

By default, Windows indexes only the Pictures, Documents, Music, and Desktop folders (including subfolders).

 

You can add to the index any folder you like by following these steps:

 

1. On the Taskbar, type "Windows Search settings" to open the Search settings.

 

2. In Windows 10, click "Customize search locations here" under the "Classic" menu.
   In Windows 11, click on "Advanced indexing options."

 

 

3. Click the "Modify" button.

 

 

4. Locate all the folders you want to add to the index and select each with the checkbox.

 

 

5. Click "OK" - "Close."

 

If you want to index your entire PC, under the "Find My Files" menu, check "Enhanced."

 

When you have selected this option, you can add some folders to exclude them from the index by clicking on "Add an excluded folder."

 

Search options

Once you've clicked in the search box and typed the search words, you'll see the various options you can apply to your search.

 

Search in subfolders – Check or uncheck this option to include or exclude subfolders.

 

 

Filter by date modified – Click the "Date modified" button and select a date. For example, if you check today's date, only files that were changed today will be displayed.

 

 

File types – Select the type of files you want to search – such as photos, videos, music, games, and more.

 

 

Search by folder name – To search by folder name, select "Kind" -> "Folder."

 

Search by file size – Click on the "Size" button to filter the files by size.

 

 

Search filters - you can specify the type of file you're looking for. To specify a specific file type, type "ext: filetype" after your keywords.

 

 

To search for two or more types simultaneously, type OR between them:

 

 

You can combine multiple filters with multiple options.

 

 

You can access these filters from the search menu as well. Just head to the "Refine" section.

 

 

Sort the files - right-click the results pane and select "Sort by."

 

 

Choose your sort criteria and the display order – whether ascending or descending.

 

Boolean operators

Boolean operators consist of the words "AND," "OR," and "NOT."  They allow you to add more conditions to your search.

 

You can use the Boolean operators in File Explorer. For example, if you want to search for .docx and .pdf documents containing both terms "art" and "e-commerce" and not the term "reports," you can type:

 

art AND e-commerce NOT reports ext: doc OR pdf

 

Finally, let's take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of File Explorer in terms of searching files.

 

Advantages

• You don't need to install anything – it is built into Windows.
• It offers a wide variety of options.
• You can search in the text of the documents.

 

Disadvantages

• The tool doesn't show the found text – you need to open each file separately and search for it again in the document.
• You cannot see the folder containing each file in the results.
• You cannot search for word combinations.
• Searching the text of files is slow unless you enable the indexing option.

 

 

3. SeekFast

 

SeekFast's unique text search capabilities

When it comes to searching for text in your files, I recommend SeekFast - a popular and convenient program for textual search on your computer, created in 2008. It supports Windows and macOS and comes with a free and paid version.

 

SeekFast's user-friendly interface and intelligent search function set it apart from similar tools. The intelligent search function allows you to search as conveniently on your computer as with web search engines such as Google and Bing. You can search for combinations of words that occur in different places in the text. SeekFast then analyzes the results and ranks the most relevant at the top, making it easy for you to find what you're looking for.

 

SeekFast can search in all popular document types – MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, WordPerfect, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, LaTeX, RTF, email files, eBook files, audio files, video files, and many types of text files, including programming language files.

 

Some other essential features of SeekFast are:

• Load a list of search terms from a text file.
• Save the search result to a CSV or text file.
• Sort results by relevance, date, or file name.
• Fine-tune the search using the "Case sensitive," "Match word," "Any of words," and other options.

 

How to use SeekFast

To start using SeekFast, follow these steps:

 

1. Download and install SeekFast.

 

2. Press the "Browse" button to select a folder to search.

 

 

3. Type a search word or combination of words in the search box and click "Enter."

 

 

4. In the search results you see both the names and folders of the found files and the sentences containing the search words. You can click on the file name to open it.

 

 

5. Click on the sentence to see a larger context without opening the file.

 

You can load previously searched folders instantly:

 

Fine-tune your search

Below the SeekFast search field is a ribbon from which you can fine-tune your SeekFast search:

• Choose how to sort results - by relevance, date, or file name.
• Search Case sensitive.
• Search by exact word match.
• "Any of words" option allows you to see all sentences in which at least one of the searched words occurs.
• Search file names - search both text and file names.
• Include subfolders - control whether the search should be only in the main folder or all its subfolders.

 

In addition, the "Options" menu allows you to control many other program features.

 

Advantages

• Intelligent search, allowing you to see the most relevant results on the top.
• You can search for combinations of words.
• The search is very fast.
• Support of all commonly used document types.
• You can sort the results by different criteria.
• Convenient and easy to use interface.
• The program has a free version.

 

Disadvantages

• The free version can only search up to 50 files at a time.

 

 

4. Everything

 

If you need to search only the names of the files, Everything is a very suitable program for you – it is fast, convenient, and is made just for this purpose.

 

I do not recommend Everything to search the text of your documents because it is relatively slow for this kind of search. In addition, you will not be able to see the text of the sentences found without opening the file itself.

 

How to use Everything

1. Download Everything.

 

2. When installing the program, in the "NTFS indexing" options, leave the default option "Install Everything service" so that your searches can be fast.

 

 

3. Start the program and enter the word you are looking for in the search field.

 

 

4. Click on a folder or file to open it.

 

 

Search within a specific folder

By default, Everything searches your entire PC. If you only want to search a specific folder, follow these steps:

 

1. Go to "Search" -> "Advanced Search."

 

2. Click the "Browse" button and select the desired folder.

 

 

 

3. Leave "Include subfolders" checked if you want to search in subfolders.

 

4. Click "OK" to close the Advanced Search.

 

5. Type your search word to the right.

 

Search the text of the documents

Everything can search the text of almost all types of documents, but the search is very slow. I recommend you use it only in a specific folder with a small number of documents.

 

To search the text of documents, follow these steps:

 

1. Go to "Search" -> "Advanced Search" and select the search folder as described above.

 

2. In the "A word or phrase in the file" field, enter the search word.

 

 

3. Click "OK" to close Advanced Search.

 

Advantages

• Completely free.
• When searching by file name, it shows the found files instantly.
• The interface is simple and easy to use.

 

Disadvantages

• Searching the text of the files is very slow.
• The tool does not show the sentences found in the text.

 

 

5. Findstr

 

If you are okay with working from the command line without using a graphical interface, findstr is a good choice. It is a built-in Windows tool with excellent search capabilities, but requires some knowledge. It is similar to the grep tool in Linux. The findstr commands resemble the grep commands – you can see them in the article about searching files in Linux.

 

It is important to note that findstr can only search in plain text files, such as *.txt, *.html, *.xml, *.csv, and others. If you want to search complex file types such as MS Word, Excel, or PDF documents, it will not work.

 

The most significant advantages of findstr search are the wide range of options and the ability to use regular expressions.

 

To use the tool, open the Search Box, type "cmd", and click on "Command Prompt" – it is the working environment for findstr, where you will write the commands.

 

Search for a word in a folder

Finding a word in the text files in a folder is easy. For example, if you want to search for the word "painting" in the "books" folder located on drive D, your search should look like this:

findstr painting "D:\books\*"

 

Search subfolders

To search in subfolders as well, you need to add the /s option:

findstr /s painting "D:\books\*"

 

Search for files with a specific extension

To search only for files with a specific extension, add the extension after the asterisk. For example, to search for ".txt" files, enter:

findstr /s painting "D:\books\*.txt."

 

Case insensitive search

To ignore the case, use the /i option. For example, if you're looking for "painting," you'll also find "Painting":

findstr /s /i painting "D:\books\*"

 

Write the line number

If you want to see the line number in which the search word is located, add the /n option:

findstr /s /i /n painting "D:\books\*"

 

You can find more useful information on using findstr in the official findstr user guide.

 

Advantages

• You do not need to install anything as the program is built into Windows.
• You have a wide variety of search options.
• You can use regular expressions.

 

Disadvantages

• • There is no graphical interface.
  • The tool can only search text files.

• Knowledge of command line options is required to work with the program.

 

 

6. File Locator Pro

 

If you often search huge archives or need the power of regular expressions, File Locator Pro is a great all-round choice. Unlike index-only tools, it can run a one-off search without first building a database, yet it still lets you create a reusable index when speed matters.

 

How to use File Locator Pro

1. Download and install File Locator Pro.
2. Start the program and click the folder icon to choose the folder you want to search.
3. Type your keywords in the "Containing text" field.
4. Use the drop-down on the right if you want to switch the search mode to Boolean, Regex, or Whole word.
5. Click a result to open the file.

 

Advantages

• Works with or without an index, so you are not forced to wait for indexing.
• Powerful query language - Boolean, proximity (NEAR), hash, fuzzy, and full Regular Expressions.
• Portable switch (/portable) lets you run it from a USB stick.

 

Disadvantages

• First search on a very large folder is much slower than tools that always use an index.
• Cannot search for a combination of words.
• Relatively high price.

 

 

7. Copernic Desktop Search

 

Copernic Desktop Search builds a permanent index of your documents, Outlook or Thunderbird mail, and even cloud drives, so matches appear as you type.

 

How to use Copernic Desktop Search

1. Download the free trial, install the program, and allow it to complete the initial indexing (this process can take several hours or more on large drives).
2. Type a word in the search bar – results refresh in real time.
3. Narrow the list with the left-hand filters (Type, Date, Size, Location).
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+F to open Advanced Search for Boolean or Regular-Expression queries.

 

Advantages

• Near-instant results thanks to a live index and built-in OCR for PDFs and images.
• Preview the whole document or e-mail without opening another app.
• Integrates with OneDrive, SharePoint, and network shares; a free Basic edition exists.

 

Disadvantages

• A relatively complex interface in which it is difficult to navigate the various options.
• The index occupies additional disk space and uses CPU resources while it updates.
• Re-indexing large folders can stall.
• Cannot find word combinations that appear separately in a sentence.
• No native ARM64 build – runs under emulation on Windows on ARM.

 

 

8. DocFetcher

 

Prefer an open-source and cross-platform tool? DocFetcher is a Java-based search tool for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It builds indexes for any folder you choose and supports PDF, Office, OpenDocument, and many plain-text formats.

 

How to use DocFetcher

1. Right-click in the "Search Scope" pane on the left, choose "Create Index From" -> "Folder", and select the folder to search.
2. In the "Indexing Queue" pop-up window, click "Run".
3. When the indexing is completed, enter your search term in the top field and press "Enter".
4. Results appear instantly with a live preview; click a file name to open the document.

 

Advantages

• Completely free (Eclipse Public Licence); runs from a portable ZIP.
• Same workflow on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Very light on system resources; indexes can be stored on USB or NAS.

 

Disadvantages

• Requires Java and has an older-style interface with no dark theme.
• Cannot index emails and offers only basic attribute filters.
• Cannot search for words that occur in different parts of the sentence.
• Development pace depends on the community, so updates are infrequent.

 

 

9. PowerGREP

 

When you need search and bulk replace with industrial-strength Regular Expressions, PowerGREP is the tool of choice. It can scan inside archives and binary files, collect statistics or run scripted actions – all with full undo.

 

How to use PowerGREP

1. In the Action panel choose Search, then set File Selection to your target folder or file mask.
2. Enter your keywords, or type a regular expression in Search Terms.
   
3. Click Run. The Results pane lists every match with line and column numbers.
   
4. Use Collect to export only the matches, or Replace / Rename for batch editing.

 

Advantages

• Unmatched power for complex regex and large-scale batch operations.
• Searches and replaces across thousands of files (including ZIP, RAR, DOCX, PDF).
• Generates detailed logs and has a scriptable command-line interface.

 

Disadvantages

• Steep learning curve; the interface can feel overwhelming at first.
• Very slow performance due to lack of indexing – each search reads the files anew.
• Pricier than most desktop search tools.

 

 

10. Listary

 

Listary is a handy tool for searching by file name on your computer. It has a free and paid version.

 

In addition to searching for files, with Listary, you can open applications, copy and move files between folders, and perform other operations.

 

How to use Listary

1. Download and install the program.

 

2. Open File Explorer and double-click the "Ctrl" key.

 

3. Enter the search word in the search box.

 

 

 

4. Click on the file or program you want to open.

 

You can add favorite folders using the icon to the right. You can also view the recently opened and modified files.

 

From the last icon on the right, you can display a context menu with other useful program features.

 

Advantages

• The tool has a free version.
• Quickly finds files and programs.
• Easily to open with a shortcut key.

 

Disadvantages

• The tool cannot search the text of the documents.
• The free version does not offer advanced search, filters, and other valuable features.
• There is no standard graphical interface.

 

 

Conclusion

 

I hope this short guide to searching for files in Windows was helpful to you.

 

If you're running macOS, make sure to check out our article about searching on Mac.

 

Now I would like to hear from you – which task do you have to do more often? Which of these programs is most convenient for you? Let me know by leaving a comment below!

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

1. Can I make the Taskbar search every folder on my PC?
The Taskbar only queries folders that Windows has indexed. Add any missing locations in "Settings" -> "Search" -> "Advanced indexing options" so they are included in future searches.

 

2. What’s the fastest built-in way to look inside documents in Windows?
In File Explorer, choose "Advanced options" -> "File Contents" (Windows 10) or "Search options" -> "File Contents" (Windows 11). This scans file text without extra software, though it slows down in large, non-indexed folders.

 

3. Why is Windows Search not showing results from inside my documents?
This usually happens because the folder or file type is not indexed. Make sure the folder is included in the indexing options and that the file types support content indexing.

 

4. Why does File Explorer take so long to search text?
If a folder is not in the index, Windows must read every file at search time. Index the folder first to get much quicker results.

 

5. Is there a way to search for multiple words that are not next to each other?
Not with the default Windows Search. For this functionality, you need advanced tools like SeekFast, which allow proximity and keyword-based searches across many document types.

 

6. Can I search on external drives or network folders?
Yes. Windows Search (with proper indexing) and most third-party tools support searching on external drives or network locations.

 

7. How can I make searches faster in Windows?
Improve search speed by customizing indexing options to include only relevant folders and file types. Alternatively, use a dedicated tool like SeekFast for instantly faster and more precise results.

 

8. How is SeekFast better than Windows Search?
SeekFast shows the matching sentence, ranks hits by relevance, lets you search word combinations that appear in different parts of the file, and works instantly.

 

9. Is there a free version of SeekFast, and what are its limits?
The free edition can search up to 50 files at once. Upgrading removes that limit and unlocks additional features.

 

10. Which tool is best when I only need file names?
Everything returns file-name matches almost instantly and is ideal for that task, but it is slow for searching inside document text.

 

11. Can I search file contents in Windows using regular expressions?
Yes. Findstr (command line), File Locator Pro, and PowerGREP all accept full regex queries.

 

12. How do I search inside PDFs or images?
File Explorer and most third-party tools can read native PDFs directly. For scanned PDFs or image files, you must run OCR first, save the extracted text, and then search those documents.

 

13. What if I need to replace text across thousands of files?
PowerGREP can search, replace, rename, or collect matches in bulk, with full undo and detailed logs.

 

14. Do index-based tools wear out my SSD?
Indexers like Windows Search or Copernic use extra disk space and background writes, but on modern SSDs, the effect is minimal.