Windows Search Tips and Tricks

On This Page

	Tips for narrowing your search
	Windows Search wildcard operators
	Outlook tips
	Use shortcuts to start a program

Related Links

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• Advanced search options
• Technical FAQ
• Windows Vista
• Windows Search 4.0

With Windows Search, you can quickly find specific files, e-mail, or documents on your PC and file shares on your network. Use the search terms below to fine tune your search and pinpoint exactly what you're looking for.

Tips for narrowing your search

	Type this	To find this
	Windows	Items containing WinDOwS, windows, WINDOWS or any other combination of uppercase and lowercase letters
	microsoft windows	Items containing both words microsoft and windows
	microsoft NOT windows microsoft - windows	Items containing microsoft, but not windows
	microsoft not windows	Items containing all three words—microsoft, not, windows—but not necessarily in that order
	microsoft OR windows	Items containing microsoft, windows, or both
	microsoft or windows	Items containing all three words—microsoft, or, windows—but not necessarily in that order
	"microsoft windows"	Items containing the exact phrase microsoft windows
	(microsoft windows)	Finds items containing the terms microsoft and windows in any order
	microsoft AND windows microsoft + windows	Finds items containing microsoft and windows
	date: >11/05/04 size: >5	Finds items with a date after 11/05/04 Finds items with a size greater than 5
	date: <11/05/04 size: <5	Finds items with a date before 11/05/04 Finds items with a size less than 5

Notes:

• Boolean operators (NOT, OR, AND) must be in all UPPERCASE letters.

• You cannot use two keywords (for example, NOT and OR) in the same query.

There are minor differences in advanced search terms that are supported within Windows Search 4.0 and among earlier versions. If have you deployed Windows Desktop Search 2.6.5 or 2.6.6, please download the WDS 2.6.6 Advanced Search Terms document.

• Download as XPS (243 KB) | Get the XPS viewer (What is XPS?)

• Download as PDF (226 KB) | Get Adobe Reader for PDF files

You can narrow your search further with additional search terms that help you determine the relevance of the search items. For a more in-depth look at search operators, review the Windows Search Advanced Search Terms.

Windows Search wildcard operators

Sometimes you're not really sure what you're looking for, or at least can't pinpoint some of the finer details. Wildcards can help you find files for which you only have partial details. Adding the asterisk (*) in your search term uses a wildcard for a string of letters or numbers, whereas the question mark (?) is a single character wildcard.

	Wildcard	Example	Description
	*	sun* s*n	Returns sung, suns, sunset, sunrise, sunny, sundial Returns sin, son, sun, soon, scan, skin, stun
	?	sun? s?n	Returns sung, suns Returns sin, son

Outlook tips

	Type this	To find this
	to:roberto	Items sent to roberto
	from:simon	Items received from simon
	microsoft date:yesterday	Items containing the word microsoft whose date is yesterday Windows Search also recognizes the following date values: Relative dates: For example, today, tomorrow, yesterday Multi-word relative dates: For example, this week, next month, last week, past month, coming year Days: Sunday, Monday ... Saturday Months: January, February ... December
	cc:juan	Items where juan is included on the cc line
	bcc:michael	Items where michael is included on the cc line
	author:patrick	Items created by someone whose name contains the word patrick
	author:"jim hance"	Items created by jim hance
	subject:microsoft windows	Items with the word microsoft in the subject line and windows anywhere else in the document
	subject:"microsoft windows"	Items whose subject contains the phrase microsoft windows
	microsoft hasattachment:true	Items that have attachments containing the word microsoft
	microsoft isattachment:true	Items that are attachments containing the word microsoft
	flagstatus:unflagged flagstatus:followup flagstatus:completed	Items where the flag status is set to unflagged Items where the flag status is set to followup Items where the flag status is set to completed
	duedate:10/15/2008	Items that have a due date of 10/15/2008

Use shortcuts to start a program

With Windows Search in Windows Vista and Windows XP you can use shortcuts that let you quickly start programs or go directly to a Web site, just by typing a keyword in the Windows Vista Search box in the Start menu or the Windows Deskbar in Windows XP.

	To Start	Enter this in Windows Vista Search box	Enter this in the Windows Search Deskbar
	Microsoft Word	word	!word
	Windows calculator	calc	!calc
	Outlook	outlook	!outlook

The example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, places, or events is intended or should be inferred.