Windows Search Advanced Query Syntax

Once you have Windows Search for Windows Vista or Windows XP, you might be wondering how you can be even more efficient when it comes to finding files and e-mail on your PC. Advanced Query Syntax (AQS) can help you do just that. Using AQS, you can quickly define and narrow your searches for even more targeted results.

You can narrow your searches using a variety of keywords, or search parameters, which can restrict your query to specific locations, specific file types or properties within those types, or specific "file kinds." File kinds are displayed at the top of the Windows Search Explorer, accessible by pressing the Windows Logo key + F.

To match a specific string literally, without it being interpreted as a keyword, you can use double quotation marks. Words in a search query entered between quotation marks are matched exactly, in the order they were entered.

The example tables below give you an overview of syntax that can be used with Windows Search 4.0, Windows Vista, or Windows Desktop Search 3.01 for Windows XP, including the properties that can be added to your search terms to narrow and refine your results.

Search syntax

Property	Example	Function

author:name	author:patrick	Finds items with patrick in the author property.
author:(name)	author:(patrick hines)	Finds items with patrick in the Author property.
author:(name OR name)	author:(patrick OR bob)	Finds items with patrick or bob in the Author property.
author:name name	author:patrick bob	Finds items with patrick in the Author property and bob anywhere in the document.
from:name	from:patrick	Finds items with patrick in either fromName OR fromAddress, since "from" is a property name for both fromName and fromAddress.
before:date	before:10/9/2007	Finds items whose PrimaryDate field contains a date before 10/9/2007.
after:date	after:10/9/2007	Finds items whose PrimaryDate field contains a date after 10/9/2007.
has:attachment	report has:attachment	Finds items containing the word report that have attachments. Same as hasattachment:true
is:attachment	report is:attachment	Finds items that have attachments containing the word report. Same as isattachment:true

Numbers and ranges

To specify a date range, type the property followed by two dates. For example, type from:david sent:11/05/06..11/05/07. Windows Search recognizes all Windows date formats and also recognizes the following values:

Relative dates: Today, tomorrow, yesterday
Multi-word relative dates: week, next month, last week, past month, or coming year. The values can also be entered contracted, as follows: thisweek, nextmonth, lastweek, pastmonth, comingyear.
Days: Sunday, Monday ... Saturday
Months: January, February ... December

Size and date ranges

	Syntax	Results

	size:>50KB <70KB	Searches for files with a value in the Size between50 KB and 70 KB, excluding the end values.
	size:>=50KB <=70KB	Searches for files with a value in the Size property between 50 KB and 70 KB, including the end values.
	size:50KB..70KB	Same as size:>=50KB <=70KB
	date:>2/7/05<2/10/05	Searches for a date in the Date property between the values 2/7/05 and 2/10/05, excluding the end dates.
	date:>=2/7/05<=2/10/05	Searches for a date in the Date property between the values 2/7/05 and 2/10/05, including the end dates.
	date:2/7/05 .. 2/10/05	Same as date:>=2/7/05<=2/10/05

Note: on Windows Vista and higher, search syntax supports dates in the user’s current calendar. A query can use any of the formats defined in their Regional Options.

Common file properties

The terms listed in the preceding table can be used with any of the following file properties. For example, to find e-mail from "patrick" that was sent in 2008, your query would look like this: kind:email author:patrick after:12/31/2007.

To restrict by file type	Use	Example

Communications	communications	kind:communications
Contacts	contacts person	kind:person kind:contacts
E-mail	email	kind:email
Instant Messenger conversations	im	kind:im
Meetings	meetings	kind:meetings
Tasks	tasks	kind:tasks
Notes	notes	kind:notes
Documents	docs	kind:docs
Music	music song	kind:music kind:song
Pictures	pics pictures	kind:pics kind:pictures
Videos	videos	kind:videos
Folders	folders	kind:folders
Folder name	foldername	foldername:mydocs
Programs	programs	kind:programs
Recorded TV	tv	kind:tv
Link	link	kind:link
Journal entry	journal	kind:journal

To restrict by file store

If you use multiple e-mail accounts and you want to limit a query to either Microsoft Office Outlook or Outlook Express, you can use the store: indicator to narrow your search scope.

Store	Use	Example

Files	file	store:file
Offline Files	csc	store:csc
Outlook	mapi	store:mapi
Outlook Express	outlookexpress	store:outlookexpress

Properties for file type: All

Property	Use	Example

Title	title, subject, about	title:manager
Status	status	status:active
Date	date	date:lastweek
Date modified	datemodified, modified	modified:lastweek
Importance	importance, priority	importance:high
Size	size	size:>50MB
Deleted	deleted,isdeleted	isdeleted:true
Is attachment	isattachment	isattachment:false
To	to, toname	to:johnsmith
Cc	cc, ccname	cc:david
Company	company	company:adventure-works
Category	category	category:business
Keywords	keywords	keywords:sports
Album	album	album:greatest
File name	filename, file	filename:2006hits
Genre	genre	genre:jazz
Author	author, by	author:david
Folder	folder, under, path	folder:adminstration
Ext	ext, fileext	ext:.rtf
Tags	tag, keyword	tag:personal
Type	type	type:image

Properties for file type: Contact

Property	Use	Example

Job title	jobtitle	jobtitle:manager
IM address	imaddress	imaddress:luis@adventure-works.com
Assistant's phone	assistantsphone	assistantsphone:555-1212
Assistant name	assistantname	assistantname:roberto
Profession	profession	profession:accountant
Nickname	nickname	nickname:louis
Spouse	spouse	spouse:susana
Business city	businesscity	businesscity:redmond
Business postal code	businesspostalcode	businesspostalcode:98052
Business home page	businesshomepage	businesshomepage:www.adventure-works.com
Callback phone number	callbacknumber	callbacknumber:882-8080
Car phone	carphone	carphone:555-1212
Children	children	children:anna
First name	firstname	firstname:maria
Last name	lastname	lastname
Home fax	homefax	homefax:555-1212
Manager's name	manager	manager:carlos
Pager	pager	pager:882-8080
Business phone	businessphone	businessphone:555-1212
Home phone	homephone	homephone:555-1212
Mobile phone	mobilephone	mobilephone:882-8080
Office	officelocation	officelocation:red/101
Anniversary	anniversary	anniversary:yesterday
Birthday	birthday	birthday:tomorrow

Properties for file type: Communications (e-mail, appointments)

Property	Use	Example

From	from, organizer	from:simon
Received	received, sent	sent:yesterday
Subject	subject, title	subject:budget
Has attachment	hasattachment, hasattachments	hasattachment:true
Attachments	attachments, attachment	attachment:presentation.ppt
Bcc	bcc, bccname	bcc:michael
Bcc address	bccaddress, bcc	bccaddress:mike@contoso.com
Cc address	ccaddress, cc	ccaddress:mike@contoso.com
Follow-up flag	flagstatus flagstatus:followup	flagstatus:unflagged flagstatus:completed
To address	toaddress, to	toaddress:mike@contoso.com
Due date	duedate, due	due:10/15/2008
Read	read, isread	isread:false
Is completed	iscompleted	iscompleted:true
Incomplete	incomplete	incomplete:true
Has flag	hasflag, isflagged	hasflag:false
Duration	duration	duration:>120

Properties for file type: Calendar

Property	Use	Example

Recurring	isrecurring recurring	isrecurring:true recurring:true
Organizer	organizer, by, from	organizer:jonas
Location	location	location:calgary

Properties for file type: Documents

Property	Use	Example

Comments	comments	comments:excellent
Last saved by	lastsavedby	lastsavedby:josh
Document manager	documentmanager	documentmanager:jonas
Revision number	revisionnumber	revisionnumber:4a
Date last printed	datelastprinted	datelastprinted:yesterday
Slide count	slides	slides:>20

Properties for file type: Music

Property	Use	Example

Bit rate	bitrate	bitrate:>150kbps
Artist	artist, by	artist:U2
Year	year	year:1977..1987
Album	album	album:"greatest hits"
Genre	genre	genre:rock
Lyrics	lyrics	lyrics:"happy birthday to you"
Track	#, track	track:12
Year	year	year:>1980<1990

Properties for file type: Picture

Property	Use	Example

Camera make	cameramake	cameramake:nikon
Camera model	cameramodel	cameramodel:eclipse
Dimensions	dimensions	dimensions:8x10
Orientation	orientation	orientation:landscape
Date taken	taken datetaken	taken:last datetaken:6/12/2006
Width	width	width:33
Height	height	height:66
Flash mode	flashmode	flashmode:no flash

Properties for file type: Recorded TV

Property	Use	Example

Broadcast date	broadcastdate	broadcastdate:2005
Channel number	channel	channel:7
Closed captioning	closedcaptioning	closedcaptioning:true
Date released	datereleased	datereleased:2007
Episode name	episodename	episodename:zeppo