Windows Search Filters and Query Operators

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We all know about the search function of Windows. But Windows 7 comes with a powerful and advanced search feature which satisfies users with results. It allow users to search files based on file name and extension. But there are few things which is known to very less people. It comes with built in search filters and operators to refine our search results. 
In this post, i will explain all those search filters and query operators.

When we search something, it shows "add a search filter" and two options to filter. By modified date and By size. By using these available filters you can filter search results to show files created or modified on a specific date, or of a specific size. If you click on a filter, you will get a list of even more refined options.
When you click on by date by modified filter, you sill more option.

There are so many filters that are available in Windows search and not known to general users. These filters are:

Filter	Explanation
store:	Limit search to a specific folder location or data store. Ex.: store:desktop, store:outlook
kind:	Limit search to a specific type. Ex.: kind:docs, kind:text, kind:music, kind:folders, kind:email
name:	Find a file by its name. Ex.: name:”All this time”
date:	Search items based on dates. Ex.: date:today, date:yesterday, date:this week, date:past month
datemodified:	Search for file based on the modified date. Ex.: datemodified:05-05-2012
datetaken:	Searches for photos captured on a particular date: Ex.: datetaken:05-05-2012
datecreated:	Searches for a file created on a particular date. Ex.: datecreated:05-05-2012
deleted:	Search for deleted files in Recyble bin. Ex.: deleted:document.txt
ext:	Search for files of a specific extension. Ex.: ext:jpg, ext:mp3, ext:pdf
authors:	Find files based on the username of the person who created it. Ex. authors:renji
artist:	Find songs by its artist. Ex.: artist:OneRepublic
genre:	Find songs by genre. Ex. genre:rock
album:	Find a particular album. Ex.: album:”Waking Up”
year:	Find songs by release year. Ex.: year:2012
track:	Find song by its track number. Ex.: track:12
orientation:	Find an image by its visual orientation. Ex.: orientation:landscape
height:	Find image with a specific height. Ex. height:1600
width:	Find image with a specific width. Ex. width:1600
tags:	Find files based on the metadata tags.
size:	Search for a file of a specific size or range of size. Ex. size:=1mb..16mb, size:large

You can combine these multiple search filters to get desired results.

Boolean Search Filters

Another way to get precise search results is by using Boolean Search filters. With this you can combine your search keyword using simple logic.

Filter	Explanation
AND	Finds files that contain multiple words, even if those words are not right next to each other. Ex. “apple” AND “mango”
NOT	Find files that contain one word, but not the other. Ex. “apple” NOT “mango”
OR	Find files that contain either of the words. Ex. “apple” OR “mango”
Quotes	Find files that contain the exact phrase.Ex. “apple mango”
Parentheses	Find files that contain both words in any order. Ex. “apple” “mango”
>	Find files that are more than or later than a certain value. Ex. date: >05/05/12
<	Find files that are less than or earlier than a certain value. size: <16 MB
*	Using * (asterisk) can be handy when you don’t know the file name. Ex. *.pdf. This will give you all PDF files in a folder.
-	This lets you exclude items that begins with a word. Just add – (dash) before the word you want to exclude. Ex. -letter

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