12 tips to quickly find files in Windows

- On a modern hard drive can easily 2TB or lost data. 'Lost' so, because it is often not so easy to quickly locate the desired files. We give you the tools and techniques that you know searched data can be found quickly.

Do you often need data from the same folder, which is quite deeply rooted in your folder hierarchy, you can still use some Windows 7 and 8 (. 1) your name and Windows 10 Quick access. These collections can be found at the top of the Navigation pane of Windows Explorer. Do not see this pane, you make it visible in Windows 7 using Organize / Classification / Navigation Venser and Windows 8 (. 1) and 10 through image / Navigation pane. Want to find a folder (like 'quick') to add, then you do that just by dragging the list or Quick Access. With the same ease you get here also such a folder from road: click the right folder and choose Delete (Windows 7 and 8 (1).) Or loosening of fast access (Windows 10).

Tip 01 Favorites and Quick access: always faithful available.

Furthermore, try to develop a clear and achievable folder hierarchy for yourself, with your example, documents on the same subject in the same folder- rather than content-related.xlsx,.pptx or to transfer.docx files into separate folders (per application). Do you work a lot with media files, make clear file names and where it can be consistent tagging of these files. A free tool for renaming files Rename Master and sound and free tagging software please visit including at Mp3tag for music, and Picasa for photos. \x3d Quot; https: gt; \x3d Quot; http: gt; \x3d Quot; http: gt;

Clear and logical filenames makes retrieval easier.

Windows also provides a function to accommodate (thematic) related folders into virtual collections. They can be quickly approached in this way, even though the actual folders are physically spread out over your disk. This is possible with the so-called libraries. This feature is curiously in Windows 8. 1 and above are no longer available by default. It does not take much effort to get that yet surfaced: open Windows Explorer, go to View / Navigation Pane and choose Show Libraries. Add a folder to do such a library as follows. Click Libraries, right and choose New / Library. Tap an appropriate name, open the new library and then add them to the right pane to a folder. then refer to the target folder.

It is also possible to add new folders to one of your libraries. Navigate to the folder using Windows Explorer, click with the right mouse and select Include in library, then select the desired library.

Libraries: somewhat on the wane in Windows 8. 1 and 10, but still convenient.

Would you find it useful to open a list of favorite folders at any time, without booting up Windows Explorer for it first? You can with the free tool Flyers Popup. After installation, you call up the menu by pressing the middle mouse button or using (Shift +) Windows key + A. Here you will find include the item recently visited folders (or your uses Ctrl + Shift + R). Handy if you want to quickly jump to a previously opened folder. Add your own folders is also possible. \x3d Quot; http: gt;

Click on the menu Popup Folder Settings. There appears a window where you change the folder tree as desired. Select Menu or Menu gt; to be amended by my special folders menu and press the Add button. Now you can wish for a folder, document, application, URL, or add an extra submenu. For a folder, click Browse and refer you to the appropriate folder, and then you enter a descriptive name. Confirm with Save. Whenever you now (Shift +) Windows key + A is pressed, a pop-up window with your own folder menu.

Tip 03 At any time, your list of favorite folders at hand!

To deeply nested subdirectories to get faster to the surface, there is a handy alternative: you can link a drive letter. That's easy with the free tool Visual Subst. Select a free drive number, refer to the magnifying glass icon to the local folder and confirm with the green plus button. Would you have always associated this drive letter to this directory, place a checkmark next to Apply virtual drives on Windows startup. \x3d Quot; http: gt;

Tip 04 Create a virtual drive from any folder.

At the time of this writing, the personal assistant Cortana still shines by its absence in the Dutch version of Windows 10, but a search is obviously present. Pressing the Windows key and type in the search term as you can (similar to previous Windows editions). How is such a quick and thorough search, depending on whether the files in a location that is indexed by Windows. Standard belong here include the libraries, as well as the contents of the C: Users (except the folders AppData).

You can also add your own folders. Open the Windows Start menu and tap index, after which you click Indexing Options. It pops up a dialog box where you can add the desired locations on the Modify button so henceforth be indexed. Make not just all folders, because that index is unnecessarily large that routine searches can be slow.

Tip 06 Search for content in non-indexed locations can be long (er) last.

Standard not only looking at Windows indexed folders for folder and file names, but it also takes the content and file properties along for many file types. An overview of these types can be found through indexing options, where you can click Advanced and then open the File Types tab. You can specify a type or only the properties must be indexed or that the file contents must also be taken along. Through new extension to the list it is also possible to add additional types.

It is also possible to have Windows search in file contents, even if that directory does not belong to the indexed locations. By opening Windows Explorer and choose Tools / Folder Options (Windows 7) or choose View / Edit Options / Folder Options (Windows 8 (. 1) and 10). Then open the Search tab and look for a tick Always at file names and contents [... ]. That of course is a lot slower.

Do you use more often the same search, you can keep that allow Windows Explorer, so you do not later have to re-typing. Start Explorer and navigate to the desired folder, and then let you perform a search from the bar right. After you finish searching to save (in the menu bar of Windows 7 or Search in Windows 8 or later via the tab). The search will then go to C: Users Searches where you perform again shows the same search with a double-click on a saved search. You enter this command really again, so also see the new results.

Tip 07 frequently used searches.

From the search box in Windows Explorer, you can define your search criteria in addition to the location, yet in many other ways. We focus here on Windows (1 and 8) 10, where a custom ribbon appears when you click the search box. So you can designate a period Amended quickly via the button in which the files were last modified. It is also possible to zoom in on certain file (via the button Format) and specific file sizes (via the button size). you can still go to filter all sorts of additional criteria over the other properties depending on the selected folder. For instance to a folder, it will include the criterion Taken on available and you can type the date in the search box, which must have taken the photos.

Tip 08 Additional search filters such as date, file type and size.

More powerful searches are possible if you know how to make clever use of so-called operators. This works the same as on the internet if you search on Google for example. You type your search itself right in the search box. tap two keywords, Windows interprets it as an AND relationship, which means that both keywords must be present. Suffice either keywords, then place the OR operator between uppercase (report OR report).

Want to eliminate files with a specific keyword, then place for NOT (NOT Minutes 2014). Are you looking for an exact phrase, place them in quotation marks ( minutes administration ). Furthermore, you can also use lt; and gt; for data and file sizes, as follows: Date: gt; 1/09/2015 (only files younger than September 1, 2015) or size: gt; 100 000 (only files larger than 100000 bytes). Even wildcards let committed smoothly in your searches? A tie. jpg find eg action as well. png as action. png and * flower. jpg find all jpg's ending with flour on the floor. There are still more opportunities, please read also: 12 tips to look even smarter with Google.

The Windows built-in search engine is a powerful tool for finding data on your local PC. It's getting a little harder if you also shared network folders on other devices (PC, NAS,...) Want to crawl into your network, or at least when those folders also want to take in the Windows indexing service, allowing you to content and can search metadata. Apparently succeeds only if those data are available 'for offline use (see box' Offline Files').

It goes like this. Navigate to the shared folder in the Network section of your Explorer. Right click on that folder and select Always available for offline use. Now when you open the Windows Indexing Options window (see tip 5), then you will find that Offline Files (default) is included in the indexing locations. If not, you can add to using the Modify button itself. There cling course a few drawbacks to this method: it appears reserved for the more expensive Windows editions- Pro (fessional) and higher- and require additional disk space on your PC.

Tip 10 Offline files are standard note-indexed.

Turns out the Always available not available for offline use, then you might have to activate this function. Press the Windows key and tap into offline, and then you start Manage offline files. On the General tab, then press the Enable Offline Files button. Reboot your system. Incidentally, you can view your offline files via the button if necessary, delete the offline files. On the Disk Usage tab shows how much disk space you win over offline files.

Find your many files on network sites or on your NAS, you can also install an alternative desktop search engine as the (somewhat older) free Locate32 consider. This tool indexes only folder and file names. Start the program the first time, you must specify via File / Update databases which may start the indexing process is, moreover, rapidly implemented. \x3d Quot; http: gt;

To automatically this database up-to-date, choose Tools / Settings and open the Scheduled tab updates. Then click Add and select (for example) At Startup option, and then you confirm with OK. Standard indexing only local drives, but it is also possible to index network shares (as on your NAS). It also runs through Settings, where this time open the Databases tab. Please select Default and press the Edit button. Dot the Custom option and then click on Add Directory, and you (via Network) navigate to the desired network share. Select it and press OK (3x) and leave immediately update the database.

You will notice that Locate32 lightning respond to your queries, even while you are typing the search term. By default the results are sorted by folder name. Want a different order, then click on the column name. Click also here such a column name right: you will still see a lot of additional features (although that will still not all).

You can also filter still on file extensions, and specify where you want to search exactly, or not including subfolders. On the Size and Date tab are other filters available so that you can filter by file size and the period in which the files are to be created, accessed or modified. On the Advanced tab, you can specify as to whether the search should be case sensitive. You will find here a few rudimentary ability to search within text files, but because the contents of files are not indexed, the search takes a relatively long time. Handy is the ability to save over the Preset button all set search criteria and filters in a configuration file so you can use them quickly next time.

Tip 12 A lot of search criteria, which you can also keep handy.