How To Make Windows 10 Search Through File Contents Into Windows Previous to Windows 10 I was able to search the contents of all files in a folder for a specific phrase by hitting control F, choosing the option to search for a phrase, and simply typing the phrase into the search box. In Windows 10 I have discovered how to search the content of the files instead of just the file names by starting my search with content: Directory Files However, if what I am searching for is a phrase instead of just a single word it finds all files with any of the words in the phrase instead of the entire phrase intact.
For example, say I want to search for the phrase 'windows explorer help' If I search for content: windows explorer help or content: 'windows explorer help' it will return all files that contain any of the words windows, explorer, or help. Search Text Inside Files Windows 10 Does anybody know how I can search the contents of the files in a folder for an entire intact phrase as I was able to in previous versions? Based on this page , the "File Contents" option won't always show up - only when the folder being searched is not marked for file content indexing; in that case, file contents are supposedly searched automatically, without having to specify this option explicitly.
I've always gotten better performance when searching inside files by using a GREP tool. I'm a fan of AstroGrep. I believe you can also just enter "content:blahblah" in the search filter box in upper right corner of Windows Explorer. This works at least for Text files and Office documents. It also works for source files. You can play with findstr.
Agent Ransack is always worth a look. It's free, fast, good reputation, and doesn't use indexing. Press on the search tab and here, the first option: what to search , choose to search for non-indexed files inside the file.
Windows 7 still has the ability to search for strings inside files everywhere and not in indexed locations. Probably the file types still have to be set up correctly in Advanced Options of Indexing Options".
The answer by Sean Sexton gave me what I was looking for putting "content:" in the search text box. But I think the following graphical explanation might be of help to others. From Manual :. Windows 7 SP1 ignores content: and contents: for me now, and it looks like the mechanism has changed: Now you type in what you want, and as soon as the search starts, a row at the bottom shows up with "Search again in:" Libraries, Computer, Custom, Firefox, and most importantly, File Contents.
Click that and it restarts the search within files, even if the folder is unindexed. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. How to search inside files on Windows 7? Ask Question. Asked 12 years, 2 months ago.
Active 4 years, 8 months ago. Viewed k times. In Windows XP we can search for files that contain a defined keyword inside all files types. How is this possible? Improve this question. Breakthrough Most of the answers below are useless and do not address the question that had been asked. As they clearly said, some work while others do not. For example, it will find. This problem still exists and the simplest solution seems to be this answer.
MS Visual Studio has a great "find in files" function. No setup - just specify the criteria for more or less instant results. Why this is not in Windows Explorer as an "Advanced" option is beyond me.
Add a comment. Follow the below steps:. Click on start. Click on control panel. Select search and Indexing Options. Click Rebuild button. Click OK. Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think. Was this reply helpful? Yes No. Sorry this didn't help. Thanks for your feedback. This thread is locked. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. I have the same question 9. Report abuse.
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