The simplest way to search for files within Windows is to use the Search bar located in the top right-hand corner of the File Explorer window. Simply type in the file name or part of the file name you’re looking for, and Windows will display all matched results.
You can also access the Search function from the Start menu. Clicking on the magnifying glass to the left of the Start menu will bring up a search bar in which you can type the file name or part of the file name you’re looking for.
If you want to narrow down the search results further, you can use the Advanced Search option in the Search window. From here you can specify the type of file you are looking for (e.g. “.docx”), the location where it should be found (e.g. your documents folder) and the date range in which the file should have been created.
In Windows 10, there is also the Cortana search feature which allows you to find files without needing to know their exact names. Simply ask Cortana to find a file related to a particular keyword and she will return with all the files and programs that match.
Sometimes it can be helpful to use the old command prompt to quickly search for files. To open the command prompt, press ‘Windows key+R’ and type ‘cmd’. Then type ‘dir [filename]’ and hit enter. This will search the current directory (and any subdirectories) for the specified file and list the results.
If you’re trying to locate a file but you can’t remember its name, try the ‘findstr’ command. This searches files in the current directory and its subdirectories for lines of text that match the specified pattern.
Finally, if you are trying to locate a file in a networked environment, you can use the ‘net view’ command to see a list of all the computers in the network and the ‘netstat -a’ command to get a list of all active connections. You can then use the ‘net view’ command to view the contents of each computer and the ‘net use’ command to map a drive to the remote computer and access its files.
By combining the search capabilities of Windows 10, the command prompt and network commands you can quickly and easily find any file you need, no matter where it is located.