an extensive list of windows search syntax
Matthew Barrera 
where can I find an extensive list of windows search operators and syntax? preferably something by Microsoft?
I've got bookmarks to pages that have lists but none of them include all of the operators and syntax.
1 Answer
After some searching I found this link from arstechnica that includes windows 7 compatible search queries. They should also work under windows 10 - I don't think that they changed much since win7.
This list from arstechnica's blogpost has also details of usage:
Note: Found the link above from a Microsoft forum. (answers.microsoft.com)
Full list of commands shown below:
All files - title:manager, status:active, date:lastweek, datemodified:lastweek or modified:lastweek, importance:high or priority:high, size:>50MB, deleted:true or isdeleted:true, isattachment:false, to:johnsmith or toname:johnsmith, cc:david or ccname:david, company:Microsoft, category:business modified:lastweek keywords:sports, album:greatest, file:2006hits or filename:2006hits, genre:jazz, author:david or by:david, under:administration or path:administration or folder:adminstration, fileext:.rtf or ext:.rtf, keyword:personal or tag:personal, and type:image.
Contact files - jobtitle:manager, imaddress:luis(at)adventure-works.com, assistantsphone:555-1212, assistantname:roberto, profession:accountant, nickname:louis, spouse:susana, businesscity:redmond, businesspostalcode:98052, businesshomepage: callbacknumber:882-8080, carphone:555-1212, children:anna, firstname:emil, lastname:protalinski, homefax:555-1212, manager:eric, pager:882-8080, businessphone:555-1212, homephone:555-1212, mobilephone:882-8080, officelocation:red/101, anniversary:yesterday, and birthday:tomorrow
Communication files (e-mail, appointments) - from:simon, sent:yesterday, subject:budget, hasattachment:true, attachment:presentation.ppt, bcc:michael or bccname:Michael, bcc:p_emil(at)hotmail.com or bccaddress:p_emil(at)hotmail.com, ccaddress:editors(at)arstechnica.com or cc:editors(at)arstechnica.com, flagstatus:completed, toaddress:p_emil(at)hotmail.com, duedate:03/23/2010 or due:03/23/2010, read:false or isread:false, iscompleted:true, incomplete:true, isflagged:false or hasflag:false, and duration:>120
Calendar files - isrecurring:true or recurring:true, by:emil or from:emil or organizer:emil, and location:toronto
Document files - comments:excellent, lastsavedby:aaron, documentmanager:jon, revisionnumber:4a, datelastprinted:yesterday, and slides:>20 Music files - bitrate:>150kbps, artist:U2, year:1977..1987, album:"greatest hits", genre:rock, lyrics:"happy birthday to you", #:12 or track:12, and year:>1980<1990
Picture files - cameramake:Nikon, cameramodel:eclipse, dimensions:8x10, orientation:landscape, taken:last or datetaken:6/12/2006, width:33, height:66, and flashmode:no flash
Recorded TV files - broadcastdate:2005, channel:7, closedcaptioning:true, datereleased:2007, and episodename:zeppo
Video files - name:vacation, subject:Hawaii, and ext:wma or filext:wma
Search By Date - Datemodified:23/02/2010, Datemodified:23/02/10, Datemodified:yesterday, Datemodified:lastweek, Datemodified:pastmonth, Datemodified:21/02/04..2/3/09
Kind Operators - kind:everything, kind:communications, kind:contacts, kind:email, kind:im, kind:meetings, kind:tasks, kind:notes, kind:docs, kind:text, kind:spreadsheets, kind:presentations, kind:music, kind:pics, kind:videos, kind:folders, foldername:mydocs or in:mydocs, kind:favorites, and kind:programs There's also store; store:mapi will return items in your Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 profile and store:csc will return offline files.
Type Operators - type:image, type:.doc, type:.pdf, type:excel, type:mp3 It's important to note that the search syntax will not let you use two or more search terms (trying "type:.docx, .pdf" will not bring up search results for all Word and PDF files). Furthermore, searching by file name extension still works (such as .txt or ext:.txt) but the results include files that incorporate the extension in their contents as well as in their file names. If you don't want this, that's what the above Kind and Type parameters are for.
Boolean Operators - social NOT security, social -security, social OR security, "social security", (social security), date:>11/05/04size:>500, date:<11/05/04 size:<500, and date:11/05/04..11/10/04 Boolean Properties: report is:attachment (same as isattachment:true), essay isonline:true, article isrecurring:true, news isflagged:true, brief isdeleted:true, feature iscompleted:false, mail hasattachment:true, and tweak hasflag:true
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