Finding files can be difficult for novice users and take a long time. In this article, we will look at all the ways to search for files on a computer.
Important: Search results through the Start menu display not only files, but search results will also display Windows system commands of the same name. For example, entering the search query "cmd" will result in a command (program) that launches the command line.
Main search box
Explorer window
The next way to find files is to use any explorer window. To search for files using Explorer, you must make a request to the appropriate section of any open window (for example, “My_computer”). 
This method is more convenient than the others because, using Explorer, you can search for files directly inside the specified (open) hard disk partitions (folders) without the need to enter the appropriate restrictions through the search filter. What is significantly the file search process.
Search filters
In addition to how you find files, it's also important how you can narrow your search results to find exactly the file you're looking for. This is done through the use of special search filters, you can use them when looking for files in the explorer window. Since the submariner uses the most filters that filter out unnecessary search results. 
Search settings
Sometimes the search is unable to find the file of interest, this happens if it is located inside an unindexed hard disk partition. This can be fixed if you configure, expand the search parameters. To do this, follow the instructions below.
Search Operators
Operators are symbols/words that include additional options for filtering search results. In other words, these characters are used to quickly filter out results, similar to how it is done in Internet search engines (Yandex, Google, Yahoo).
The most popular operators:
- Quotes "" - finds files containing the exact phrases of the search query in the name (for example, "rules of the game");
- Asterisk * - finds files of the extension specified after the asterisk (for example - *.doc);
- Logical "AND" "AND or +" - finds files containing all the listed words, between which "AND or +" is written. (for example - "rules + game + football", "rules AND football + game");
- Matching relative to the specified file parameters >, 1GB, color depth:
- Exact value = - searches for files equal to the specified parameters (for example - dimensions:>="800 x 600");
Reference
If after reading the article you have any questions regarding the search for files, then you can find answers to them in the specially created help section of the operating system. The help menu will open after pressing the F1 key. For information on searching for files, enter the search term - "search". 
This way you will find all Windows help topics related to file search.
The large volume of modern discs allows you to store many documents or multimedia files. Therefore, without initially subjecting your directories to a certain structuring, you can get complete chaos on your hard drive. If this has already happened, and you forgot the location of any files, it will not be easy to find them without knowing how to use the built-in search of the operating system.
Search by file name
Knowing the name of the document, you will greatly facilitate your task and after a short period of time you will already see the file you are looking for on the computer screen. There are several ways to find it by name in Windows 7.
Through the start menu
There is a search field in the start menu of the operating system. To find the required document through this field, you must:
- Click on the "Start" button.
- Find a field.
- Enter a name to search for.
- Check out the suggested results.
After entering the proposed name of the document, you will immediately be shown a list of found files:
In this case, Windows 7 was looking for a document called "Agency". As you can see from the previous screenshot, the first suggested option is the file you are looking for.
How to find in a folder?
There is another way to find documents. Each Windows 7 Explorer directory has a corresponding field:
Therefore, knowing the name of the file and its location, you can:
- Open the desired folder in Explorer.
- Enter the name of the document in the field.
- Get a result.
In this example, the search was conducted on the template "Biology". As a result, the following files and folders were found:
Knowing the location of the object is not necessary. It simply speeds up the search for files by the operating system. Since modern computers have high performance, the duration of finding the necessary information with a known location and with an unknown one is practically the same. If you have no idea in which folder or even on which drive the file is saved, you can search the entire computer:
Additional filters
With a common file name, you run the risk of seeing several thousand options that complicate the choice of the desired document. If you know the modification date of the file or its size, you can specify them when searching (by entering the pattern in the field, you will see the suggested filters):
You can also scroll down the found list and limit the search range by clicking the "Other" button:
After such a click, Windows 7 will display the settings window:
In this window you must:
- Select the desired folders to be searched.
- Confirm the selection with the "OK" button
After the actions taken, the number of items found in the list will decrease significantly, so finding the right one will become much easier.
How to find inside files?
The methods discussed above make it easier to search by name. But what if you don't know the name? In this case, you should know approximately the text of the document you are looking for. Windows 7 can also find files by their content. This function was not introduced in vain, because it is easier for a computer user to remember what is inside a document than to try to restore its name in memory.
By default, this way of finding files is disabled in the operating system. To enable it, you must:
- Open Computer in File Explorer.
- Press and release the ALT button (this action allows the top horizontal menu to appear, which is normally hidden).
- Select "Service".
- Go to the "Folder Options" sub-item.
After clicking on the specified submenu, Windows 7 will display the following window:
In it you must:
- Go to the "Search" tab.
- Mark the item responsible for scanning the contents of objects;
- Confirm the changes with the "Apply" button.
The procedure is shown in the following screenshot:
This method significantly slows down the search for the desired object, but sometimes it is simply irreplaceable (for example, if several people use the computer). Therefore, if you don't want to wait and don't want to spend time scanning inside all documents, you can turn this option on or off as you see fit. After changing the settings, the search for the file is carried out according to the same scheme as described above, without any changes.
An example of finding a document by its content
You can find an object by any phrase, but it is especially easy to search for a file with poems. After all, it is easier to remember a line from a poem than a phrase from an accounting report. However, in the second case, a few of the most common words in the document will help you find any report.
For example, you have somewhere a document with Shakespeare's sonnets, and you remember a phrase from one sonnet: "Will you compare me." To find this collection on your computer, you need to:
- Open "Computer" in Explorer.
- Go to the desired folder (if known).
- Enter the phrase you remember in the search field.
- Get a result.
In this way, any information is found, provided that it is stored on your disk.
Each computer user has repeatedly heard that in the Windows operating system of any version there is a “desktop”. Most of them know or at least imagine what it means and where it is located. In general, the "Desktop" is the main area of the screen that appears immediately after the computer boots and then enters the operating system. However, not everyone knows that the "Desktop", among other things, is a folder or directory that can contain program shortcuts, files, and even folders with subfolders and files. If it's a directory, then how to find desktop folder in windows 7? At first glance, this question will seem trifling to some users. But beginners should not rush to such a conclusion. Because sooner or later everyone may need to reinstall the Windows 7 system with a pre-formatted local drive. Therefore, it is very important to know where the Desktop folder is located so as not to lose the important files that are in it.
How to Find the Desktop Folder in Windows 7
As you may have guessed, Desktop folder in Windows 7 and other versions of the system is located on the same local drive as the system itself, that is, on the C:\ drive. Therefore, it is very important before reinstalling the operating system to transfer all the necessary information from the local drive "C:\" to any other, for example, to "D:\". Let's consider, how to find desktop folder using a standard conductor. To do this, press the key combination "WIN" + "E" on the keyboard or double-click on the "Computer" icon located on the "Desktop" or in the "Start" menu. You can also launch Explorer from the "Taskbar and Start Menu" - the Explorer icon in the form of a yellow folder is fixed there by default.
An explorer window will appear in front of you, with the help of which I will show you the absolute path of the location Desktop folders in Windows 7, which can be used in other explorers, for example, Total Commander. So, click in the left column of the Explorer window on the "Computer" icon once with the left mouse button. All drives on your computer will be displayed on the right. Double-click the operating system drive marked with the "Microsoft" icon (the default is the "C:\" drive). 
The contents of the "C:\" drive will be displayed, among which we are only interested in one folder - "Users" (or "Users"). Double click on it with the left mouse button to open it. 
You will see folders with the names of all users on your system and the "General" folder. Open the folder that bears your name (username). 
The directory with the username is the place where is the desktop folder located. And you already see it. If your system language is not Russian, but English, or if you use, say, the Total Commander explorer, the "Desktop" folder will be called "Desktop". 
It turns out that the full absolute path to the "Desktop" folder will look like this:
"C:\Users\Username\Desktop"
Now at any time you can find folder "Desktop" for more convenient work with the folders and files in it. Be with the computer on "you"!
In the modern world, one cannot do without a good knowledge of the computer. But how to navigate the huge number of files and programs that are on our hard drive? First, we will help you learn how to find the program on your computer.
Looking for a program
When installing any programs, they create launch shortcuts that are automatically placed on your “desktop” in order to find where the program itself is located, just look at the “properties” of the shortcut (right-click - properties - location), the directory where the program is located.
Now consider what needs to be done to find, for example, a photo from our summer vacation.
A saved photo is also a file, but how can I find the file on my computer? The easiest way is to open a folder with a photo, but here another question arises - how to find a folder on a computer?
Looking for a folder
Again, no problem if you remember where you saved the folder, but sometimes we just forget where we put everything. The “internal search” will come to our aid.
We press the “start” button and select the “search” menu, in the search window we indicate the name assigned to the folder (in our case, this is the “rest” folder) and start the search with the “enter” button. The computer scans all the files and gives us all the available folders with similar names, in the results we are looking for the folder we need.
The task becomes a bit more difficult if we don't remember what we named our photo folder, or if we need to find the right photo directly. We reopen the internal search and set additional search criteria - name (part of the name), date of creation (changes), size, file extension, estimated location (logical drive) - after that we press "enter", after the search is completed, we view the output results, this will already be much easier to do than browsing through all the folders on the computer in turn.
My computer
Programs are launched by launching them through special icons that are placed on the “desktop” for convenience (usually shortcuts to frequently used programs and services are placed on the desktop). The “my computer” icon is usually located on the desktop, because we often have to view service information about the system. The more we install programs, the less free space on the screen becomes, and we have to remove unnecessary shortcuts, how to find "my computer" if we accidentally deleted it too?
There is nothing easier: press the "start" button - right-click "my computer" - left-click the menu "display on desktop". The "my computer" shortcut is back on the "desktop".
The Windows 7 operating system has many different features and utilities that make life easier for the user. Sometimes, a user's computer accumulates a huge amount of information, folders and files that are still located non-systemically on the computer and make it difficult to find them. Then it becomes difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find the desired file or folder without special Windows 7 operating systems. Then the file and folder search system in Windows 7 comes to the rescue.
Let's take a closer look at all the possible ways to find a file or folder in Windows 7.
How to find a folder or file in Windows 7
There are three easy ways to find the right folder with files or the files themselves among a lot of other information in the Windows 7 operating system:
- Using the search field in the Start menu;
- Using the search field in a folder or library;
- Or using advanced search outside of folders and libraries.
Let's consider each of the methods in more detail.
Search box in the start menu
The easiest way to find folders or files on your computer is to use the search box on the Start menu. To do this, just open the "Start" and write in the search field, which is located at the bottom next to the computer shutdown button, any name. After that, the Start menu is transformed into a list of possible options for files and folders with the same name.
Moreover, with such a search, a list will be displayed not only of files and folders with the same name, but also files where this word can be mentioned in one form or another inside the file or its properties. In addition, it should be noted that only those files that have been indexed are displayed in the list. However, most files are indexed automatically.
Search box in a folder or library
You can also search for files locally if they are stored in a specific folder or library. For this:
This search returns results even for part of the word. The search is carried out by the name, the internal text of the file and the properties of the file. The library searches through all folders within a particular library. It is not necessary to enter the full name. It is enough to enter a part and find the desired file. Also, when displaying the search result, the words will be highlighted in color for the convenience of the user.
Among other things, you can enter a few keywords that will narrow the search area very significantly.
Advanced Search
If a folder or file cannot be found by searching specific folders and libraries, you can expand the scope of the search. For this.
