---
title: "Tips for Your Windows Search"
url: https://lookeen.com/blog/tips-for-your-windows-search
lang: en
description: "To make Windows search even more precisely, you need to use a few tricks. Here are the best tips for your Windows search."
author: "Ben Golling"
published: 2016-04-18T14:23:45+00:00
modified: 2026-11-11T05:59:31+00:00
---

# Tips for Your Windows Search

There are moments when even the most refined filing system fails. With more and more data accumulating on our hard drives, even organization experts occasionally need to rely on the Windows search. The Windows search helps you find most of the files located on your computer, whether they are mp3, mp4, jpg, or Word files.

To access the search function, you can simply press the Windows key up to Windows 7, which opens the Start menu. You then need to enter one or more search terms in the search box. Since Windows 10, the intelligent search “Cortana” has been integrated into the taskbar or can be accessed by right-clicking the Windows icon under “Search”. How you can disable Cortana and use only the classic search in Windows 10, [you can read here](https://lookeen.com/blog/windows-10-search-disable-cortana/). Alternatively, you can search directly in the corresponding directory in the File Explorer (formerly Windows Explorer) [for a file](https://lookeen.com/blog/desktop-search-in-windows-10).

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## The Best Tips for Your Windows Search

**1\. Use Operators**

By adding the operators “AND”, “OR”, or “NOT” to your search queries, you can easily refine your search. If you place “AND” between two words, you will only receive search results that contain both words. If you want to directly exclude some results, use the “NOT” operator and add the term you do not want to see in your list of hits. A search query separated by “OR” only delivers results that contain one of the two separated search terms.

| Operator | Example | Effect | | AND | list AND 2016 | You will find all files that contain both words, even if they appear in different locations. | | NOT | list NOT vacation | You will find all files that contain the word “list”, but not the word “vacation”. | | OR | list OR enumeration | You will find all files that contain the words “list” or “enumeration”. *Especially useful if you no longer know the exact name of the file*. |

**2\. Search for the Specific Format Whenever Possible**

If you know the type of file you are looking for, e.g., .jpeg, .mp3, or .docx, you can have Windows search specifically for that format. To do this, simply enter the search term and the file extension – separated by a space – into the search box.

“vacation JPEG” or “Beatles MP3” or “list DOCX”, etc.

**3\. Use Search Filters**

Do you roughly know the date the file was created? Then simply enter “DateModified:Date” into the search box. Or if you want to search for a specific file size, enter “Size:Filesizeunit”.

If you click into the search box of a folder in Explorer, for example, you can also select from a number of other options in Windows 7 and even combine them. All available search filters are displayed as a list from which you can simply make your selection.

**4\. Using Natural Language**

Activate the option **“Search using natural language”** to allow less technical search inputs. In contrast to standard Windows search, natural language search works with inputs like “received email today” or “list docx author Peter”. Operators no longer need to be capitalized.

You can make this setting in Windows 7 under **Control Panel – Appearance and Personalization – Folder Options**. Under the **“Search”** tab, you must click on **“Search using natural language”**. In Windows 10, this setting is automatically activated. The only drawback is that you may receive significantly more results, depending on the accuracy of your input.

**5\. Using Keywords for More Precise Searches**

Additionally, the use of keywords is possible. These always start with “System.”.

You can find the most important keywords in the following list:

**System.List:<>Image** – All files that contain the word “list”, but are not images.

**System.DateModified:18.04.2015** – All files that were modified within the specified period.Article title: Tips for Your Windows Search Excerpt 2 of 2: **System.Keywords:“Urlaub”** – All files that contain the word “Vacation” as a tag.

![Search Criteria Explorer](https://lookeen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Tipps-f%C3%BCr-Ihre-Windows-Suche.jpg)