Enable Widespread Content-Searching

Enable Widespread Content-Searching

1. 1
   Right-click the Start button and select Open Windows Explorer.
   
   
   
2. 2
   Press ALT. This will cause a toolbar to appear near the top of the Windows Explorer window.
   
   
   
3. 3
   Go to Tools > Folder Options.
   
   
   
4. 4
   Under the Search tab, click Always search file names and content. Allowing this to process might take several minutes.
   
   
   
5. 5
   Press OK.
   
   
   
6. 6
   Run a test search. Go to Start and type a keyword in the Search Programs and Files box. The results should contain the keyword in more than just the tile.
   
   
   

Enable Content-Searching for a Specific File Type

1. 1
   Go to Start and find the Search Programs and Files box.
   
   
   
2. 2
   Type "search" then choose the result Change How Windows Searches.
   
   
   
3. 3
   Click the Advanced button just below the list of indexed locations.
   
   
   
4. 4
   Go to the File Types tab.
   
   
   
5. 5
   Select the desired extension and click Index Properties and File Contents to enable content-searching. If you want to search the contents of Excel files, for example, scroll down to .xlsx.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • If the extension is not listed, enter your desired file extension, such as ".php," into the input box at the bottom and click Add.
     
     
     
6. 6
   Press OK.
   
   
   

EditTips

• If you're still unable to search file contents, try:

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Right-click the folder you want to search, e.g. My Documents
3. Click: Properties
4. On the General tab, Click: Advanced
5. On the Advanced Attributes dialog, select:
   
   [x] Allow files in this folder to have contents indexed in addition to file properties
6. Click: OK
7. Click: OK

• The Indexing Options page will display the real time status of the indexing operation.
• You may also add additional folders to the list of indexed locations.
• After updating your indexing options, you may have to wait some time before your results will appear as expected, as Windows must rebuild its index with the contents of the new files.