Questions tagged [file-search]
Questions related to searching a filesystem, either live searches or indexed file searches.
210 questions
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Windows Search on Windows 11, error 1630 data of this type is not supported
I'm having a hard time with the windows 11 search services, it won't start and it gives me the following error
Error 1630: Data of this type is not supported.
Indexing options also not running due to ...
- 11
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25
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Search among files of a C++ project (located on QNX) containing a given Structure/Class/Object/Void
There is a large project in QNX written in C++, which contains many .h, .cpp, .o files, etc.
One of the .cpp files constantly references several functions. One of them is called "MapABC", ...
- 164
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11
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Search filenames NOT in an Excel list
I have this Excel list with approximately 200 names and I would like to perform a file explorer search of the files not containing any of the names in this list.
Any idea how to do this?
Thank you ...
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145
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In Linux with limited features (NAS box), how can I find duplicate files, then remove duplicates and substitute hardlinks to one file?
I have a NAS box running some version of Linux that I use for backing up anything and everything.
It is essentially an absolute certainty that some of the files are identical duplicates.
That being ...
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2
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141
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How to search for underscores to select file duplicates, whilst leaving out original files that may have underscores in them?
I have a bunch of files that have duplicated, with an "_1", "_2" etc added to the end. I know I can do a search to show everything with _1, but there are some files that also have ...
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3
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94
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Awk command to find the most common word in a file?
Lets say I have a file that is simply a list full of dates and names, And I need to look for the "team name" that is repeated most in that list? Player name is located at position $1 and ...
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202
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Is it possible to replace windows search with another software like Agent ransack?
For example in Explorer, the search uses Windows Search under the hood to display the results. Is there a way to have it use a different search like X1 or Masterseeker instead and display the results ...
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73
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Finding folders on PC with fewer than five files inside [closed]
Is it possible to find folders that contain fewer than five files inside?
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56
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Searching for mp3 files without matching cdg file
I use Windows 10, and have about 15,000 mp3's in one folder, some of which have matching cdg's that show lyrics. I would like to search the folder to find mp3's which DO NOT have matching cdg files ...
1
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2
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How to search only for folders in the search bar = Windows File Explorer Search Box of Windows 10
I wonder what I am doing wrong or whether the search bar has changed. I need to make a search from the search bar of the Windows Explorer that puts out only folders. There is quite some rough research ...
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1k
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Test-Path on multiple computers of an AD
I'm trying to find out how to make a Test-Path against a list of computers via PowerShell and receive a "false" or "true" for each computer.
For example, to do something like this:
...
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2
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18k
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How to list (search) files with a certain name
i'm trying to get a list of all the files with a certain name in a project i opened with VS Code.
For example, all the .gitignore files in my project. I know i can ctrl+p and type ".gitignore&...
- 273
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1
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100
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Search for installed applications execution path
I do not only want to find what is installed, but also show the path to execute the application as results of my search.
So I thought about using dpkg -l combined with the which command.
I would like ...
user1104544
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3
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468
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Is it possible to prevent files on a usb drive from being searched on any computer?
I have searched, but all methods that I found need to be done on computers. I have a usb drive, and I may use it on different computers. It's impossible to set "Indexing Option" on every ...
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269
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Perform Windows File Search from Terminal/cmd/PowerShell
How do I perform an indexed Windows File Search from Terminal (like cmd or Powershell)?
I'm looking for an equivalent of mdfind of MacOS.
- 201
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2
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2k
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How can I launch an application with PowerToys Run after changing the application file path?
I have an application in a folder on my Desktop. After changing the name of the folder, PowerToys Run cannot find it at the old address and is unable to run it from the most relevant search result.
In ...
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Searching for a file in specific folder, with specific extension containing specific word
I know I created a file in November / December 2021. I know it contained a specific word and I also know its extension. Also I know its folder. But the folder has many subdirectories. How can I narrow ...
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3
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2k
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How to copy files from sub directories to one directory
Hi I have a folder full of music files on an ubuntu server. I am trying to copy all said music files *.mp3/flac to one directory without there subfolders.
I used this command in rsync, which works to ...
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3
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4k
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How to search for files that e.g. contain one word, but not another one, in Visual Studio Code?
I am looking for a quick way to perform complicated text search within VSCode.
Some examples:
Multiple keywords (file contains both apple and orange anywhere in the text file)
Negative keywords (file ...
- 481
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56
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search tool - ugrep: simply command to search all subdirectories?
Question:
How to tell ugrep to always search complete subfolder structure in general?
So instead of defining specific levels of subdirectories how do I simply command to search all subdirectories ...
- 359
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478
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How do I limit Explorer File Search to file names and directory names only? Deactivating "Search in file contents" does not work
In Windows 10, when I enter "wheel", it finds files which are not related to my search.
This does not make sense to me, and I don't want that.
I have deactived the search option "Search ...
- 187
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52
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Finding similar images in specfic parent folder to specific only image
I have a photo, I want to search an entire directory for similar photos to this photo.
Having the same image quality/image name is not guaranteed. they are basically the same image but being uploaded ...
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1k
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How to find a multiline partial regex match in multiple files?
I have a bunch of files. Every file can contain one or more matches for the following regex pattern:
(foo)([\s\S]+)(bar)
The matches can contain line breaks / multiple lines.
I want to extract all ...
- 1,505
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3k
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Display folders first in File Explorer search
Whenever I search for something (in this case "*") in File Explorer, folders appear mixed in with files:
Is there a way to make it display all folders at the top like it does outside of ...
- 314
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2k
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Find stale installed programs with PowerShell
Is there an easier way to find stale installed programs with PowerShell than recursively visiting each sub-folder of Program Files for the newest access date?
It seems this is such a basic common need,...
- 129
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3k
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Find files by contents (Windows 11)
I'm trying to search through 15 years of bank statements (PDF) for a specific payment amount, $42.69. I used Windows explorer file search (bar in upper right corner of file explorer) in the folder ...
- 73
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169
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Append Character to specific Part of name using Rename Command
I am stock on a question using the rename command. I am having a list of files which are named as followed :
FT_440210.jpg
FT_4302110.jpg
I need to append "AGF" between FT_ and 440210. ...
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0
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57
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Is there a way to hide a folder from searches but can still be searched manually?
I am working on a number of manuscripts in Word using Windows 10. I have taken to storing older versions of these manuscripts in a particular folder labelled "Older Versions of Manuscript" ...
- 119
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2
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Is there an easy Windows equivalent to this search in Bash?
If I type
locate something | grep "someEnding$"
in a shell it will take a second to give me a list of every file on my system where the absolute path contains 'something' and ends '...
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Windows 10 File Explorer- File Metadata not showing
Recently moved a user from Win 7 to Win 10 (fresh win10 install) and for some reason after installing apps on the win10, when I add a column to display any type of file medatada like; TAGS, Author or ...
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Is there a way to list all excel files containing Macros in a Folder and Subfolders?
I would like to list all Excel Files containing Macros in a Folder and Subfolders.
Is it possible to do it with Windows Search or Agent Ransack or Filesearch Pro?
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3k
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How to find files bigger than 2gb Windows command line? (32 bit overflow prevents the well known method working)
I am using the following well known solution to recursively find files greater than a specified value:
forfiles /S /M * /C "cmd /c if @fsize GEQ 2000000000 echo @path"
This perfectly works ...
- 569
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103
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Search bar in Windows 10 plain doesn't work (and other assorted functions)
No, this issue didn't appear after an update. The search function features are also still there, they just don't start.
I know reinstalling Windows fixes most things, I just wanted a second opinion on ...
- 252
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1k
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How to search for a quotation mark in windows search file explorer
I'm trying to filter out search results in windows explorer, in such a way that it should retrieve only the files containing a " character.
e.g.
Document 001 "sendto" jane.pdf
I've ...
- 375
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317
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KDE5 Plasma Launcher does not find some files, but baloosearch does - how to fix?
The Plasma Launcher and KRunner of KDE5 have a plugin providing indexed file search. To the best of my knowledge, they use baloo as their backend.
In my literature directory, I have many files named ...
- 2,431
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3k
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How can I access the Windows search database in order to learn about files on a broken hard drive?
I have a Windows 10 PC and one of my hard discs broke completely (as in not recognized by the BIOS, makes funny noises and cannot be used). It was not the system disc but contained mostly private data....
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1
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1k
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Find folders with no files (empty) or only with "thumbs.db"
I recently did a photo cleanup and removed duplicates/similar using different tools. Now I'm conscious that I might have been left with empty folders, or folders with just the "thumbs.db" ...
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1
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5k
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Searching inside PDFs using the BuiltIn Windows search - Windows 10
This is one of the few moments I miss MacOS.
Background - I have an archive of several thousand research papers that are saved as PDFs. To be able to find things I need a working search function. When ...
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3k
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How to delete all files inside a directory except some extensions?
I am doing a merge of some backups and those folders have user profile files.
I just need all .mp3 or .wav or .doc or .docx.
I don't need photos, pictures and videos.
I want to search on my main ...
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1
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289
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How to automatically search for a users files - unknown user and unknown file type
I have a tricky question to ask: is there some software that can search for all the possible user created file types across an entire hard disk?
Specifically:
I have no idea where they have stored ...
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1k
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Exclude Indexing of Files Without Extensions in Void Tools' Everything Search
How can I prevent Everything Search Engine (a Windows file and folder search utility by Void Tools) from indexing files without extensions? In other words, I want the index to include only (1) files ...
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147
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Full-text searching, how fast one can find "Linus Torvalds" into the linux kernel? [closed]
Three things:
Currently, what are the fastest full-text search tools?
Are there full-text search tools capable of reporting fullpaths of files containing hit(s), FAST?
Is Linus Torvalds right about ...
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73
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I renamed my photos last year including extension too, Now I am not able to recall a name of photos,How can I find my photos on windows 7?
I renamed my photos last year including extension too, Now I am not able to recall a name of photos or directory where it was stored, How can I find my photos on windows 7? Is there any tool to do ...
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1
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222
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Tuning vim's less.sh: enabling persistent search history
So, I'm using vim's less.sh in place of standard less pager:
alias less=/usr/share/vim/vim81/macros/less.sh
However, I have a major and a minor problem with it.
The major issue is that it does not ...
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386
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A better way how to view *.chm files [closed]
I'm able to decompile *.chm file using hh -decompile <target_folder> <help_file.chm> in help_file.chm location (see Question: decompiling chm file: hh.exe requires only the filename. no ...
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239
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Looking for specific characters in the filename in a directory (powershell)
Trying to get a list of all USA Titles in the text file
this is what i have :
$Path = "f:\Test\
$Text = "(USA)"
$Results = "C:\Temp\test.txt"
clear
Get-ChildItem $Path |
Where-Object {$_.Name -...
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3
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7k
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How to stop Windows Search from auto excluding repository folders?
Windows search indexer is adding most paths to repository folders (both .git and .svn) to the exclusion list.
I can remove them manually of course, but each time i rebuild the index - they are re-...
- 1,125
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2
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922
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Windows: Search through file contents except images
I need to search for the string 60 in some files. Many of these files are images. Is there a way to exclude by file extension while searching in windows explorer?
Or I suppose there's a way with ...
- 685
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924
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Search throughout an chm file
I need to know the "pages" of an chm file which contain a certain word, as one regularly does in pdfs or word docs using a regular search.
The chm file does not allow me to do this.
How should I ...
- 139
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390
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Revert Windows 10 File Explorer to Previous Behaviour
Windows 10 Version 1909 introduced a new feature in File Explorer.
Previously, when you searched in a File Explorer window, the contents of that folder/window would automatically change along with ...
