Tip of the Week: Windows Search Advanced Query Syntax
This article was originally posted on May 15, 2011.
I recently came across an excellent article from Microsoft about Advanced Query Syntax. It captured my interest, and I expect to use it frequently to make my search queries more precise in the future.
The article contains query syntax to limit results by:
- common file properties (e.g., author)
- date ranges
- file size
- data store
- assorted file types (contacts, e-mails, calendar entries, documents, media)
So if I want to find, for example:
- PowerPoint presentations
- longer than 20 slides
- stored as attachments to my last week’s e-mail messages,
I could use Windows Search, right from the “Start” button, to enter:
“store:mapi isattachment:true modified:lastweek slides:>20”
and get those precise results (see below).
This precision will save me so much time that this article, for me, achieves “print-worthy” status, and will be tacked to my office wall for frequent reference. I hope you find it similarly useful.
Originally published at https://mikegil.typepad.com.
