How can I specify that a search using File Explorer should return files only? I've tried kind:=file
and type:file
and not kind:=folder
and other variations, but nothing works. Surely there is an easy way to say "show me everything that's not a folder"!
2 Answers
Search on Windows 10, in the Explorer Search bar, is case-sensitive for the word NOT
.
The following queries work as expected, returning files only:
filename:*ar* and NOT kind:folder
filename:*ar* and NOT type:folder
filename:*ar* And NOT kind:folder
BTW, on this Windows 10 machine, AND
is autocorrected to And
, for no apparent reason, but both And
and and
work as Boolean operators. Go figure.
However, the following queries return the empty set in the Explorer Search bar:
filename:*ar* and not kind:folder
filename:*ar* And not type:folder
However, those queries work just as well as the first batch, in Task Bar Search! Apparently, that Search is not NOT
or not
case-sensitive. And, AND
is not autocorrected to And
.
It took a bit of testing to discover these strange, perplexing, idiosyncratic, downright quirky behaviors! A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Thanks, Microsoft, for eliminating in-house QC, making life more interesting for users.
Update
As of Windows Update on 09 Jul 2024, AND
is no longer autocorrected to And
. However, lower-case not
is still ignored.
[Irrelevant note: Telemetry services that had been disabled were turned back on by the update. sigh]
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This answer is just so good! Accurate, complete above and beyond the call of duty, and suitably snarky as regards the situation our overlords in Redmond put us in. Upvoted and marked as the answer. Thank you! Commented Jul 8 at 3:35
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Fantastic answer! But, what you're saying is that the explorer search recognises boolean operators
AND
,And
,and
andNOT
but notNot
/not
? Not what I'm seeing on Win 10:AND
andNOT
work, notAnd
,and
,Not
ornot
. And not updated to 9 July update yet.– pcdevCommented Jul 10 at 4:09
To specify a search in File Explorer that returns only files (excluding folders), you can use the following method:
- Use the
NOT
operator: You can specify that you do not want folders by using theNOT
keyword. - Use the
kind
operator: You can combine thekind
operator with theNOT
operator to filter out folders.
Here's the search query:
kind:NOT folder
This query tells File Explorer to show all items that are not folders, effectively displaying only files.
If you want to refine your search further, you can add additional criteria. For example, if you're looking for all files of a specific type (e.g., documents or images), you can combine the kind
operator with specific types:
kind:NOT folder kind:document
Or, for all non-folder items without specifying a type:
kind:NOT folder
This should help you find only the files you are looking for in File Explorer.
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1Observe the question:
not
, notNOT
was used. That was the issue, and only in Explorer's Search. Commented Jul 8 at 2:30 -
``` NOT kind:folder ``` This will exclude all folders from the search results, showing only files. If you have any additional criteria you want to include, you can add them to this query. For example: ``` NOT kind:folder *.txt ``` This query will return only text files, excluding any folders from the results. Using
NOT kind:folder
is the key to filtering out folders from your search. Commented Jul 8 at 2:33 -
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1@ThasleemSaleem, you're missing the point: the OP did use the
NOT
Boolean operator. His query failed because Explorer Search is case-sensitive for that operator --not
, lower case, is ignored.NOT
≠
not
. Commented Jul 8 at 13:13 -
1Which is the kind of behavior you expect from a file utility for an operating system where the file system is not case sensitive, sigh... Commented Jul 8 at 15:35