Is the file search function on your computer running Windows 10 no longer working?
I hate to tell you this, but Microsoft has known about this issue since at least 2015 – and they haven’t fixed it yet.
If you really need to find a file, you still have two other options for finding it in Windows 10: You can search from the start button or from the command prompt. At least those work as they should.
So here’s the command prompt workaround:
- Click on Start button
- Type cmd (starts a search for something with cmd in it)
- Click on Command Prompt
- If you wish to change directory (aka folder) type CD folder_root\folder_name.
- If the file is on another drive besides C:, you must type the drive letter first. (i.e. cd D:\my_folder\my_other_folder\)
- Once you are in your desired folder, type dir “string” – where string is the string of letters you wish to find in a file name. Use the asterisk before or after the string to represent wild card characters.
- To search subfolders, type dir /S “string”. You can use the asterisk wild card character here too. (i.e. dir /s myfil* to find myfile.txt)
- Use caution! There are commands that can remove directories (folders) and files. There is even a command for reformatting the hard drive. Don’t use any of these commands! Use only the commands I have shown you.
- Once you have found your file, you can open it with your desired program in Windows and close the Command Prompt.
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