Viewing properties sheets

Here's another way to view a file's properties: Right-click the file's icon and choose Properties. A dialog box opens. If that dialog box has a Details tab, that's where you're most likely to find properties you can create and edit. You often hear the term properties sheet used to describe that set of properties because it's like a sheet of paper on which properties are written.

Figure 23.2 shows a couple of sample properties sheets. On the left is the properties sheet for the Word document shown in Figure 23.1. On the right is the properties sheet for a .doc document file. When you have more properties than fit in the box, use the scroll bar at the right side of the box to see others.

Every property has a name and a value (some text, date, or number that's assigned to the property). In the properties sheets, the property names are listed down the left column. The value assigned to each property (if any) appears to the right of the property name.

Viewing properties in columns

A third way to view properties is through the Details view in File Explorer. In any folder (including the results of a search), select the View tab and choose Details. You see a few columns across the top of the contents pane. But what you see isn't necessarily all the available information. The horizontal scroll bar across the bottom of the pane lets you scroll to other columns. You can add columns to the view (or remove columns) by right-clicking any column heading, as in Figure 23.3. The menu that appears shows a few other columns from which you can choose. Click More at the bottom of that menu to see others.

Editing properties

To change a file's properties (some properties are not editable), select its icon and make your changes in the Details pane. Or right-click the file's icon, choose Properties, select the Details tab, and make your changes there.

You can change properties for multiple files using the same basic method. You just have to select the icons for the files first. But there is a catch: You're limited to changing properties that all the selected files have in common. This limitation can be a pain when you're working with multiple file types. For example, many different types of files for storing pictures exist — JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP, and GIF, to name a few. The newer file types — JPEG, TIFF, and PNG — offer many properties. The older file types — BMP and GIF — offer relatively few.

Figure 23.4 shows an example of what can happen when you select multiple file types. We selected all the icons in the folder, each of which is a picture. Then we right-clicked one of them, chose Properties, and selected the Details tab. Hardly any properties are showing because those file types have few properties in common.

With old file types that support few properties, about the only thing you can do is convert them to newer file types. For example, you may have lots of GIF images on your system. That file type doesn't offer any usable properties. To resolve this problem, you can use the batch conversion feature of your graphics program (PaintShop Pro) to convert the files to PNG files. We suggest PNG because it supports transparency, as GIF does.

If you have many files that you want to assign new properties to, consider creating a search that brings similar files together all under one roof, so to speak. Open the Documents folder (or other folder that is a parent of the one you want to search) and click in the Search box to specify the types of files you want to work with. In Figure 23.5, we typed the following into the Filename box:

*.jpg OR *.jpeg OR *.tif OR *.tiff OR *.png

That brings together all the TIFF, JPEG, and PNG files in the search scope. Perform the search and then use column headings to sort items based on their current folder location. You can add columns that allow you to see the properties you intend to work with. Of course, that's just an example. You can set up searches to find and organize files as you see fit.

Save the search when you're finished so you can open and use it whenever you have time to work with properties. To change properties for any single file, click its name. To assign the same property value to multiple files, select their icons. Then use the Details pane or properties sheet to make your changes. The procedure takes some time if you have a number of files to work with. But having all the files together in one place, and the properties of interest in plain view, can make the job less daunting.

Adding indexed locations

Windows 10 indexes certain folders by default. You can add or remove locations through the Indexing Options dialog box (see Figure 23.8) with the following steps:

1. Open the Indexing Options item from the Control Panel to open the Indexing Options dialog box.
2. Click Modify.
3. Click to expand drives and folders, as necessary, to get to the folder(s) you want to add.
4. Select (check) the folder(s) you want to add. Choosing a folder automatically chooses all subfolders, so there's no need to select those individually. But you could clear the check mark on one if you wanted to exclude it from the index. Those excluded folders will show up in the Excluded column in Indexing Options.
5. Click OK.

The folder is added to the index without any fanfare. About the only change you see is that the folder name appears in the Index These Locations list in Indexing Options. Use the scroll bar to the right of that list if the folder name isn't immediately visible. Also, if you look at the text near the top of Indexing Options, you'll see the number of items indexed.

If you're actively using the computer, you see a message indicating that indexing speed is reduced due to user activity. Not to worry — it just means that the index-building process is giving priority to things you want to do. This message is replaced by others when the index is being built at full speed, and when indexing is compete.

You can add as many folders as you wish, from as many drives as you wish, using those same methods. But again, prudence is a virtue. Remember: Don't add folders just for the heck of it or because you don't know what's in a particular folder. The more you keep your index focused on files you want to find in searches and access through virtual folders, the better performance you get from the index.

Remove a location from the index

Removing a folder from the index is the opposite of adding one. Repeat the preceding steps to get to the Indexed Locations dialog box shown in Figure 23.9. Expand drives and folders, as necessary, so you can see the items you've selected (checked). If you want to exclude some subfolders from one of your indexed folders, expand that folder first. Then clear the check marks from the subfolders you don't want in the index. Those subfolders show up in the Exclude column in the lower pane of the dialog box. Click OK after making your changes.

Choosing file types to index

The index intentionally excludes unknown file types, certain kinds of executable files, and libraries because they aren't normally the kinds of things you want to locate in a quick file search or virtual folder. You can add any file type you like to your index, and you can remove any file type you don't want to see.

Filenames and properties of selected file types are always indexed. For files that contain text, such as word-processing documents and spreadsheets, you can choose whether to index file contents. The advantage of indexing file contents is that when you search for files, the file shows up even if the search term isn't in the filename or properties. The slight disadvantage is that it adds some size to the index. But in this case, the advantage of including file contents probably outweighs the cost, unless you're using older, slower hardware and your searches are very slow.

To change options for file types, open the Indexing Options dialog box and follow these steps:

1. Click the Advanced button (enter an administrative password if prompted).
2. In the dialog box that opens, select the File Types tab. You see a list of all file extensions, as in Figure 23.10. Do any of the following:
   • To include a file type, select its check box.
   • To exclude a file type, clear its check box.
   • If you opted to include a file type, choose whether you want to index properties only or properties and file contents.
3. To add a file extension that isn't in the list, type the extension next to the Add button and click the Add button.
4. Click OK after making your changes.

More advanced options

You can make some more advanced tweaks to the index to change how it operates. You see them when you first click the Advanced button in Indexing Options. Figure 23.11 shows those advanced options on the Index Settings tab.

Choosing Index Encrypted Files ensures that encrypted files are included in searches and virtual indexes. People encrypt files to keep out prying eyes. Keeping those files out of the index adds a layer of security by making them invisible to basic file searches. But if that isn't a problem for you and you want your encrypted files to show up in searches, choose the option to index encrypted files.

A diacritic (or diacritical mark) is an accent mark added to a letter to change a word's pronunciation. Some examples include the acute accent (á), circumflex (â), and umlaut (ä). When used in filenames and properties, Windows 10 usually treats characters with diacritics as being identical to the character without the mark. Choosing Treat Similar Words with Diacritics as Different Words changes the search behavior so that the diacritics are no longer lumped together as though they were a single character.

The Index Location option lets you specify where you want to store the search index. The default is the C:ProgramDataMicrosoft folder. If you have a separate hard drive that runs faster than your C: drive, you can relocate the index to that drive for better performance. Just make sure you choose a drive that's always attached to the computer, not a removable drive. Click the Select New button and use the Browse for Folder dialog box that appears to navigate the drive and folder in which you want to store the index.

If you see error messages about a corrupt index, or the system crashes when you try to perform a search, the problem may be a corrupted index. You can rebuild the index to see if that helps, but the process can take several hours. So, if at all possible, consider doing this job as an overnighter. The process is simple: Click the Rebuild button on the Index Settings tab of the Advanced Options dialog box (refer to Figure 23.11).

You can continue to use the computer while the index is being rebuilt. Any searches you perform while the index is being rebuilt will likely be incomplete.

Searching specific properties

When you type a word into the search box, the results show files that contain that word in their filename, contents, and properties. For example, a search for jazz finds songs in the jazz music genre, any folder or file that has the word jazz in its filename or contents, and any file that has the word jazz in any property. In other words, you can end up with lots of files in the search results.

You can narrow a search by specifying a property name followed by a colon and the text for which you're searching. For example, a search for genre:jazz finds only music files in the jazz genre.

Similarly, a search for susan finds all files that have susan somewhere in the file, name, or a property, whereas a search for from:susan finds only e-mail messages that have the name susan in the From address (for a local e-mail client, not a web e-mail client).

You can assign ratings to pictures and music files, and use ratings as a search word. For example, rating:5 stars finds files with 5-star ratings.

Greater than and less than

When you're searching for a property that contains a date or a number, you can use comparison operators shown in Table 23-1.

A search for rating:>=4 stars finds pictures and music with 4- or 5-star ratings. A search for width:<600 finds pictures with widths less than 600 pixels. The query modified:<2007 finds files last modified in 2006 or earlier. A search for kind:video size:<300KB finds video files less than 300KB in size.

AND, OR, and NOT searches

You can use the keywords AND, OR, and NOT in searches. You must type the word in uppercase letters. Be sure to include a space before and after the word.

Not using any word is the same as using AND. For example, consider the following search:

Datemodified:5/9/2012 name:koala

That means the same thing as this:

Datemodified:5/9/2012 AND name:koala

Any time you create an AND query, you narrow the search results. Intuitively, you may expect it to have the opposite effect. But that isn't the way it works. The query is a filter. To show up in the search results, a file must meet all criteria posed by the filter. For example, files that don't have koala in the Filename property don't show up at all, no matter what's in their Date Modified property. And files that were modified on dates other than 5/9/2012 don't show up either, even if they have koala in the Filename field.

Here's a common mistake that illustrates this principle:

filename:(*.jpg AND *.jpeg)

Intuitively, you might expect this search to identify files with .jpg and .jpeg extensions. But it doesn't. The result of this search is nothing! Why? Because the criterion is a filter, not a question. To get through the filter, a file must have a .jpg extension and a .jpeg extension. But a file can't have two extensions. Every file has only one filename extension. Therefore, no single file can get past this filter.

When you want to broaden, not narrow, a search, you use OR. For example, take a look at this search:

filename:(*.jpg OR *.jpeg)

To get past this filter, a file must have either a .jpg or a .jpeg extension. So, the result of the search displays all files that have either a .jpg or .jpeg filename extension.

By the way, you don't have to use the asterisk (*) and dot if you use extension:, ext:, or type: as the property name. For example, this search criterion also shows all files that have .jpg or .jpeg extensions:

ext:(jpg OR jpeg)

You aren't limited to a single OR. Here's a search that shows all files that have .avi, .wmv, .mpg, and .mpeg extensions:

ext:(avi OR wmv OR mpg OR mpeg)

When you use type: you can use whatever appears in the Type column (in Details view) rather than the extension. For example, this search finds Microsoft Word documents:

type:word

This one finds Word documents that have john in the filename or inside the document text:

john AND type:word

Because the keyword AND is assumed if omitted, the following search works the same as the preceding one:

john type:word

If you want to look only at the filename and not the contents, use the name: property. For example, here's a query that looks for Excel spreadsheets that have the word festival in the filename:

name:festival type:excel

In addition to searching for extensions, you can use kind: to find certain kinds of files. For example, kind:music finds music files; kind:picture finds pictures; kind:contact finds contacts; kind:e-mail finds e-mail messages; and kind:communication finds messages and contacts.

The NOT keyword narrows a search by excluding items that match the criterion that follows. For example, when you use the kind: keyword, you get both the file type, as well as shortcuts that open the file type. To hide the shortcut files, use NOT shortcut. For example, here's a search criterion that shows all files that are communication files excluding any shortcuts to those files:

kind:(communication NOT shortcut)

A search for kind:video shows all video files. This search shows all video files except the ones that have a .mov filename extension:

kind:video NOT extension:mov

It isn't always necessary to specify the kind or type of file. For example, consider this query:

homecity:Cucamonga

That one finds all contacts whose Home City is Cucamonga. Because Contacts are the only type of file that have a Home City property, you'd probably get only contacts in the search results even without specifying kind:contact.

You can use tag: as a search property, too. For example, the query tag:(alec OR ashley) finds files that have either alec or ashley in the Tags property. The query tag:(alec AND ashley) finds files that have both alec and ashley in the Tags property.

If you use the Comments and Categories properties in files, use comment: and category: to search just those properties. Similarly, you can use title: to search the Title property and subject: to search the Subject property.

Date and number searches

When searching for files based on a date, you can use the following property names for specific dates:

• modified: Date the file was last modified.
• accessed: Date the file was last opened.
• created: Date the file was created.
• sent: Date a message was sent.
• received: Date a message was received.
• taken: Date a picture was taken.

To search a range of dates, use the keywords followed by a start date, two dots (..), and an end date. For example, to find all pictures taken between June 1, 2015, and September 1, 2015, use this criterion:

taken:6/1/2015..9/1/2015

You can also use comparison operators with date searches. For example, to see all files modified on or after January 1, 2015, use this criterion:

modified:>=1/1/2015

You can also use the following keywords with dates:

• today
• tomorrow
• yesterday
• this week
• last week
• this month
• last month
• next month
• this year
• last year
• next year

For example, this search finds all files modified today:

modified: today

This search shows all files that were created this week:

created:this week

Here's a query that lists all picture files that were taken this month:

taken:this month

To see all files modified between some date (say 1/1/2015) and today, use this query:

modified:>=1/1/2012 AND modified:<=today

If you're interested in a certain month and year, use the month name and year like this:

modified:july 2012

For a day of the week, use the weekday name like this:

modified:monday

The comparison operators work with numbers, too. When searching sizes, you can use KB, MB, and GB abbreviations. For example, here's a search criterion that finds all files that are 1MB or greater in size:

size:>=1MB

Here is one that finds files larger than 2GB in size:

size:>2GB

Here's one that finds files between 500KB and 1,000KB in size:

size:>=500KB AND size:<=1000KB

If you save music in various bit rates, here's a query that finds all files with bit rates greater than or equal to 300 Kbps:

bitrate:>=300kbps

If you want only MP3 files with those large bit rates, use this criterion:

bitrate:>=300kbps AND type:mp3

Here's a query that finds all pictures whose height is 800 pixels or less:

kind:picture height:<=800

dear wanda

"dear wanda"

from:kay about:lunch

to:alan received:today

to:susan from:alan subject:contract

to:wanda about:"chow mein" from:alan sent:this week

from susan about dinner

kind video not avi

to wanda about chow mein from alan sent this week

size > 5MB

music by zeppelin

flower pictures

peas or carrots

peas and carrots

"peas and carrots"

created today

modified yesterday