Windows File Explorer – Search Tricks For Finding Files

How to Search for Large or Gigantic Files in Windows File Explorer

You can use Windows File Explorer to search for files based on size, including finding “large,” “huge,” or files of a specific number of gigabytes. Here’s how to do it:

1. Use the Built-In Size Filters

Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder or drive you want to search (e.g., This PC or a specific drive).

In the search bar at the top-right corner, type one of the following keywords:

• [size](pplx://action/followup):large — finds files between 128 MB and 1 GB
• [size](pplx://action/followup):huge — finds files between 1 GB and 4 GB
• [size](pplx://action/followup):gigantic — finds files larger than 4 GB

Press Enter to start the search. Windows will return all files matching your chosen filter.

2. Search for a Specific File Size (e.g., larger than 2 GB)

You can use custom size queries for more precise results. In the search bar, type:

• [size](pplx://action/followup):>2GB — finds all files larger than 2 GB
• [size](pplx://action/followup):<1GB — finds all files smaller than 1 GB
• [size](pplx://action/followup):2GB..5GB — finds files between 2 GB and 5 GB

You can use KB, MB, GB, or TB for size units.

3. Additional Tips

• You can combine searches with file types, e.g., size:>1GB *.mp4 to find all MP4 files larger than 1 GB.
• Searching the entire drive may take a few minutes depending on how many files you have.
• To sort the results by size, click the “Size” column heading in the search results.

Table of Size Filters

Filter	File Size Range
size:large	128 MB – 1 GB
size:huge	1 GB – 4 GB
size:gigantic	Over 4 GB

Summary

Open File Explorer, select the location to search, and use the search bar with either the predefined filters (size:large, size:huge, size:gigantic) or a custom size query (size:>XGB) to find your large files quickly and efficiently.

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Windows File Explorer supports a robust set of search formats, filters, operators, and tricks to help you precisely locate files. Here’s a practical and comprehensive guide:

Search Formats, Filters, & Features

Feature/Operator	Example(s)	What it Does
Wildcard	*.docx, *report*	Any characters, helpful when unsure of exact name
type:	type:.pdf, type:mp3	Find files of a specific extension or MIME type
kind:	kind:music, kind:pictures	Find types like documents, videos, etc.
size:	size:>500MB, size:1MB..50MB	Filter by file size, with >, <, or range
datemodified:	datemodified:>2024-01-01	Files modified after a date
datecreated:	datecreated:2023	Files created in 2023
ext:	ext:.txt	Files with .txt extension
folder:	folder:Documents	Search inside specific folder
name:	name:project	File name contains “project”
contents:	contents:budget	Search within file content
author:	author:John	Creator or modifier metadata
tag:	tag:vacation	Files with that metadata tag
path:	path:"C:\Files\2024\"	Files exactly in that path
length:	length:>10minutes	Media longer than 10 minutes
rating:	rating:5	Files rated 5 stars (media)
width/height:	width:>=1920 height:>=1080	Images/videos with those dimensions or more

Logical & Comparison Operators

Operator	Example(s)	What it Does
AND	report AND 2024	Files with both “report” and “2024” in their properties
OR	pdf OR docx	Files that are either PDFs or DOCX
NOT	invoice NOT draft	Files with “invoice” but not “draft”
Quotes (” “)	"project report"	Exact phrase search
Range (..)	datemodified:01/01/2023..01/31/2023	Values within range (dates, sizes, etc.)
> < = >= <=	size:>10MB, date:<2024-01-01	Greater, less than, equal

More Advanced Search Tricks

• Scope by location: You can limit searches to a specific location.
  • Example: store:files — search only file data stores.
• Boolean parenthesis: Parenthetical grouping is sometimes supported for clarity.
  • Example: ("2023 report" OR "2024 budget") AND finance .
• Combine filters: Complex queries are possible by combining multiple filters with operators.
  • Example: name:budget kind:spreadsheet size:>5MB datemodified:>2023 .
• Exclude terms: Use NOT or minus - to exclude.
  • Example: summary NOT draft or summary -draft .

Wildcard Tricks

• *cat* — matches “cat”, “catalog”, “education”
• doc*2024*.docx — matches files starting with “doc”, containing “2024”, and ending with .docx.

File Type Categories with “kind:”

• kind:documents
• kind:music
• kind:video
• kind:pictures
• kind:folder
• kind:programs
• …and more.

Examples

• Find Excel or Word files between 1MB and 5MB, updated in 2024:
  type:.xls OR type:.docx size:1MB..5MB datemodified:2024
• Find movies longer than 2 hours in Videos folder:
  kind:video length:>2hours folder:Videos
• Files created by “Jane”, not tagged “draft”:
  author:Jane NOT tag:draft
• Find any file with “budget” in content, from 2023:
  contents:budget datemodified:2023

You can use these formats and features singly or in combination to refine and power up your search capability in File Explorer

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You can use Advanced Query Syntax (AQS) in Windows File Explorer to perform powerful file searches with Boolean logic, property-based filters, and kind filters. Here’s how to put these advanced features into practice:

Boolean Operators

• AND: Finds files matching both terms.
  Example:textreport AND budget (Finds files containing both “report” and “budget”)
• OR: Finds files matching either term.
  Example:textinvoice OR receipt (Files with either “invoice” or “receipt”)
• NOT: Excludes files with a term.
  Example:textbudget NOT draft (Files containing “budget” but not “draft”)
• Parentheses: Group expressions for complex logic.
  Example:text(invoice OR receipt) AND 2024 (Files that are either an “invoice” or “receipt” and also contain “2024”)
• Quotation Marks: Search for exact phrases.
  Example:text"annual report" (Matches exact phrase)

Note: AND, OR, and NOT must be in uppercase. Combine operators carefully, and use parentheses to avoid ambiguity, as mixed AND/OR logic without parentheses can give unexpected results.

Property Filters

You can target specific file properties in your search:

• name: Files with a name containing your term.textname:project
• size: Search by file size using ranges or comparisons.textsize:>1GB size:500MB..2GB
• date: Filter by date modified, created, or accessed.textdate:>01/01/2024 datemodified:2023 datecreated:12/25/2020
• type: By file extension or specific type.texttype:.pdf type:mp3
• author: For files with author metadata.textauthor:Smith
• kind: By file category—document, picture, video, etc.textkind:music kind:documents

Commonly Used Properties

Property	Example	Description
name:	name:invoice	File name contains ‘invoice’
size:	size:>100MB, size:1GB..4GB	File size greater than/range in bytes
date:	date:>2024-01-01	Modified after this date
type:	type:.xlsx	File type/extension
kind:	kind:picture	General file category
author:	author:Jane	By author metadata
folder:	folder:Budgets	Inside folder with name ‘Budgets’

Examples of Combining All Features

• Find large PDF documents updated this year:textkind:document type:.pdf size:>100MB date:2025 NOT draft
• Find images or videos taken in 2024 over 5MB:text(kind:pictures OR kind:videos) date:2024 size:>5MB
• Excel spreadsheets in Documents folder, not created by John:textfolder:Documents type:.xlsx NOT author:John

Notes & Tips

• If you mix AND/OR, always use parentheses for clarity.
• You can search within a specific folder by navigating to that folder and then searching.
• A property without a value (e.g., just kind:) won’t work; always specify a value.

This approach lets you leverage the full power of Windows File Explorer’s search for rapid, highly specific results