Find It - Find files based on a search terms


Description:
Find It tool is a straightforward utility designed to help you locate files based on specific search terms. Simply browse to the folder where you want to initiate your search, enter what you're looking for (with support for multiple wildcards and advanced search features to broaden or refine your search), and click "Find It" to begin the search.

How to use:
1. Browse to the location you want to search.

2. Enter in what you are searching for. (Note: You can use wild cards and advanced search features - refer to below documentation for details)

3. Click "Find It" to start the search.




FindIt advanced search

The Search Terms box supports an advanced syntax so you can combine file name patterns and detailed filters (like author, tags, dates and more) in a single powerful search line.

How the search line works

• Type your search into the Search Terms box using parts separated by a semicolon (;).
• Each part is either a file pattern (for example *.docx or Report*.pdf), or an attribute filter such as author=Smith or created>=2025-01-01
• Multiple file patterns are OR'ed together (a file that matches any pattern is included).
• Multiple attribute filters are AND'ed together (a file must satisfy all filters).
• Matching is case-insensitive and spaces around ; and = are ignored.

Example: *.pdf; created>=2025-01-01; created<=2025-01-31; author=Smith
Finds all PDF files created in January 2025 where the Author field contains "Smith".

File patterns (what to search)

Use file patterns to tell FindIt which filenames or extensions you want to include.

• *.txt – all .txt files.
• *.docx – all Word documents.
• *.png; *.jpg – PNG or JPG files.
• Report*.pdf – PDF files whose names start with "Report".
• TestImage.png – one specific file name.

If you do not include any file pattern (only attributes), FindIt automatically searches all files using the pattern *.*.

Attribute filters (how to narrow results)

Attribute filters use metadata like owner, author, title, subject, tags, comments, company, category and application to narrow down the results.

• Write filters as key=value, or for dates key>=YYYY-MM-DD / key<=YYYY-MM-DD.
• All attribute filters in the same search are AND'ed together.
• Values are "contains" searches by default (wildcards like *text* are usually not needed).

Owner (NTFS owner)

• owner=Administrators – owner string contains "Administrators".
• owner=*admin* – owner string contains "admin" anywhere in the text.
• *.pdf; owner=Administrators – PDF files owned by "Administrators".

Author, Title, Subject

• author=Smith – Author contains "Smith".
• *.docx; author=Jones – Word documents whose Author contains "Jones".
• title=Budget – Title contains "Budget".
• *.pptx; title=Sales – PowerPoint files whose Title contains "Sales".
• subject=Report – Subject contains "Report".
• *.docx; subject=*Q1* – Word documents whose Subject contains "Q1".

Tags and Comments

• tags=project – Tags contain "project".
• tag=*finance* – Tags contain "finance".
• *.jpg; tags=holiday – images tagged with "holiday".
• comments=urgent – Comments contain "urgent".
• comment=*review* – Comments contain "review".

Company, Category, Application

• company=Contoso – Company contains "Contoso".
• *.pptx; company=Fabrikam – PowerPoint files where Company contains "Fabrikam".
• category=Invoice – Category contains "Invoice".
• application=Word or app=Word – files created or edited by an application whose name contains "Word".
• app=Photoshop – files created or edited by an application whose name contains "Photoshop".

Date filters (created / modified)

Use date filters to find files by when they were created or modified.

• Keys: created, modified.
• Operators:
  • = – on this date.
  • >= – on or after this date.
  • <= – on or before this date.
• Format: YYYY-MM-DD, compared by date only (time of day is ignored).

• created=2025-06-08 – files created on 8 Jun 2025.
• created>=2025-01-01 – created on or after 1 Jan 2025.
• created<=2025-01-31 – created on or before 31 Jan 2025.
• created>=2025-01-01; created<=2025-01-31 – created between 1–31 Jan 2025 (inclusive).
• modified=2025-06-08 – modified on 8 Jun 2025.
• modified>=2025-06-01 – modified on or after 1 Jun 2025.
• modified<=2025-06-30 – modified on or before 30 Jun 2025.
• *.pdf; created>=2025-01-01; created<=2025-01-31; modified>=2025-02-01 – PDFs created in Jan 2025 and modified on or after 1 Feb 2025.

Advanced property searches

For power users, any Windows Shell canonical property name can be queried directly, which is useful for music, photos and specialised document properties.

• System.Music.Artist=Beatles – music files where the Artist contains "Beatles".
• System.Photo.CameraModel=Canon – photos taken with a camera model containing "Canon".
• System.Document.LastAuthor=Jones – documents whose Last Author contains "Jones".

Practical recipes

Use these ready-made examples as starting points and then adjust the file types, names, dates or attribute values to match what you are looking for.

• All Word documents authored by "Jones" this year:
  *.docx; author=Jones; created>=2025-01-01
• All JPG or PNG images tagged as "holiday":
  *.jpg; *.png; tags=holiday
• All invoice PDFs for 2025:
  *.pdf; title=Invoice; created>=2025-01-01; created<=2025-12-31
• Any file with urgent review comments, modified recently:
  *.*; comments=urgent; modified>=2025-06-01

What You Can Do With This Program

Potential Uses for Find It Tool:

• Quickly Locating Lost or Misplaced Files:
  • The most common use is to efficiently find files that you know exist but can't remember where you saved them, using simple names or wildcards instead of browsing through countless folders.
  • Especially useful when dealing with messy locations such as the Downloads folder, Desktop, or large project directories where manual searching is slow.
  
  
• Targeted Digital Decluttering and Organisation:
  • Search for specific types of unnecessary files (e.g., all *.tmp, *.bak, *.old, or *.log files) across a drive or folder to facilitate cleanup and free up disk space.
  • Find groups of related files using patterns like "ProjectX_*.docx" or "Backup_*.zip" so you can move, archive, or delete them in a controlled way.
  
  
• Smart Cleanup Using Properties (Owner, Tags, Comments):
  • Find files owned by a particular user (for example, owner=Administrators or owner=*admin*) when tidying shared folders or transitioning projects between staff.
  • Locate files tagged or commented for cleanup (for example, tags=archive, tags=legacy, or comments=delete) so you can safely identify content marked for removal or review.
  
  
• Basic Data Auditing and Inventory:
  • Perform quick checks to see if certain file types or naming conventions exist in a folder tree, such as all *.pptx presentations or document templates.
  • Find all files matching a naming pattern (e.g., all invoices named "Invoice_2025*.pdf") or tagged with a particular company or category (e.g., company=Contoso, category=Invoice).
  
  
• Content Discovery by Author, Title, or Subject:
  • Find all documents written by a specific person (e.g., author=Smith or author=Jones) regardless of where they are stored.
  • Search by document context using fields like title=Budget, subject=Report, or tags=project to pull together all related materials for a meeting or review.
  
  
• Time‑Based Reviews and Reporting:
  • Use date filters (for example, created>=2025-01-01; created<=2025-12-31) to gather all files created or updated in a reporting period such as a quarter or financial year.
  • Combine dates with other filters (for example, *.pdf; title=Invoice; created>=2025-01-01; created<=2025-12-31) to list all invoices or key documents for a specific timeframe.
  
  
• Troubleshooting and Diagnostics:
  • Locate specific log files, configuration files, or application components (e.g., *.log, *.ini, *.dll, *.exe files) when troubleshooting software issues or checking recent changes.
  • Filter by date (for example, modified>=2025-06-01) to focus on files that changed around the time a problem started.
  
  
• Development and Programming Tasks:
  • Quickly find source files, build outputs, or assets inside large solutions using patterns like "*.cs", "*.js", "*.sql", "Migration_*.sql", or "*.dll".
  • Use advanced properties (for example, System.Document.LastAuthor=Jones) to see who last modified particular documents or exported reports.
  
  
• Preparing for Batch Processing:
  • Identify and gather all files that match a specific pattern (for example, *.jpg; tags=holiday or System.Photo.CameraModel=Canon) before running them through renaming, conversion, or backup tools such as File Renamer or Convert HEIC Pictures.
  
  
• Music, Photo and Media Organisation:
  • Use raw Shell properties like System.Music.Artist=Beatles or System.Music.Album=Greatest to locate and regroup audio files across multiple folders.
  • Search photos by camera model or other metadata (for example, System.Photo.CameraModel=Canon) to find images from a specific device or session.
  
  
• Security Investigations (Basic):
  • Search for files with known malicious filenames or extensions (e.g., "*.exe" or "*.ps1" in user profile folders) in specific directories as a simple, manual check.
  • Identify files owned by unexpected accounts or stored in the wrong location (for example, owner=UNKNOWN or tags=confidential in a public share) to support basic compliance reviews.