Desktop Search Syntax
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A search query can include one or more keywords, with Boolean operators and optional criteria. These optional criteria can narrow a search based on the following:
- Scope or data store in which files reside
- Kinds of files
- Managed properties of files
The optional criteria, described in greater detail following, use the following syntax:
<scope name>:<value>
<file kind>:<value>
<property name>:<value>
Suppose a user wants to search for a document containing the phase “last quarter,” created by John or Joanne, and that the user saved to the folder mydocuments. The query may look like this:
"last quarter" author:(john OR joanne) foldername:mydocuments
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Scope: Locations and Data Stores
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Restrict Search by Data Store |
Use |
Example Syntax |
Desktop |
desktop |
store:desktop |
Files |
files |
store:files |
Outlook |
outlook |
store:outlook |
Outlook Express |
oe |
store:oe |
Specific Folder |
foldername or in |
foldername:MyDocuments or in:MyDocuments |
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Common File Kinds
Users can also limit their searches to specific types of files, called file kinds. The following table lists the file kinds and offers examples of the syntax used to search for these kinds of files. |
To Restrict by File Type: |
Use |
Example Syntax |
All file types |
everything |
kind:everything |
Communications |
communications |
kind:communications |
Contacts |
contacts |
kind:contacts |
E-mail |
email |
kind:email |
Instant Messenger conversations |
im |
kind:im |
Meetings |
meetings |
kind:meetings |
Tasks |
tasks |
kind:tasks |
Notes |
notes |
kind:notes |
Documents |
docs |
kind:docs |
Text documents |
text |
kind:text |
Spreadsheets |
spreadsheets |
kind:spreadsheets |
Presentations |
presentations |
kind:presentations |
Music |
music |
kind:music |
Pictures |
pics |
kind:pics |
Videos |
videos |
kind:videos |
Folders |
folders |
kind:folders |
Folder name |
foldername or in |
foldername:mydocs or in:mydocs |
Favorites |
favorites |
kind:favorites |
Programs |
programs |
kind:programs |
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Properties by File Kind
Users can search on specific properties of different file kinds. Some properties (like file size) are common to all files, while others are limited to a specific kind. Slide count, for example, is specific to presentations. The following tables list these properties by file kind.
File Kind: Everything
These are properties common to all file kinds. To include all types of files in a query, the syntax is:
kind:everything <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
Title |
title, subject or about |
title:”Quarterly Financial” |
Status |
status |
status:complete |
Date |
date |
date:last week |
Date modified |
datemodified or modified |
modified:last week |
Importance |
importance or priority |
importance:high |
Size |
size |
size:> 50 |
Deleted |
deleted or isdeleted |
isdeleted:true |
Is attachment |
isattachment |
isattachment:true |
To |
to or toname |
to:bob |
Cc |
cc or ccname |
cc:john |
Company |
company |
company:Microsoft |
Location |
location |
location:”Conference Room 102″ |
Category |
category |
category:Business |
Keywords |
keywords |
keywords:”sales projections” |
Album |
album |
album:”Fly by Night” |
File name |
filename or file |
filename:MyResume |
Genre |
genre |
genre:rock |
Author |
author or by |
author:”Stephen King” |
People |
people or with |
with:(sonja or david) |
Folder |
folder, under or path |
folder:downloads |
File extension |
ext or fileext |
ext:.txt |
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Boolean Operators
Search keywords and file properties can be combined to broaden or narrow a search with operators. The following table explains common operators used in a search query.
LOOK => This is the one that solved my problem
Note
The operators AND, NOT and OR must be in uppercase and cannot be combined in one query (e.g., social OR security NOT retirement ). |
Keyword/Symbol |
Examples Syntax |
Function |
NOT |
social NOT security |
Finds items that contain social, but not security. |
– |
social –security |
Finds items that contain social, but not security. |
OR |
social OR security |
Finds items that contain social or security. |
AND |
social AND security |
Finds items with social AND security |
Quotation marks |
“social security” |
Finds items that contain the exact phrase social security. |
Parentheses |
(social security) |
Finds items that contain social and security in any order. |
> |
date:>11/05/04
size:>500 |
Finds items with a date after 11/05/04.
Finds items with a size greater than 500 bytes. |
< |
date:<11/05/04
size:<500 |
Finds items with a date before 11/05/04.
Finds items with a size less than 500 bytes. |
.. |
date:11/05/04..11/10/04 |
Finds items with a date beginning on 11/05/04 and ending on 11/10/04. |
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Dates
In addition to searching on specific dates and date ranges using the operators described earlier, AQS allows relative date values (like today , tomorrow , or next week ) and day (like Tuesday or Monday..Wednesday ) and month (February ) values.
Date Ranges
specify a date range, type the property followed by two dates. For example, type from:david sent:11/05/06..11/05/07. Windows Search recognizes all Windows date formats and also recognizes the following values:
- Relative dates: Today, tomorrow, yesterday
- Multi-word relative dates: week, next month, last week, past month, or coming year. The values can also be entered contracted, as follows: thisweek, nextmonth, lastweek, pastmonth, comingyear.
- Days: Sunday, Monday … Saturday
- Months: January, February … December
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Relative to: |
Syntax Example |
Result |
Day |
date:today
date:tomorrow
date:yesterday |
Finds items with today’s date.
Finds items with tomorrow’s date.
Finds items with yesterday’s date. |
Week/Month/year |
date:this week
date:last week
date:next month
date:past month
date:coming year |
Finds items with a date falling within the current week.
Finds items with a date falling within the previous week.
Finds items with a date falling within the upcoming week.
Finds items with a date falling within the previous month.
Finds items with a date falling within the upcoming year. |
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date:>2/7/05<2/10/05 |
Searches for a date in the Date property between the values 2/7/05 and 2/10/05, excluding the end dates. |
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date:>=2/7/05<=2/10/05 |
Searches for a date in the Date property between the values 2/7/05 and 2/10/05, including the end dates. |
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date:2/7/05 .. 2/10/05 |
Same as date:>=2/7/05<=2/10/05 |
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Size
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Use |
Example Syntax |
Searches for files with a value in the Size between50 KB and 70 KB, excluding the end values. |
size:>50KB <70KB |
Searches for files with a value in the Size property between 50 KB and 70 KB, including the end values. |
size:>=50KB <=70KB |
Same as size:>=50KB <=70KB |
size:50KB..70KB |
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Attachment
These are properties common to attachments. To limit the search to attachments only, the syntax is:
kind:attachment <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
People |
people or with |
people:john or with:john |
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Contacts
These are properties common to contacts. To limit the search to contacts only, the syntax is:
kind:contacts <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term.
Note
Phone numbers are indexed as entered. For example, if a user did not include a country or area code when entering the phone number, users will not be able to locate a contact if searching with country or area code in the phone number. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
Job title |
jobtitle |
jobtitle:CFO |
IM address |
imaddress |
imaddress:john_doe@msn.com |
Assistant’s phone |
assistantsphone |
assistantsphone:555-3323 |
Assistant name |
assistantname |
assistantname:Paul |
Profession |
profession |
profession:plumber |
Nickname |
nickname |
nickname:Tex |
Spouse |
spouse |
spouse:Debbie |
Business city |
businesscity |
businesscity:Seattle |
Business postal code |
businesspostalcode |
businesspostalcode:98006 |
Business home page |
businesshomepage |
businesshomepage:www.microsoft.com |
Callback phone number |
callbackphonenumber |
callbackphonenumber:555-555-2121 |
Car phone |
carphone |
carphone:555-555-2121 |
Children |
children |
children:Timmy |
First name |
firstname |
firstname:John |
Last name |
lastname |
lastname:Doe |
Home fax |
homefax |
homefax:555-555-2121 |
Manager’s name |
managersname |
managersname:John |
Pager |
pager |
pager:555-555-2121 |
Business phone |
businessphone |
businessphone:555-555-2121 |
Home phone |
homephone |
homephone:555-555-2121 |
Mobile phone |
mobilephone |
mobilephone:555-555-2121 |
Office |
office |
office:sample |
Anniversary |
anniversary |
anniversary:1/1/06 |
Birthday |
birthday |
birthday:1/1/06 |
Web page |
webpage |
webpage:www.microsoft.com |
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Communications
These are properties common to communications. To limit the search to communications only, the syntax is:
kind:communications <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
From |
from or organizer |
from:john |
Received |
received or sent |
sent:yesterday |
Subject |
subject or title |
subject:”Quarterly Financial” |
Has attachment |
hasattachments, hasattachment |
hasattachment:true |
Attachments |
attachments or attachment |
attachment:presentation.ppt |
Bcc |
bcc, bccname or bccaddress |
bcc:dave |
Cc address |
ccaddress or cc |
ccaddress:john_doe@hotmail.com |
Follow-up flag |
followupflag |
followupflag:2 |
Due date |
duedate or due |
due:last week |
Read |
read or isread |
is:read |
Is completed |
iscompleted |
is:completed |
Incomplete |
incomplete or isincomplete |
is:incomplete |
Has flag |
hasflag or isflagged |
has:flag |
Duration |
duration |
duration:> 50 |
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Calendar
These are properties common to calendars. To limit the search to calendars only, the syntax is:
kind:calendar <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
Recurring |
recurring or isrecurring |
is:recurring |
Organizer |
organizer, by or from |
organizer:debbie |
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Documents
These are properties common to documents. To limit the search to documents only, the syntax is:
kind:documents <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
Comments |
comments |
comments:”needs final review” |
Last saved by |
lastsavedby |
lastsavedby:john |
Document manager |
documentmanager |
documentmanager:john |
Revision number |
revisionnumber |
revisionnumber:1.0.3 |
Document format |
documentformat |
documentformat:MIMETYPE |
Date last printed |
datelastprinted |
datelastprinted:last week |
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Presentation
These are properties common to presentations. To limit the search to presentations only, the syntax is:
kind:presentation <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
Slide count |
slidecount |
slidecount:>20 |
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Music
These are properties common to music files. To limit the search to music only, the syntax is:
kind:music <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
Bit rate |
bitrate, rate |
bitrate:192 |
Artist |
artist, by or from |
artist:John Singer |
Duration |
duration |
duration:3 |
Album |
album |
album:”greatest hits” |
Genre |
genre |
genre:rock |
Track |
track |
track:12 |
Year |
year |
year:> 1980 < 1990 |
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Picture
These are properties common to pictures. To limit the search to pictures only, the syntax is:
kind:picture <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
Camera make |
cameramake |
cameramake:sample |
Camera model |
cameramodel |
cameramodel:sample |
Dimensions |
dimensions |
dimensions:8X10 |
Orientation |
orientation |
orientation:landscape |
Date taken |
datetaken |
datetaken:yesterday |
Width |
width |
width:1600 |
Height |
height |
height:1200 |
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Video
These are properties common to videos. To limit the search to videos only, the syntax is:
kind:video <property>:<value>
where <property> is a property listed below and <value> is the user-specified search term. |
Property |
Use |
Example Syntax |
Name |
name, subject |
name:”Family Vacation to the Beach 05″ |
Ext |
ext, fileext |
ext:.avi |
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