How to Search Inside Any File Using Windows Search

Who doesn’t rely on Windows Search to find files and open programs? The problem is that when searching for specific words in files is limited to specific file types. For instance, what about when you need to find text inside of .html, .php, .js or other file extensions? The great thing about Windows search is that you can easily include other types of file extensions relatively simple. Continue reading to find out how to search inside any file using Windows search.

To make your search a little easier, follow these steps:

First of all, Open the control panel and click on indexing options.

Now, click on the tab ”Advanced” and click “file types”.

Locate the extension of the file to search the contents of and then click on ”index properties and file contents”. By default the filter will change to the current filter being used to open the file type.

You must have a program set as the default handler otherwise  you won’t be able to find a specific file type. Windows search will use a plain text filter to search the file contents once you have added the specific extension to the list.

When the index is rebuilt you can search for text inside the file type.

To search for a specific folder, locate the folder, click organize and you should see “Folder and Search Options”

Under the “Search” tab click on “Always search file names and contents”.

Once your index is rebuilt the default will include new file extensions in search results.

via How-To Geek