Once you have Windows Search for Windows Vista or Windows XP, you might be wondering how you can be even more efficient when it comes to finding files and e-mail on your PC. Advanced Query Syntax (AQS) can help you do just that. Using AQS, you can quickly define and narrow your searches for even more targeted results.
You can narrow your searches using a variety of keywords, or search parameters, which can restrict your query to specific locations, specific file types or properties within those types, or specific "file kinds." File kinds are displayed at the top of the Windows Search Explorer.
The example tables below give you an overview of syntax that can be used with Windows Search 4.0, Windows Vista, or Windows Desktop Search 3.01 for Windows XP, including the properties that can be added to your search terms to narrow and refine your results. View AQS for Windows Desktop Search 2.x.
| Property | Example | Function |
| has:attachment | report has:attachment | Finds items containing the word report that have attachments. Same as hasattachment:true |
| is:attachment | report is:attachment | Finds items that have attachments containing the word report. Same as isattachment:true |
| before:date | before:10/9/2007 | Finds items whose PrimaryDate field contains a date before 10/9/2007. |
| after:date | after:10/9/2007 | Finds items whose PrimaryDate field contains a date after 10/9/2007. |
| author:name | author:patrick | Finds items with patrick in the author property. |
| author:(name) | author:(patrick hines) | Finds items with patrick in the Author property. |
| author:(name OR name) | author:(patrick OR bob) | Finds items with patrick or bob in the Author property. |
| author:name name | author:patrick bob | Finds items with patrick in the Author property and bob anywhere in the document. |
| from:name | from:patrick | Finds items with patrick in either fromName OR fromAddress, since "from" is a property name for both fromName and fromAddress. |
To 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:
| Syntax | Results |
| size:>50 <70 | Searches for files with a value in the Size property between 50 and 70, excluding the end values. |
| size:>=50 <=70 | Searches for files with a value in the Size property between 50 and 70, including the end values. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
The terms listed in the preceding table can be used with any of the following file properties. For example, to find e-mail from "patrick" that was sent in 2008, your query would look like this: kind:email author:patrick after:12/31/2007.
| To restrict by file type | Use | Example |
| Communications | communications | kind:communications |
| Contacts |
contacts person |
kind:contacts kind:person |
| kind:email | ||
| Instant Messenger conversations | im | kind:im |
| Meetings | meetings | kind:meetings |
| Tasks | tasks | kind:tasks |
| Notes | notes | kind:notes |
| Documents | docs | kind:docs |
| Music |
music song |
kind:music kind:song |
| Pictures |
pics pictures |
kind:pics kind:pictures |
| Videos | videos | kind:videos |
| Folders | folders | kind:folders |
| Folder name | foldername | foldername:mydocs |
| Programs | programs | kind:programs |
| Recorded TV | tv | kind:tv |
| Link | link | kind:link |
| Journal entry | journal | kind:journal |
If you use multiple e-mail accounts and you want to limit a query to either Microsoft Office Outlook or Outlook Express, you can use the store: indicator to narrow your search scope.
| Store | Use | Example |
| Files | file | store:file |
| Offline Files | csc | store:csc |
| Outlook | mapi | store:mapi |
| Outlook Express | outlookexpress | store:outlookexpress |
| Property | Use | Example |
| Title | title, subject, about | title:manager |
| Status | status | status:active |
| Date | date | date:lastweek |
| Date modified | datemodified, modified | modified:lastweek |
| Importance | importance, priority | importance:high |
| Size | size | size:>50 |
| Deleted | deleted,isdeleted | isdeleted:true |
| Is attachment | isattachment | isattachment:false |
| To | to, toname | to:johnsmith |
| Cc | cc, ccname | cc:david |
| Company | company | company:adventure-works |
| Category | category | category:business |
| Keywords | keywords | keywords:sports |
| Album | album | album:greatest |
| File name | filename, file | filename:2006hits |
| Genre | genre | genre:jazz |
| Author | author, by | author:david |
| Folder | folder, under, path | folder:adminstration |
| Ext | ext, fileext | ext:.rtf |
| Tags | tag, keyword | tag:personal |
| Type | type | type:image |
| Property | Use | Example |
| Job title | jobtitle | jobtitle:manager |
| IM address | imaddress | imaddress:luis@adventure-works.com |
| Assistant's phone | assistantsphone | assistantsphone:555-1212 |
| Assistant name | assistantname | assistantname:roberto |
| Profession | profession | profession:accountant |
| Nickname | nickname | nickname:louis |
| Spouse | spouse | spouse:susana |
| Business city | businesscity | businesscity:redmond |
| Business postal code | businesspostalcode | businesspostalcode:98052 |
| Business home page | businesshomepage | businesshomepage:www.adventure-works.com |
| Callback phone number | callbacknumber | callbacknumber:882-8080 |
| Car phone | carphone | carphone:555-1212 |
| Children | children | children:anna |
| First name | firstname | firstname:maria |
| Last name | lastname | lastname |
| Home fax | homefax | homefax:555-1212 |
| Manager's name | manager | manager:carlos |
| Pager | pager | pager:882-8080 |
| Business phone | businessphone | businessphone:555-1212 |
| Home phone | homephone | homephone:555-1212 |
| Mobile phone | mobilephone | mobilephone:882-8080 |
| Office | officelocation | officelocation:red/101 |
| Anniversary | anniversary | anniversary:yesterday |
| Birthday | birthday | birthday:tomorrow |
| Property | Use | Example |
| From | from, organizer | from:simon |
| Received | received, sent | sent:yesterday |
| Subject | subject, title | subject:budget |
| Has attachment | hasattachment, hasattachments | hasattachment:true |
| Attachments | attachments, attachment | attachment:presentation.ppt |
| Bcc | bcc, bccname | bcc:michael |
| Bcc address | bccaddress, bcc | bccaddress:mike@contoso.com |
| Cc address | ccaddress, cc | ccaddress:mike@contoso.com |
| Follow-up flag | flagstatus |
flagstatus:unflagged flagstatus:followup flagstatus:completed |
| To address | toaddress, to | toaddress:mike@contoso.com |
| Due date | duedate, due | due:10/15/2008 |
| Read | read, isread | isread:false |
| Is completed | iscompleted | iscompleted:true |
| Incomplete | incomplete | incomplete:true |
| Has flag | hasflag, isflagged | hasflag:false |
| Duration | duration | duration:>120 |
| Property | Use | Example |
| Recurring |
isrecurring recurring |
isrecurring:true recurring:true |
| Organizer | organizer, by, from | organizer:jonas |
| Location | location | location:calgary |
| Property | Use | Example |
| Comments | comments | comments:excellent |
| Last saved by | lastsavedby | lastsavedby:josh |
| Document manager | documentmanager | documentmanager:jonas |
| Revision number | revisionnumber | revisionnumber:4a |
| Date last printed | datelastprinted | datelastprinted:yesterday |
| Slide count | slides | slides:>20 |
| Property | Use | Example |
| Bit rate | bitrate | bitrate:>150kbps |
| Artist | artist, by | artist:U2 |
| Year | year | year:1977 |
| Duration | duration | duration:6:17 |
| Album | album | album:"greatest hits" |
| Genre | genre | genre:rock |
| Lyrics | lyrics | lyrics:"happy birthday to you" |
| Track | #, track | track:12 |
| Year | year | year:>1980<1990 |
| Property | Use | Example |
| Camera make | cameramake | cameramake:nikon |
| Camera model | cameramodel | cameramodel:eclipse |
| Dimensions | dimensions | dimensions:8x10 |
| Orientation | orientation | orientation:landscape |
| Date taken |
taken datetaken |
taken:last year datetaken:6/12/2006 |
| Width | width | width:33 |
| Height | height | height:66 |
| Flash mode | flashmode | flashmode:no flash |
| Property | Use | Example |
| Broadcast date | broadcastdate | broadcastdate:2005 |
| Channel number | channel | channel:7 |
| Closed captioning | closedcaptioning | closedcaptioning:true |
| Date released | datereleased | datereleased:2007 |
| Episode name | episodename | episodename:zeppo |
| Property | Use | Example |
| Name |
name subject |
name:vacation subject:hawaii |
| Ext |
Ext filext |
ext:wma filext:wma |