'Flat' view across several folders (Win10)

ThemeOne

OK this worked in Windows 10 using Windows Search i.e. typing in the Search Box at the top right of Windows Explorer.

Type the following in the search box:

* folderpath:d:\folder1\catssubfolder OR folderpath:d:\folder1\elephantssubfolder OR d:\folder1\micesubfolder ... etc

A few notes, Windows Search is not generally case sensitive but the word OR must be in upper case each time. I tested using 3 folders - you have many more, so it's probably easier to type out the string in Notepad first and paste it into the search box, otherwise you can't see what you're doing. Hopefully there is not a character limit to the search criteria string. After saving the search you'll find it under C:\users\<your-name>\searches

KingL

Hi

thanks - I've been fiddling with something like that all afternoon (but using AND statements where I should have been using OR , durr! (as in "return these search results AND these other ones, too))

ThemeOne wrote: »

Type the following in the search box:

* folderpath:d:\folder1\catssubfolder OR folderpath:d:\folder1\elephantssubfolder OR d:\folder1\micesubfolder ... etc

Actually, it's a bit simpler than that - I just need:

folderpath:D:\Folder1 OR folderpath:D:\Folder2 OR folderpath:D:\Folder3

I only have to put in the first level of hierarchy (Folder1, Folder2 and Folder3) - the search function finds all the subfolders, which saves a lot of typing, mile-long search terms and also "automates" the looping-stuff, too.


actually,
- I only want to see the (Sub)folders, not the files inside them;
- the (realworld) path statements have spaces in; and
- the (realworld) data is on an external drives,

....so my final (working) search term is :
folderpath:"F:\Folder1" OR folderpath:"F:\Folder2" OR folderpath:"F:\Folder3" kind:=folder
..which gives me precisely what I was after. YAY.

the only downside is that (I think) the "folderpath: " term is only a filter - it doesn't restrict the areas which get searched. If you start the search from the root directory, blinking ages to search the whole disk before presenting your filtered results. It is faster if you run it from the lowest point in the tree that will contain all the named folders. (edit: when I run it from 'saved searches', it is pretty speedy, so maybe not)

thanks alot

KingL

I_have_spoken wrote: »

>Pretty tedious doing that for hundreds of subfolders.... <

Script it in a batch file. If run interactively use single %

thanks, I will have a play with this method too, but I have never used scripts and haven't touched a command prompt window since 1990!, so I would want to do some background reading before tackling it.

I have 'learn python' on my list of things to do - would that help ?

ThemeOne

Glad it worked out for you. I also initially made the mistake of using AND rather than OR and getting zero results.

It's a good example though of why Windows Search these days is way too complicated for normal use and it seems to be getting worse - the search term we spent ages fiddling with was unnecessary under Windows 7 and I suspect under XP as well - in fact I don't think you could use search strings of this kind in XP.

My results always came up speedily once I had the syntax right, but your speculation re whether the search term just acts as a filter is an interesting one to ponder - never seen that addressed in any documentation, though I've always felt Windows Search was rather sparsely documented, like they assumed no-one would have the patience to use it beyond the basics anyway.