Searching for a singular file or file type is one thing, but what do you do when you need to search for multiple file types at the same time? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post comes to the rescue for one reader’s file search dilemma.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.
The Question
SuperUser reader Sebastien wants to know how to search for multiple file types at the same time in Windows 8:
I am looking for files in a particular directory that have the following extensions: .txt, .csv, and .xml. The directory has many levels of sub-directories that I would like to search through for all three file types in one go.
When I use Ctrl+F in Windows Explorer and enter extension types like *.txt;*.csv;*.xml, I watch the search bar fill up with green for a long time, but end up with no results. I know there are hundreds of these file types in the parent directory and sub-directories though.
How can I do a search like this in Windows 8 that returns results?
Is there an easy way for Sebastien to search for multiple file types at the same time?
The Answer
SuperUser contributor AppsDev has the answer for us:
Open Windows Explorer and in the top right search box type *.extension. For example, to search for text files you should type *.txt.
For multiple file types use Ext:.doc OR Ext:.txt OR Ext:.pdf. Hope this helps you.
Special Note: As noted in additional comments in the discussion thread, make sure that the word “OR” is capitalized when doing a search for multiple file types.
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.