The recent change to the search function in explorer?

klepp0906 · 28 Oct 2019

So up until what I assume is one of the most recent windows updates (didnt catch it until now) i used the explorer search function quite extensively.

It allowed for wrapping something in double quotes to narrow down particular words, or leading with ~= to get an exact phrase.

That functionality seems to have been ripped out as they made the switch to a more "universal" style with the search box.

any way to get this back outside of using some kinda indexing third party app which id prefer not to have to resort to.

dalchina · 28 Oct 2019

Hi, are you running build 1909? That's when a big change occurs.
I've yet to see anyone here comment about this- I did ask in a thread about 1909.

(See Settings, About).

Part comparison of old and new:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/c...n_to_realtime/

klepp0906 · 28 Oct 2019

yep, it is 1909 evidently. Im in the release preview ring. Ill take a look at that thread now, thanks for the link. Totally forgot about real time searching too - yep goner.

I dont really even have the words - and these guys are billionaires, go figure.

dalchina · 28 Oct 2019

Interested in the experience... it sounds as if the difference is between whether you're searching indexed or non-indexed locations.. this was another change made when Cortana and search parted company in 1903..

I wonder how much of this
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...s-aqsreference
is still supported.

And if you uninstall the update to 1909, is the change reversible?

Note the ref. in that article to Listary- a rather interesting and unique tool- not just search but also favourites and recent by middle clicking empty space and more- I use that + Locate32.

NMI · 28 Oct 2019

I think this is going to be a frequent cause of confusion and questions once more users get updated to version 1909 soon.

As far as I know, the File Explorer changes are only documented in the Insider Preview release from nearly six months ago:

File Explorer improvements

We’ve heard your feedback asking for increased consistency, and to make it easier to find your files. Over the next few days we’ll be starting to roll out a new File Explorer search experience – now powered by Windows Search. This change will help integrate your OneDrive content online with the traditional indexed results. This rollout will start with a small percent, and then we’ll increase the rollout to more Insiders as we validate the quality of the experience.

What does that mean for you? Once you have the new experience, as you type in File Explorer’s search box, you’ll now see a dropdown populated with suggested files at your fingertips that you can pick from.

These improved results can be launched directly by clicking the entry in the new suggestions box, or if you want to open the file location, just right-click the entry and there’ll be an option to do so. If you need to use commands or dig deeper into non-indexed locations, you can still press enter and populate the view with the traditional search results.

The recent change to the search function in explorer?-search-dropdown.png

We’ve also updated the design, so now as soon as you click the search box in File Explorer (or press CTRL+E to set focus to it), you’ll see the dropdown list with your search history.

What’s new in 18894

But hopefully a better explanation of the changes will be published once 1909 is more generally released.