left click search option in windows ten, is it possible?

needyourhelp · 16 Mar 2020

I have Windows ten..

I have a folder with all my music files in it. one folder..no sub-folders.
when i'm putting new songs in the folder, id like to search the folder first to see if i already have the song.
Explorer search bar on top right is BROKEN...I'm past trying to fix it...

The search bar on the top right only works sometimes, ..but when it does work..it does exactly what i want..
I simply start to type the name of a song and it goes right to the song ( if I already have it in that folder), highlighted, so i know whether i have the song already or not in that folder. Extremely simple, useful and helpful! a must have...
. yet nothing else can do this??

I need to get that ability back and have it added as an option in the context left click menu.

what id like to do is this..
simply left click inside of a folder, and get the option to search that folder and have it find the file I'm looking for as I type

example: If I'm adding metallica songs to my rocknroll folder, and I have 500 songs in there already,( NOT in their own folders..I prefer them all just sitting in one folder as opposed to subfolders) instead of adding songs i already have in there...i want to be able to left click, search the folder and start typing a song name like " enter the sandman"..
and as im typing...if it was in there, it would pop up or show me that it's already there...highlight it, etc..

i have tried a reg hack to add search to left click..and that was also useless..it simply brings up the explorer search which is useless because as I said before, my explorer search is shot, busted and broken..

how can I accomplish my goal here?

dmholt57 · 16 Mar 2020

Any large collection benefits from having fewer entries in a folder regarding searches. Windows Explorer will aid you in finding items in a folder with only 3 typed letters, not hunt and peck. To make things easiest, having a folder for each artist, for multiple songs, and each song title starting with the artist name - song title, will let you access a large collection easiest once you have collected for a number of years.

Once in a folder, click in an empty space out to the right inside the box and then type three letters quickly, you should be taken to the correct subfolder.

dalchina · 16 Mar 2020

Hi, two suggestions apart from fixing the search box for Windows search:

1. By default, if you click on an item in the folder, and then simply start typing, then an attempt to match what you have been typed is made and that item is selected. Here I clicked on the top highlighted item, then typed Auto - you can see the item selected below. (This is not the same as searching of course).

left click search option in windows ten, is it possible?-untitled.png

2. Try a free (& paid) program called Listary. This adds search features automatically. It take a little time to understand all it can do, and choose what you want. This is somewhat integrated with file explorer and interacts with it and other open/save dialogues.

Here you see one type of Listary dialogue on the right- again I type 'auto'

Listary also adds Favourites, Recent and more by e.g. middle clicking on empty space, folders offered expanding on mouseover. Neat.

Regarding the search box in file explorer: when I noted the problems when I first tried upgrading from 1903 to 1909, I reverted to build 1903, and I have stayed with it. No problems with search.

Unfortunately you haven't stated your Windows build as requested by the forum when you created your post.

Hopefully MS will have fixed this in build 20H1- reports indicate this is so, wiht the exception that search syntax is no longer highlighted in blue- which has been very useful as it is somewhat poorly documented.

needyourhelp · 16 Mar 2020

@ dmholt thank you for your help.
@ dal china..im using build 1909. and thank you for your help!

update...

i installed listary ... instead of clicking anything or opening any menus, ..i just started typing...and it jumps to what im typing! exactly what I needed!
THANKS THANKS THANKS!

- - - Updated - - -

Listary works great for what I wanted to do..
Thanks again!