Solved! Windows Explorer file search issues/file not found issue on Windows 10/11

This time, we will introduce solutions for when searching in Explorer (within a folder) in Windows 10 and Windows 11 is incorrect or files cannot be found.

Have you ever opened a folder in Windows 10 or Windows 11, entered the string you want to search for in the search box in the upper right corner, and then had trouble finding files that contain the string you entered, even though they actually exist?

Also, even if you want to search only for files that contain specific characters, all files other than the one you are searching for may be displayed.

For example, in the image above, you can see that there are four files in the folder.

All file names contain the string "size".

So, what results will you get if you type "size" into the search box?

Even though all four filenames contain the string "size," only one file is displayed in the search results.

This will produce the same results whether you search for the latest version of Windows 10 or Windows 11.

The root cause is probably the search mechanism created by Microsoft.

So how do you make all files containing the string "size" appear in the search results?

The answer is to add an asterisk (*) to the beginning of the string.

Adding "*" will make all files appear in the search results.

Without the "*" the search results would only show files that started with the string "size".

Next, for example, if you want to display only PDF files with a "★" in the file name in the search results, like in the image below, you can search for "★.pdf" andextensionHowever, all ".pdf" files are displayed.

In this case, try searching in the same way, adding an "*" to the beginning ("*★.pdf").

• If you want to display all search results including files that contain characters between "★" and ".pdf", such as "1 (2)★3.pdf", try searching for "*★*.pdf".
• If you want to display only files that contain only one character between the "★" and the ".pdf", such as "1 (2)★3.pdf", try searching for "*★?.pdf".
  • "?" means any one character. If there are two characters, it means "★??.pdf".
• If you want to display only files that contain multiple characters between the "★" and the ".pdf", such as "1 (2)★3.pdf" or "1 (2)★33.pdf", try searching for "*★*?.pdf".

The "*" and "?" can be either full-width or half-width. Try searching and see for yourself.

You can also choose search options to search only the current folder or all subfolders (default).

You can also search by specifying update date, category, size, etc., so please check it out.