Finding files in Windows 11 doesn’t have to be slow or confusing. Most users waste time scrolling through folders, while Windows already has powerful built-in search commands that can instantly find videos, music, pictures, documents, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF files, and even text inside files. In this guide, I’ll show you the smart and fast way to search anything in Windows 11, using simple commands anyone can remember and use daily.
How to use these search commands
Open File Explorer, go to This PC or any drive like C: or D:, click on the search box (top right), then type the command shown below and press Enter.
Search by file type (most useful)
Type kind:video to find all video files like MP4, MKV, AVI
Type kind:music to find all audio files like MP3, WAV
Type kind:picture to find images like JPG, PNG
Type kind:document to find documents like Word, Excel, PPT, PDF
Search specific file formats
Type ext:mp4 to find MP4 videos
Type ext:mp3 to find MP3 music
Type ext:jpg or ext:png to find images
Type ext:pdf to find PDF files
Type ext:docx for Word files
Type ext:xlsx for Excel files
Type ext:pptx for PowerPoint files
Search Word, Excel, PPT, PDF together
Type ext:docx OR ext:xlsx OR ext:pptx OR ext:pdf
This is perfect when you don’t remember the exact file type.
Search files by name
Type name:report to find files with “report” in the name
Type name:invoice* to find files starting with invoice
Type name:*final to find files ending with final
Search text inside files (very powerful)
Type content:password to find files containing that word
Type ext:pdf content:bank to search text inside PDF files
Type ext:docx content:salary to search inside Word files
Type kind:document content:meeting to search text in all documents
👉 For best results, make sure Indexing is enabled:
Control Panel → Indexing Options → Advanced → File Types → enable Index Properties and File Contents
Search large files (storage cleanup trick)
Type size:>100MB to find any large file
Type size:>500MB or size:>1GB for very big files
Type kind:video size:>100MB for large videos only
Type kind:picture size:>50MB for heavy images
Search by date
Type datemodified:today
Type datemodified:this week
Type datemodified:last month
Exclude files (advanced)
Type kind:document NOT ext:pdf to skip PDFs
Type size:>100MB NOT kind:video to exclude videos
Why this method is so powerful
These commands work instantly, don’t require any extra software, and are built directly into Windows 11 File Explorer. Once you start using them, you’ll save hours of time, keep your storage clean, and find any file in seconds like a professional.
If you use Windows daily for work, study, or content creation, mastering these search commands is a must-know skill.
