How to Change or Restore Default Search Options in Windows 7 and Windows 8
InformationThis will show you how to change or restore the default Search Options for the What to search, How to search, and When searching non-indexed locations settings in Windows 7 and Windows 8.
OPTION ONETo Change or Restore Default Search Options in Folder Options
1. Open Folder Options in Windows 7 or Windows 8, and click/tap on the Search tab. (see screenshots below)2. To Restore the Default Search OptionsA) Click/tap on the Restore Defaults button, and click/tap on OK.3. To Change the Search OptionsA) Select or unselect the options for how you want to have your searches done in Explorer, and click/tap on OK when finished.
OPTION TWOTo Manually Change Search Options in Registry Editor
1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and press Enter.That's it,
2. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.
3. To Change the "What to search" OptionsA) In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)Code:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Search\PrimaryProperties\UnindexedLocationsB) In the right pane of Preferences, double click/tap on the SearchOnly DWORD, then do step 3C or 3D below (see screenshot above)4. To Change "How to search" and "When searching non-indexed locations" Options
C) Type 1 and click/tap on OK, if you wanted to select: In indexed locations, serach file names and contents. In non-indexed locations, search file names only. (see screenshot below step 3D)
D) Type 0 (zero) and click/tap on OK, if you wanted to select: Always search file names and contents. (see screenshot below)A) In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)Code:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Search\PreferencesB) In the right pane of Preferences, double click on the name of the DWORD in the table below for what "How to search" option you would like to change. (see screenshot above)5. When finished, close regedit.
DWORD Name Option SearchSubFolders Include subfolders in search results when searching in file folders AutoWildCard Find partial matches EnableNaturalQuerySyntax User Natural language search WholeFileSystem Don't use the index when searching in file folders for system files SystemFolders Include system directories ArchivedFiles Include compressed files
C) To Uncheck (turn off) the option, type 0 (zero), and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 3D)
D) To Check (turn on) the option, type 1, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 3D)
Shawn Brink
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