Windows 7 - Search Options - Change or Restore

   Information

This 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.

1. Open Folder Options, and click on the Search tab. (See screenshot below)

2. To Restore the Default Search Options

A) Click on the Restore Defaults button, and click on OK.

3. To Change the Search Options

A) Select or unselect the options for how you want to have your searches done in Windows Explorer.

B) Click on OK when done.

1. Open the Start Menu, type regedit, and press Enter.

2. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

3. To Change the "What to search" Options

A) In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)

Code:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Search\PrimaryProperties\UnindexedLocations

B) In the right pane of Preferences, double click on the SearchOnly DWORD, then do step 3C or 3D below (see screenshot above)

C) Type 1 and click 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 on OK, if you wanted to select: Always search file names and contents. (see screenshot below)

4. To Change "How to search" and "When searching non-indexed locations" Options

A) In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)

Code:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Search\Preferences

B) 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)

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 on OK. (see screenshot below step 3D)


D) To Check (turn on) the option, type 1, and click on OK. (see screenshot below step 3D)

5. When finished, close regedit.