From time to time, computer users need to check for the presence of a file. In general, this is not difficult, but newbies may have questions. It should be noted right away that the tips below are suitable for operating systems of the Windows family. For other operating systems, the procedure may differ.
Necessary
A computer with a minimum of peripherals (mouse, keyboard, monitor), if necessary - a disk or flash drive, where the file can be
Instructions
Step 1
The first way to check for the existence of a file is to check the folder where it should be. To do this, click Start (if necessary), select "My Computer" and then double-click to go to the required folder. There is also the possibility of tree-like display of folders. For example, in Windows XP, it is enabled by the "folders" button in Explorer (above the field that displays the content). To expand the contents of a local drive or folder in the directory tree, click the plus sign next to the drive / folder name. They collapse by clicking on the minus. Thus, sequentially expanding the folders, it remains only to click on the name of the directory in which the required file should be located.
Step 2
If the file is not in this folder, you should start searching. To do this, you need to click the "search" button above the file field, or "View" -> "Browser panels" -> "Search". You can also press F3 or Ctrl + E on your keyboard. In the search bar that appears, you need to click on the appropriate file type (for all, for documents or for media files). In the "File name" field that appears, enter the name of the file you are looking for, if known. You can also search across all files of the same type. To do this, you need to enter a combination like "*.exe", where after the dot must be the extension of the desired file (for example, "*.doc" for Word files).
Step 3
If necessary, you can use the content search: a part of the file content is entered in the “word or phrase in file” field, if it is known. Content Search does not work with music, movies, pictures, or similar files. Only for documents with text content or tables. Windows Search also allows you to search for files only in the selected location. To do this, click on the "Search in" drop-down menu and select the required drive / folder. Also, by checking the checkboxes, you can set the size of the searched file, the date of the last modification and configure other search parameters: such as searching in system or hidden folders, searching in subdirectories, in external file storages, as well as case-sensitive content search. input. The search is started by clicking the "Find" button. The search may take several minutes.
