subject: Grouping Search Results in Windows 7 [print this page] Windows 7 has added practical new features to the humble Search bar found in Windows Explorer including search filters and the arrange by feature. Each of these new features makes it easier to find and work with files. For example, the search filters allow you to filter the type of results Windows Explorer will display by specific criteria such as: file type, date modified, file size, video length, tags, and so on. However, using search filters still can lead to dozens of results. By using the arrange by feature, you can arrange the results in different ways such as by author, tag, type, date modified, and so forth. For instance, lets say that youve entered a search for all files with a name containing invoice. Windows Explorer will then list all files found containing the word invoice in the filename. As you can imagine, if you run a business, there may be hundreds of files that match this criteria. Just below the Search bar, youll find the Arrange by option which will help you better manage this list of results. You may want to arrange the results by Author, Type, Tag, Date Modified, or Top Results. Each option will change how the results are displayed. If you choose Author, the files will be listed based on who created the file. This would be useful not only in searching for a specific file but also for looking at the invoices created by each staff member in your office. Choosing Type allows you to list the files based on file type such as PDF, XLS, or DOC files. Arranging by Date Modified is also useful. Files will be sorted and grouped based on the date last modified. This allows you to see which files have been modified within the last day, last week, last month, or even A long time ago. When using the search filters and arrange by, dont overlook the following two options: More Options and Preview Pane. These options are located below the Search bar in Windows Explorer next to the Help icon. More Options features a dropdown menu that allows you to choose how much detail to show in the results pane including icon size and level of detail. The Preview Pane is a toggle button that toggles a preview pane on and off. When toggled on, youll see a pane on the right side of your screen that displays a preview image of any selected file. Rather than launching each file to see if its the file youre looking for, simply click it and see a preview. Windows 7 has introduced a number of noteworthy improvements including Windows Explorers new search filters and the arrange by display option. Take some time now to experiment with these new filters and arrangements and put them to good use the next time you need to search for files.
