How to search for files / folders?
Activating the menu item “File → Search…” or the shortcut “Ctrl+F” opens the “Search files/folders” dialog.
Is it possible to save the search result for the next day?
Yes, you can export the search result to file container. In the Search window menu go to “File → Export to file container” and select “Export all items”, or “Export selected items” (if you want to export only selected items). Then from the container tab context menu (right mouse click on container tab) select “File containers → Save container to file…”.
How to exclude from the search all files if they have in the name the term “old”?
Change the tab to “Filters” and add the term “*old*” surrounded with asterisk (without the quotes) within the “Exclude files:” field.
I would exclude from my search all folders if the name of the folder has the term “test”?
Change the tab to “Filters”, then add the term “*test*” surrounded with asterisk (without the quotes) within the “Subfolder filter:” field, and select the option “Exclude filter”.
I use the search function often for searching my project files in five folders. Do I have to enter the folder every time?
You can use History, by using the drop-down buttons to select the items from history.
Alternatively you can use Profiles, by selecting the Profiles tab. You can use profiles to save the location, timestamp/size/attributes, and filter options.
I have hundreds of thousands of files and the search takes a long time. Can I start FreeCommander only for the search?
Yes, you can, in the Search window menu go to Options and select the option “Run in external process”.
I would like to search the PDF files for the text content. It does not works. Can FreeCommander find the text in PDF files?
Yes, you need to use Converter. However, it is available only in the donor version. How to use converter you can check here.
For searching of the text in my Office files (docx, xlsx) I need the converter. Where can I find the converter and how can I use it in FreeCommander?
Converters are programs that extract pure unformatted text from formatted text files.
Examples for formatted text files are: DOC, DOCX, RTF, HTM, HTML, PDF, XLS, XLSX, XML, PPT, HLP.
Note: Converter in the search is available only in the donor version.
For this example (Office files: docx, xlsx), you need do download, unpack and set up the converter tool. To do this:
- Download the xdoc2txt tool from this page (it’s in Japanese, scroll down or search for “zip” to find the download link)
- Unpack the xdoc2txt.exe file to your drive (e.g.: C:\Programs\xdoc2txt)
- Open the FreeCommander and the Search files/folders dialog (Ctrl+F)
- Switch dialog to “Converter” tab
- Click the button “Add new row” (or the “Insert” key)
- Add these items into the Filter field: *.pdf;*.doc;*.docx;*.odt;*.xls;*.xlsx
- Add the path to the xdoc2txt tool file, e.g.: C:\Programs\xdoc2txt\xdoc2txt.exe
- Add the Parameters: “%ConvertSourceFile%” >%ConvertTargetFile%
If you copy this text into the program via the clipboard, then re-enter the characters ” using the keyboard. - Select the checkbox for the actual Filter
Now you can search in the Office files (docx, xlsx).
Note: All supported file types / extensions can be find in the xdoc2txt.txt file. You can use these extensions in the filter field.
I’d like to search for new items, just few minutes or few days old, how to find them easily?
Open the Search dialog (Ctrl+F), switch to tab “Timestamp/Size/Attr”, click the checkbox for “Date” and “Not older than” and use options you need.
For example: by default “1 Day(s)” finds the items which are not older than 1 day.
More information is here.