How to search

Watch a video about using the Search charm. (To view captions in your language, tap or click the Closed captioning button .)

You can use the Search charm to search for apps, settings, and files on your PC. You can also use the Search charm to search the web, or search for items in the app you have open or in a different app you select. For example, you can use the Search charm to search for a new app in the Store or for a contact in the People app.

To use the Search charm

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)

2. Enter your search term.

3. To search for an app, setting, or file on your PC, tap or click Apps, Settings, or Files. To search within a particular app, tap or click the app in the list.

4. To search the web, tap or click Apps, then tap or click a web browser, like Microsoft Internet Explorer, or an app that searches the web, like Bing. Or if you're already in a browser, just open the Search charm and enter your search term (the Search charm will search the web automatically when you open it from a browser).

Tips

• If you have a keyboard and are on the Start screen, you can just start typing to open Search.

• To search for an app on your PC, you can press Windows logo key +Q. To search for a file, you can press Windows logo key +F.

Search results for apps, settings, and files

Here are some other things you can do with the Search charm:

• If you use an app such as a web browser a lot for searching, pin it to the top of the app list in Search. Press and hold or right-click the app and choose Pin.

• To open a location in File Explorer, enter a path in the search box and tap or click Apps. For example, if you enter C:\, a list of the folders on your C drive appears below the search box. Press the Down Arrow key to select a folder, and then keep typing until you get to the path you want. You can do the same with network folders by entering the path as \\server\share. You can also run an .exe file by entering its file name in the search box.

• To see all the apps you have on your PC, tap or click Apps before you enter a search term.

• To see more details for an item in the search results, press and hold or point to the item to see info like path, date modified, and file type.

• If files you expect to see don't appear in the search results, they might be in locations where Search isn't looking. For info about adding locations to the search index, see Indexing and Search: Frequently asked questions.

To change search settings

You can change the apps that appear in Search and delete the search history that's saved by Windows.

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)

2. Choose Search.

Note

Deleting your Windows search history doesn’t delete the search history that particular apps save. For info about deleting search history in an app, look on the app developer's website or in help for that app.

For info about searching in File Explorer, see Search for files in File Explorer.