Searching with file name patterns
You can type a text pattern into the Search pane’s Search for files and folders named field to search for file names. You can search for simple patterns such as portions of file names, or more advanced patterns that include wildcards.
File name pattern wildcards
|
Wildcard |
Result |
Example |
|---|---|---|
|
? |
Matches any single character in the file name. |
ca?.jpg results in cat.jpg, cap.jpg, and car.jpg, but not cats.jpg |
|
* |
Matches zero or more characters in the file name. |
cat* results in cat.jpg, cats.jpg, and cathy.jpg |
|
[…] |
Matches any of the enclosed characters. |
ca[tr] results in cat.jpg or car.jpg, but not cap.jpg |
|
[!…] |
Matches any character not enclosed. |
cat[!0] results in cata.jpg and catb.jpg, but not cat0.jpg |
|
[…-…] |
Matches any character in the specified range. |
cat[a-f0-9] results in cata.jpg, catb.jpg, catf.jpg and cat0.jpg, cat1.jpg, …, cat9.jpg |
|
\ |
Blocks the use of other wildcard characters that are also characters permitted in a file name, such as square brackets: [ ]. The * and ? characters are not permitted in file names so this function does not work with them. |
Because square brackets are wildcards, if you wanted to search for a file name that contains a bracket, you can precede the bracket with a backslash: ACD\[123\] results in ACD[123].gif |
|
|
Patterns are not case-sensitive. To use multiple patterns, separate the names with spaces or semicolons. To match a pattern containing a space or semicolon, enclose the pattern in double quotation marks. If you do not include the * wildcard in your pattern, the pattern is matched as a sub-string. For example, cat would match cat, cathy and bobcat, and is equivalent to the pattern *cat*. |
