There are five main places you can perform a search in the latest versions of Windows: the search box in any Windows Explorer window (to bring up just search, use Windows Key + F), the search box at the bottom of the Start menu, the search box in the Control Panel, a common file dialog box, and in Windows-only applications. A bit of extra time now will save you loads of effort in the long run. Force yourself to use them and you'll soon become a master of Windows Search.

Here we take a quick look at a few basic search techniques and a few more advanced ones. Like many habits, this one is worth breaking in order to to develop an even better one. Many users perform searches without thinking nowadays: it's an ingrained habit of using the operating system. Search is built into every aspect of Windows 7 to help users cope with the increasingly rapidly growing number of files, be they work documents and e-mails, personal photos and videos, or music collections. While the major search improvements began with Windows Vista and were backported to Windows XP, it's really only with Windows 7 that the larger majority of users are discovering the search bar all over in the operating system.

Search has become an integral part of Windows, particularly in later versions.

Windows 7 find files by date modified