How do I search for a word within a group of word documents without opening the documents?

Question

I often need to search a group of files, say 20 files in a 5 different folders, for a word or words. I don't want to open each file and search it.

Answer 1

You can search for words within files from the Windows Explorer, Start Menu, Search, Files or Folders, "A word or phrase within a file".



Windows can read the contents of Word files.

Answer 2

Here's how in versions of Word prior to Word 2007.



1. Press CTRL/O to open the File Open dialog box.

2. Click the Tools button, then the Search menu item.

3. Set your search parameters on either the Basic or Advanced tab.

4. Make sure to set the Search In list box to only the directories you want, or any search will take a long time.

5. You might also want to restrict the file types in Results Should Be to Word files.

6. Click search.



Hope that helps.

Answer 3

windows has a built in indexing service. Turn it on and it will index the files on your system, so when you do a search, it will find the term you want. I forget how to get it running, but I know it's there, as I used to use it at my old job.

Answer 4

1. Ctrl+s is for Save. 2.F5 Refreshes the current window. In Internet Explorer, F5 will Refresh the web page. 3. Alt + left/right arrows In a browser moves forward or back through the pages visited in a window. 4. Shift+Windows+M Undo minimize all open windows. 5.Windows Key + E Opens a new Explorer Window. Probably one of the hottest Windows keyboard shortcuts. 6. Page Up In a browser window use the Page Up key to move up one full screen on a web page. 7. Shift + Arrow Up, Down, Left or Right. Position your cursorat the beginning of the area you wish to highlight for copying. Now use the up, down, left or right arrow keys to select areas of content to be highlighted, copied, pasted, etc. 8. Windows Key + Shift + M Restores all previously open windows to how they were before you Minimized them. 9. F6 Moves among panes in Windows Explorer. 10.Alt + Space Bar Displays the main window's system menu. This is the same as clicking on the application icon at the left end of the title bar. 11.Ctrl + C Copy, places the selected/highlighted copy on the clipboard. 12. Tab This key can be used to move forward through options in a dialog box. 13. [Alt] and letter Select menu item by underlined letter. 14. Ctrl While dragging a file to copy the file. 15.[F1] Open Help . 16.Ctrl + H Replace. 17. Windows Key+ L Lock your Windows XP computer. Logoff in Windows Pre-XP. 18. [Ctrl] and X Cut selection 19.Ctrl + P Print. 20. F6 Moves among panes in Windows Explorer. 21. Ctrl + I Add or remove Italic formatting. 22. Windows+Tab Cycle through the Taskbar buttons 23. Windows+F1 Open Windows Help 24. Ctrl + V Paste, where your flashing cursor is positioned or the area you have selected/highlighted. 25. Alt + Enter Displays a selected items properties. This can also be done with Alt + double-click. 26. Ctrl + U Add or remove Underline formatting. 27. SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW One character right 28. Windows+M Minimize all open windows 29. Ctrl + B Add or remove Bold formatting 30. Shift + Delete to permanently delete a selected item, bypasses the Recycle Bin. 31. Windows+Break Open the System Properties dialog box 32. SHIFT+PAGE DOWN One screen down 33. Ctrl + F4 Close a window in an application without closing the application. 34. [Alt] and [Tab] Toggle between running applications 35. Ctrl + Z Undo last command 36. F12 Print Screen/SysRq Usually located at the upper right hand corner of your keyboard next to the Scroll Lock and Pause/Break keys. Often abbreviated PrtScr, the Print Screen key is a useful key supported on most PCs. In DOS, pressing the Print Screen key causes the computer to send whatever images and text are currently on the display screen to the printer. Some graphics programs and Windows, use the Print Screen key to obtain Screen Captures. 37. [Ctrl] Up, Down arrow Move cursor forward or back one paragraph 38.Ctrl + W Close, will close the document currently open. 39. Num Lock numeric keypad 40. F3 Depressing this key will display the Find: All Files dialog box. 41. Shift Shift key while inserting a CD-ROM will bypass auto play. 42.Ctrl + Q Quit 43. F2 rename a selected item or object. 44. F10 Activates menu bar options. Use right and left arrows to select menus and down arrows to display pull down menus. 45.Ctrl + O Open 46.Ctrl+N New window 47.Ctrl+T New Tab. 48.Ctrl+A Select all. 49.Ctrl+F Find. 50.Ctrl+G Find Again. 51.Ctrl+Shift+H Show all History. 52.Ctrl+R Reload. 53.Ctrl+Y Redo