My Windows PC is full of PDFs in random folders and the search box only shows recent ones. How do I find every PDF file on the computer?
That is annoying, especially once downloads and old coursework have piled up. In File Explorer, click This PC, then type *.pdf into the search box and wait for it to finish searching all drives. If some still do not appear, check Search Options and make sure hidden files and non-indexed locations are included.
Had the same thing last month with signed forms scattered everywhere. I opened File Explorer, went to This PC, and typed *.pdf in the search bar. It found them all after a minute or two, even in random folders. If it still misses some I would try searching from the C drive specifically.
Open File Explorer, click This PC on the left, then type *.pdf in the search box at the top right and let it run. I do that now because it searches every folder, not just recent ones. It can take a few minutes on a full drive.
I run into this when my contract files get disorganised. Open up File Explorer and click on ‘This PC’ on the left side. Then type *.pdf into the search bar at the top right and hit enter. It might take a minute to scan, but it will pull up every PDF you have saved. Did that find what you were looking for?
@henry2010 That This PC trick is exactly what I do at the library when patrons swear their form “just disappeared.” One extra tip: once the results load, sort by folder path so you can see which random folders are hoarding PDFs. What to avoid: the Start menu search, it only shows indexed stuff and misses tons. Learned that one the hard way, lol.
in the file explorer search bar type *.pdf and make sure the dropdown at the top says this pc not the folder you’re in, that searches the whole drive. if it’s still missing stuff, check windows search settings and turn on the option to index pdf file contents. that usually fixes it for me when search feels broken.
Open File Explorer, click the search bar, type *.pdf and hit enter, it’ll scan the whole drive.
Make sure “This PC” is selected not just one folder, otherwise it only searches that spot.