Searching Files Using Index Search

Windows Indexing indexes most files in your user profile and drives the fast file search in File Explorer. PowerShell can access the same mechanism. Here is a function that returns files based on content:

function Search-FileContent ([String][Parameter(Mandatory)]$FilterText, $Path = $home ) 
{ 
    $objConnection = New-Object -COM ADODB.Connection 
    $objRecordset  = New-Object -COM ADODB.Recordset 
 
    $objConnection.Open("Provider=Search.CollatorDSO;Extended properties='Application=Windows';")  
 
    $objRecordset.Open("SELECT System.ItemPathDisplay FROM SYSTEMINDEX WHERE Contains('""$FilterText""') AND SCOPE='$Path'", $objConnection) 
    While (!$objRecordset.EOF ) 
    { 
        $objRecordset.Fields.Item("System.ItemPathDisplay").Value 
        $null = $objRecordset.MoveNext() 
    }     
}

To use it, specify a keyword. The code returns all files that contain the keyword:

 
PS> Search-FileContent -FilterText testcase -Path C:\Users\tobwe\Documents\
C:\Users\tobwe\Documents\Development\experiment1.zip
 

As you will quickly discover, Index Search does not return PowerShell scripts (*.ps1 files). By default, PowerShell scripts are not indexed. Go to the Index Service settings and include PowerShell scripts if you want to be able to search these files by content as well. Check here to learn more: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/use-windows-search-to-find-your-powershell-scripts/

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