Find in Files Dialog Box

  • Article

Allows you to search within various scopes and review search results in report format. You can access the Find in Files dialog box by choosing Find and Replace on the Edit menu.

The Find in Files dialog box searches through each document or file you specify and displays the search matches in the Find Results 1 or Find Results 2 windows. You might also want to use the Find/Command box to search. For more information about entering search parameters in the Find/Command box, see Visual Studio Commands with Arguments.

Note   When you include a file under source code control in a search, Visual Studio searches only the version of a file on your local machine.

The Find in Files dialog box provides many standard search options to help you increase the accuracy of your search.

  • Find what
    Enter the text, along with wildcards or regular expressions, for which you intend to search. Select the drop-down list to display the last 16 items entered. Click the wedge button to view a quick reference list of select Wildcard or Regular Expression syntax.
  • Match case
    Searches only for occurrences that match the combination of uppercase and lowercase characters you enter in the Find what box.
  • Match whole word
    Searches only for whole words rather than matching the text you enter in the Find what box as it occurs within words.
  • Use
    Indicates that certain characters entered in the Find what text box match text patterns. The exact interpretation depends on which pattern-matching syntax is selected, either Wildcards or Regular Expressions.
  • Wildcards
    Indicates that the use of certain characters in the Find what text box represent a class of character or sequence of characters. For a complete list, see Wildcards.
  • Regular expressions
    Indicates that the use of certain characters in the Find what text box represent notations for patterns of text rather than the literal character. For a complete list, see Regular Expressions.
  • Look in
    Specifies the files or folder to search. Type one or more directory or file names, separated by semicolons, to search; alternatively, create your own scope by clicking the Ellipsis button. You can also select a pre-defined scope from the drop-down list. These scopes include Current Document, All Open Documents, Entire Solution, Current Project, and Visual C++ Include Directories.
  • Look in subfolders
    Indicates that the search includes files located in folders that are within the folders specified in the Look in list.
  • File types
    Specifies the file extensions for the type of files to search in the directories listed in the Look in drop-down list. If no extensions are listed, all of the files in the directories listed in the Look in drop-down list are searched.
  • Display in Find 2
    View search matches in the Find Results 2 window rather than the default window, Find Results 1. Use this option to retain multiple search results.
  • Display file names only
    Displays one entry per file containing a search match rather than one entry per search match in the Find Results 1 or Find Results 2 window.

See Also

Searching and Replacing | Look In Dialog Box | Searching Interactively | Searching Using Results Lists | Searching an Active Document Incrementally