Search with structured queries

Go beyond simple filename search — filter by file type, size, date, and extension using a concise query syntax.

Time: ~5 minutes
Skill level: Intermediate

SPAN Finder has three search layers, each suited to different needs:

Method Shortcut Best for
Type-ahead Just start typing Jumping to an item in the current folder
Filter bar Ctrl + Shift + F Narrowing down a large folder by name pattern
Recursive search Ctrl + F Finding files anywhere inside a folder tree

Press Ctrl + F and type a filename or keyword. SPAN Finder searches the current folder and all subfolders, streaming results as it finds them.

Press Ctrl + Enter (instead of Enter) to search from the drive root — useful when you’re not sure which subfolder contains the file.

Structured query syntax

Add one or more filter tokens to any search to narrow results by type, size, date, or extension. Tokens can be combined freely.

kind: — filter by file type 

kind:image
kind:video
kind:audio
kind:document
kind:code
kind:archive
kind:font
kind:executable

Example: Find all images in the current folder tree:

kind:image

Find all Python source files:

kind:code report

(finds code files whose name contains “report”)

Supported aliases:

Kind Aliases
image photo, picture, pic, img
document doc, docs, text
video movie, film
audio music, sound, song
archive compressed, zip
code source, script, program
executable exe, app, application

size: — filter by file size 

size:>10MB
size:<500KB
size:>1GB
size:empty
size:large
size:small

Supported units: B, KB, MB, GB, TB
Supported operators: >, <, >=, <=, =
Presets: empty (0 bytes), small (<1 MB), large (>100 MB)

Example: Find videos larger than 1 GB:

kind:video size:>1GB

date: — filter by modification date 

date:today
date:yesterday
date:thisweek
date:thismonth
date:thisyear
date:>2024-01-01
date:<2023-12-31

Example: Files modified this week:

date:thisweek

Find old log files from last year:

kind:document log date:<2025-01-01

ext: — filter by extension 

ext:.pdf
ext:.csv
ext:.jpg

You can omit the leading dot: ext:pdf works the same as ext:.pdf.

Example: Find all spreadsheets:

ext:.xlsx

Combining filters

All tokens are combined with AND — every token must match for a file to appear in results.

Real-world examples:

Query What it finds
kind:image size:>5MB Large photos (good for finding duplicates)
kind:video date:thismonth Videos added this month
report kind:document date:thisyear Documents with “report” in the name, modified this year
ext:.log size:>10MB Large log files worth cleaning up
kind:code size:<10KB date:thisweek Recently edited small source files
kind:archive size:>500MB Large archives worth extracting or deleting

Type a chosung (초성) character to search by the initial consonant of Korean filenames. For example, type ㄷ to find 다운로드, 데이터, 동영상, etc.

This works in type-ahead, the filter bar, and recursive search.

Tips

  • Results are streamed — results appear as SPAN scans, so you can act on early results before the full scan finishes.
  • Cancel anytime — press Esc to stop the search. Results found so far are preserved.
  • Act on results — once you have search results, you can select all (Ctrl + A), batch rename (F2), or drag them to the Shelf for bulk operations.
  • Filter bar vs. recursive — the filter bar (Ctrl + Shift + F) only filters the current folder’s visible items (instant, no I/O). Recursive search (Ctrl + F) walks subdirectories (slower but finds everything).

See also