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<begin rant>

I really hate the way Search Results works in Windows 7.

You get something like this:

Enter image description here

...and, wanting to see the full path (why doesn't it show you that automatically, either by making that column wide enough by default or by showing a tooltip of the path when you hover?), I click where I estimate the invisible vertical line is (which worked in previous versions of Windows - why did they fix something that wasn't broken?!?), and that causes the file to open (opening a new instance of Visual Studio, which I definitely did not want). Change for change's sake is a "female dog" (no offense, Lassie)!

Even if you right-click the item and select Properties → tab General → Location only shows a truncated version of a long file path.

What were they thinking?!?

</rant over>

So how can I view the full path in these search results?

Peter Mortensen
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B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven
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5 Answers5

53

The sort of view you're using just seems like a waste of space to me. Why not switch to Details view instead? That's what I use and I just add a path column when required.

To add a path column:

  1. Right click the column header, select More...

    right-click context menu for folder detail column headers

  2. Scroll down and check path.

    more options for columns in folder detail

Bob Stein
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Karan
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    Oh, yeah, that's another thing - why isn't Details view the default? I always want windows full-size, I always want the folders in details view by defalt, and ... enough for now. – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven Jul 05 '13 at 20:17
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    Yes, I was fooled by the goofy presentation; once I changed to Design view, it works fine. – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven Jul 05 '13 at 20:32
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    Another thing I hate - how Word doesn't have an easy/obvious "Select All" context menu option any more - that's the thing I use the most. At home, it's not a problem, because I use Open Office, but at work I only have Word, so...frustrating! – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven Jul 05 '13 at 23:27
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    Is that a big problem? Why not just use Ctrl+A? – Karan Jul 05 '13 at 23:29
  • Now that I've been reminded Ctrl+A is the shortcut, it's not a problem, but since I always right-click and select Select All...and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Taking the menu items away that have been there since the days of the Sabre-tooth Tiger doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven Jul 05 '13 at 23:58
  • There are ways to make **Select All** easier to access in Word, and even to add it back to the context menu. The comments section is inadequate for this, so if you post a new question I can give you the answer there. – Karan Jul 06 '13 at 02:52
  • Yes, I marked your answer as the answer; I've just grown used to using context menus rather than shortcut keys. – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven Jul 10 '13 at 05:01
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    I wasn't talking about this answer! I was saying that if you want to access Select All in Word in the old way you were used to (i.e. via the context menu), I can help you fix what Microsoft broke. The answer won't fit in a comment though, so you'll have to post a new question for it. I hope that's clear enough. – Karan Jul 11 '13 at 01:11
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    This "Folder" the way it works, it should not even exist! How drunk someone would be to have an idea so dumb like this one? And BTW, what is the difference between "Folder Path" and "Folder"? – sergiol Feb 17 '16 at 19:01
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    A pity this doesn't allow you to quickly click the main explorer directory field and copy the path you're interested in. – user74094 Jan 17 '20 at 09:49
  • @sergiol: In Windows 10 the `Folder path` works as it worked in Windows XP and the ugly option `Folder` shows the folder name followed by the path of that folder in parenthesis. For example, if there is a file `c:\one\two\name.txt` then `Folder` will be `two (c:\one)` and `Folder path` will be `c:\one\two`. – Chupo_cro Jul 19 '20 at 01:56
16

I finally figured out that there are "Folder", "Folder path" and "Path" fields available.

Right-mouse-click over the "Folder" column heading to change columns that are displayed in the results and click "More..." at the menu bottom.

Scroll through available fields and check "Path" to activate it. Then uncheck the original "Folder" column.

DO NOT check the "Folder Path" column, because it will tell you the Path of the containing folder, in a similar way to the "Folder" column!

sergiol
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HateWindowsMetro
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    How can one make this default? I read it once when it first came out in a previous version of Windows (7? Vista? 8?), but now that I'm on Windows 10 and need to set it as default again, I can't remember how, nor find it on the web. – Travis Bemrose Aug 24 '15 at 02:28
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    This "Folder" the way it works, it should not even exist! How drunk someone would be to have an idea so dumb like this one? And BTW, what is the difference between "Folder Path" and "Folder"? – sergiol Feb 17 '16 at 19:00
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    Such nice options they made available and such dumb defaults. – killjoy Apr 24 '19 at 19:08
3

If it is just a single file, you can right click the file and open path location. Then, in the new location, click the explorer bar once and it will show the full path. However, that may become tedious if there are several files you want to check from the search results.

EDIT: Also, whenever I hover over the shortened path, it does display a tool tip of the full location. It only worked for me whenever my cursor was over the actual path text, ie C:\...\foo\...\bar. It did not work when I just hovered over the file in general.

Josh
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1

You can pull out the complete folder path for the entire list in "search results" by dragging the column for folder path to the right. Drag the heading "Folder path".

Peter Mortensen
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Roy Wiklander
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0

To permanently set the search results to Detailed, and to replace the Folder column with Path, you can modify the registry. I referenced the answers here: https://www.tenforums.com/customization/126155-customize-file-explorer-search-default-columns.html

Note, this only changes the defaults for "Generic" search results. There are other templates for folders like Music, Pictures, etc, you can reference the above link to tinker with those.

To change the Generic defaults, apply the below reg settings. The key things are the LogicalViewMode:1 (for Details view), and ItemPathDisplay in the ColumnList value.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;Fixes search results defaults to Content view.
;Sets Details view as default search results view for Generic folders.

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags]

;Generic Search Results
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{7fde1a1e-8b31-49a5-93b8-6be14cfa4943}]
"LogicalViewMode"=dword:00000001
"Mode"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{7fde1a1e-8b31-49a5-93b8-6be14cfa4943}\TopViews]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{7fde1a1e-8b31-49a5-93b8-6be14cfa4943}\TopViews\{4804caf0-de08-42ec-b811-52350e94c01e}]
"ColumnList"="prop:0System.ItemNameDisplay;0System.DateModified;0System.ItemTypeText;0System.Size;0System.ItemPathDisplay;1System.Search.Rank;1System.DateCreated;1System.Author;1System.Keywords;1System.Title"
"LogicalViewMode"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{7fde1a1e-8b31-49a5-93b8-6be14cfa4943}\TopViews\{bdbe736f-34f5-4829-abe8-b550e65146c4}]
"ColumnList"="prop:0System.ItemNameDisplay;0System.DateModified;0System.ItemTypeText;0System.Size;0System.ItemPathDisplay;1System.Search.Rank;1System.DateCreated;1System.Author;1System.Keywords;1System.Title"
"LogicalViewMode"=dword:00000001
UnionP
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    If you want to modify the FolderTypes entries, I recommend copying the key to `HKCU` and modifying those values. That way, if anything goes wrong, a simple deletion restores defaults. Glad you're getting use out of my postings at tenForums. – Keith Miller Apr 15 '21 at 20:41
  • Ah the famouse KeithM, thanks so much for answering that post and others I saw across the internet :) And yes, very good advice to anyone experimenting with these settings. – UnionP Apr 16 '21 at 01:00
  • UnionP: I'd be inclined to upvote if you'd take KeithM's very good advice and edit this answer. It's otherwise ready to execute from a .reg file, correct? – Bob Stein Sep 04 '21 at 14:14