Search files NOT containing name

English support forum

Moderators: Hacker, petermad, Stefan2, white

Post Reply
greta1193
New Member
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 2024-09-10, 22:23 UTC

Search files NOT containing name

Post by *greta1193 »

Hello everyone,

I have this Excel list with approximately 200 names and I would like to perform a file explorer search of the files not containing any of the names in this list.

Any idea how to do this?

Thank you very much,
User avatar
nsp
Power Member
Power Member
Posts: 1912
Joined: 2005-12-04, 08:39 UTC
Location: Lyon (FRANCE)
Contact:

Re: Search files NOT containing name

Post by *nsp »

if you accept a manual process, you can:
  • Search or all your files using mask, folder,... and on find text type your first term only and tick "Find file Not containing the text"
  • <for each term>feed to listbox, and select all
  • <for each term>Search in selected file/directory only, find text <your next term only> and tick "Find file Not containing the text"
  • <loop for each term> until no files or no more term
To to opimize the search, if you have average occurence of each term is common text, search from the most frequent to the less.

Another way could be to use a content plugin exposing your file content and use operator "not contain" and "and" between each content pluging call.... (Not sure if you can add up to 200 times)
If the list is common and you have to redo the search frequently, you could save this search.
User avatar
tuska
Power Member
Power Member
Posts: 4046
Joined: 2007-05-21, 12:17 UTC

Re: Search files NOT containing name

Post by *tuska »

2greta1193
If you are interested in a solution using Total Commander with the ‘Everything 1.5a’ tool please let me know.

The solution would look something like this:
  1. Copy (Names in Excel) / Paste (Names) in Everything 1.5a search box
    (Note: ‘Search for:’ field in Total Commander: Max. Number of characters: 2046 characters)
  2. Complete search query in Everything 1.5a
  3. Option: Transfer search results to Total Commander (AHK script) OR transfer individually (setting in 'Context Menu')
User avatar
white
Power Member
Power Member
Posts: 5748
Joined: 2003-11-19, 08:16 UTC
Location: Netherlands

Re: Search files NOT containing name

Post by *white »

greta1193 wrote: 2024-09-10, 22:25 UTC I have this Excel list with approximately 200 names and I would like to perform a file explorer search of the files not containing any of the names in this list.
What exactly does "file explorer search" mean? A file search in Total Commander? A search only in a folder or also in its subfolders?
Post Reply