How to Search for Files by Type on Windows 11 (docx, pdf, jpg, and more)

Find Every File of a Specific Type

Whether you need all PDFs on your PC, every Word document in a folder, or all the photos on an external drive, Windows 11 makes it straightforward to filter by file type in both Windows Search and File Explorer.

Method 1: Windows Search Type Tabs

1. Press Win + S and type a keyword (or nothing)
2. Click the category tabs at the top: Documents, Photos, Videos
3. These tabs filter results to just those file categories automatically

The Documents tab includes .docx, .pdf, .xlsx, .txt, .pptx and other document formats. The Photos tab includes .jpg, .png, .heic, .raw. The Videos tab covers .mp4, .mov, .avi.

Method 2: File Explorer Type Filter

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder you want to search
2. Click in the search bar (top right)
3. Type kind: followed by the file category

Useful kind: searches:

• kind:document — Word, PDF, text files
• kind:picture — JPEG, PNG, HEIC, RAW
• kind:video — MP4, MOV, AVI
• kind:music — MP3, FLAC, AAC
• kind:email — if Outlook is installed

Method 3: Search by File Extension

To find files of a specific extension:

• In the File Explorer search bar, type *.pdf to find all PDFs in the current folder
• Type *.docx for all Word documents
• Type *.jpg for all JPEGs
• The * wildcard matches any filename with that extension

See File Types in File Explorer

If you're not sure what type a file is: open File Explorer → click View → Show → File name extensions. Extensions will appear on all file names, making it easy to identify file types at a glance.