Find
Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista
Searches for a string of text in a file or files, and displays lines of text that contain the specified string.
For examples of how to use this command, see Examples.
Syntax
find [/v] [/c] [/n] [/i] [/off[line]] "<String>" [[<Drive>:][<Path>]<FileName>[...]]
Parameters
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
/v |
Displays all lines that do not contain the specified <String>. |
/c |
Counts the lines that contain the specified <String>and displays the total. |
/n |
Precedes each line with the file's line number. |
/i |
Specifies that the search is not case-sensitive. |
[/off[line]] |
Does not skip files that have the offline attribute set. |
"<String>" |
Required. Specifies the group of characters (enclosed in quotation marks) that you want to search for. |
[<Drive>:][<Path>]<FileName> |
Specifies the location and name of the file in which to search for the specified string. |
/? |
Displays help at the command prompt. |
Remarks
Specifying a string
If you do not use /i, find searches for exactly what you specify for String. For example, the find command treats the characters "a" and "A" differently. If you use /i, however, find is not case sensitive, and it treats "a" and "A" as the same character.
If the string you want to search for contains quotation marks, you must use double quotation marks for each quotation mark contained within the string (for example, "This ""string"" contains quotation marks").
Using find as a filter
If you omit a file name, find acts as a filter, taking input from the standard input source (usually the keyboard, a pipe (|), or a redirected file) and then displaying any lines that contain String.
Ordering command syntax
You can type parameters and command-line options for the find command in any order.
Using wildcards
You cannot use wildcards (* and ?) in file names or extensions that you specify with the find command. To search for a string in a set of files that you specify with wildcards, you can use the find command within a for command.
Using /v or /n with /c
If you use /c and /vin the same command line, find displays a count of the lines that do not contain the specified string. If you specify /c and /n in the same command line, find ignores /n.
Using find with carriage returns
The find command does not recognize carriage returns. When you use find to search for text in a file that includes carriage returns, you must limit the search string to text that can be found between carriage returns (that is, a string that is not likely to be interrupted by a carriage return). For example, find does not report a match for the string "tax file" if a carriage return occurs between the words "tax" and "file."
Examples
To display all lines from Pencil.ad that contain the string "Pencil Sharpener", type:
find "Pencil Sharpener" pencil.ad
To find a string that contains text within quotation marks, you must enclose the entire string in quotation marks. Then you must use two quotation marks for each quotation mark contained within the string. To find "The scientists labeled their paper "for discussion only." It is not a final report." in Report.doc, type:
find "The scientists labeled their paper ""for discussion only."" It is not a final report." report.doc
If you want to search for a set of files, you can use the find command within the for command. To search the current directory for files that have the extension .bat and that contain the string "PROMPT", type:
for %f in (*.bat) do find "PROMPT" %f
To search your hard disk to find and display the file names on drive C that contain the string "CPU", use the pipe (|) to direct the output of the dir command to the find command as follows:
dir c:\ /s /b | find "CPU"
Because find searches are case-sensitive and dir produces uppercase output, you must either type the string "CPU" in uppercase letters or use the /i command-line option with find.