Find in Files

1. Press Ctrl+Q and enter "find" in the search box at the top of the screen.

2. Choose Find in files from the list of results.

or

Search box

To search for a new text string or expression, specify it in the Search box. To search for any of the 20 strings that you searched for most recently, open the drop-down list and select the string.

You can select or clear the following option(s):

• Match case - Use this option to make sure that your search is case-sensitive.

• Match whole word - Use this option to make sure that your search returns only whole word matches.

• Use regular expressions - Use this option to use special notations that define patterns of text to match in the Search box (or in the Replace text box). For a list of these notations, see Using regular expressions in Visual Studio.

  Important

  The Expression Builder button appears next to the Search box only if you've selected the Use regular expressions checkbox.

  

Look in

The option you choose from the Look in drop-down list determines whether Find in Files searches the entire workspace, the entire solution, the current project, the current directory, all open documents, or the current document.

You can also use the adjacent Browse (...) button to locate where you want to search. Even better, if you've already specified a directory, this button will append the new directory instead of replacing it. For instance, if your "Look in" value was ".\Code", you could click the Browse (...) button and navigate to a folder named "Shared Code". The Browse (...) box would now show ".\Code;.\Shared Code" and when the Find command is executed, it will search both of those folders.

To refine your search, you can select or clear the following option(s):

• Include external items - Use this option to include referenced files from outside a C++ project, that is, files like "windows.h" that are included by your code files, but aren't part of a solution. This option only applies to C++ projects.
• Include miscellaneous files - Use this option to include miscellaneous files, which are files that you've opened but aren't part of a solution. See Miscellaneous files.

File types

The File types option indicates the types of files to search through in the Look in directories. Select any item in the list to enter a preconfigured search string that will find files of those particular types.

You can search for multiple file types by separating them with a semicolon (;). You can also exclude folders and files by prefixing any path or file type with an exclamation mark (!).

Append results

Use this option to append the results from the current search to previous search results.

Search box

To search for a new text string or expression, specify it in the Search box. To search for any of the 20 strings that you searched for most recently, open the drop-down list and select the string.

You can select or clear the following option(s):

• Match case - Use this option to make sure that your search is case-sensitive.

• Match whole word - Use this option to make sure that your search returns only whole word matches.

• Use regular expressions - Use this option to use special notations that define patterns of text to match in the Search box (or in the Replace text box). For a list of these notations, see Using regular expressions in Visual Studio.

  Important

  The Expression Builder button appears next to the Search box only if you've selected the Use regular expressions checkbox.

  

Look in

The option you choose from the Look in drop-down list determines whether Find in Files searches the entire workspace, the entire solution, the current project, the current directory, all open documents, or the current document.

You can also use the adjacent Browse (...) button to locate where you want to search. Even better, if you've already specified a directory, this button will append the new directory instead of replacing it. For instance, if your "Look in" value was ".\Code", you could click the Browse (...) button and navigate to a folder named "Shared Code". The Browse (...) box would now show ".\Code;.\Shared Code" and when the Find command is executed, it will search both of those folders.

To refine your search, you can select or clear the following option(s):

• Include external items - Use this option to include external items, such as files like "windows.h" that you might reference but aren't part of a solution.
• Include miscellaneous files - Use this option to include miscellaneous files, such as files that you've opened but aren't part of a solution.

File types

The File types option indicates the types of files to search through in the Look in directories. Select any item in the list to enter a preconfigured search string that will find files of those particular types.

You can search for multiple file types by separating them with a semicolon (;). You can also can exclude folders and files by prefixing any path or file type with an exclamation mark (!).

Append results

Use this option to append the results from the current search to previous search results.

When you perform a search for all results, results appear as they become available.

In Visual Studio 2022 and later, you can set Visual Studio to always keep results. Go to Tools > Options > General > Find and Replace, and select the checkbox for Keep search results by default.