Content is valuable only if you can find it, and with lots of content to manage, the Windows 8 search function is essential. The tile-based interface comes with
its own search function—the Search charm, which offers somewhat
different methods for finding what you are looking for. In this
section, we’ll take a look at how to use the Search charm and learn
about some principles that can make your searches more powerful.
To go to Search
On the Desktop or Start screen, press 
+C, and then click the Search charm ; Search opens with Apps selected .
The Search charm icon
The tile-based Search app lets you search across app names, across
settings (and Help topics), across filenames, and within individual
tile-based apps.
• On the tile-based Start screen, start entering your search string, and Search opens with an Apps search.
• On the Desktop or in a tile-based app that supports the Search charm, press +Q. Search opens with an Apps search.
• On the Desktop, press +F. Search opens with a Files search.
• On the Desktop or in the tile-based interface, press +W. Search opens with a Settings search.
The “Search within an app” function is
powerful and can save you a lot of time. If you search within Internet
Explorer from here, the search is passed to your default search engine
(which is Bing unless you change it). If you search within an app, then
that app finds appropriate matches. People finds matching contacts;
Music, Photos, and Videos find matching filenames; and the app Cocktail
Flow shows you a matching drink. shows matches to the search string “Win” in the Music app.
The results of a search in the Music app
Notice that as you type a search string into
the Search text box, Windows starts to display potential matches in the
Search pane below the text box . Those matches may get you where you want to go quickly.
Search gives you matches as you enter your search string.
Tip
The tile-based interface Search supports
wildcards and simple Booleans. Use ! to substitute for a single
character, or * for multiple characters. Enclose a string with “ ” for
an exact match of the string, and use “and” between search terms to
search for matches to either string.
Tip
Press Ctrl+Esc as an alternative to the key. Many keyboards, especially older ones, don’t come with a Windows key.
