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Search

Files.com offers a search engine for finding content, including files and folders by name. Search also returns matching Site Settings for Site Administrators.

On the Files.com web interface, search results appear as you type. Shortcuts let you navigate directly to a specific result: open a folder, preview a file, filter by Custom Metadata values, or jump to a Site Setting if you're a Site Administrator.

For folders stored within Files.com, both filename and Custom Metadata searches can span folders or be limited to the current folder. Search results respect your folder permissions and the selected Workspace.

Searching Remote Server Mounts

Files and folders on a Remote Server Mount appear in search results when the mount's Remote Metadata Index is enabled. The index is opt-in for each mount, and search results pass through the normal permission checks.

On a mount without the index, search covers only the current folder and includes only the items found within that folder.

Automated Use

Our in-app search engine is meant for human business users, not automations. The search index is specifically not updated in real time.

We work to reflect file uploads, moves, and deletes in search within a period of time that's reasonable for humans. The system is not designed to provide the instant gratification that automated business processes often require.

For automated search, we offer the ability to filter the items returned in the list of a single folder. Use the filter parameter to the folder list request in our API and SDKsExternal LinkThis link leads to an external website and will open in a new tab. It accepts wildcards.

We do provide API and SDK access to the search functionality, with the expectation that it only be used to support human business users.

Searching the Current Folder

Within the File Manager, you can search for files and folders with names that match certain text using the Search this folder field. This search is not case sensitive. The Search this folder option is not available for the root folder of your site.

Searching Custom Metadata

Custom Metadata values can be searched within the current folder using the top search bar in the File Manager. When you enter a search term, a suggestion appears that limits the search to metadata values in the current folder.

Custom Metadata values can also be searched by individual metadata keys by adding those keys as columns in the files table. When a Custom Metadata key is added as a column, the column includes its own search, letting you filter files and folders by values for that specific metadata key.

Custom Metadata value searches are case insensitive, whether you use the search bar, a metadata column, the API, or an SDK. Searching for abc-123 matches a value of ABC-123, so finding an identifier does not depend on remembering its capitalization. Metadata key names are matched exactly, including case: invoice_id and Invoice_ID select different keys.

To search Custom Metadata across folders through the API or SDKs, use a folder-list request at the root with search, search_custom_metadata_key, and search_all=true. Set search_custom_metadata_key to a specific key, such as invoice_id, or to * to search values under any key.

This lets you find an item by its business identifier without knowing its folder or filename. Without search_all, the request searches the specified folder.

In-file search is on our long-term roadmap. It is not planned for our near-term roadmap.