If you've enabled content indexing when installing Google Desktop, you can search the files stored in your internal hard drive(s) and any external or network drives you've selected. Specifically, Google Desktop searches the following:
- Full text of .pdf, .txt, .html, and .zip files
- Full text of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files created with Microsoft Office 2000 and later. (For files created with other office suites, such as Lotus, WordPerfect, or StarOffice, Google Desktop searches the filenames but not their content.)
- Metadata for image, audio, and video files (such as EXIF, artist, and album information)
- Although Desktop doesn't index the content of files not listed above, it will index most filenames.
Tips and tricks:
- To index and search non-supported file types, try using a plugin from our indexing plugins gallery.
- For network or mapped drives you haven't selected, Google Desktop searches only Microsoft Office files you open, create, or save after installing Google Desktop. Google Desktop doesn't search .pdf, .txt, .mp3, or other files located on these drives.
- Google Desktop can search multiple computers at the same time.
- Although Desktop doesn't index or search folder names, you can restrict your searches to items within specific folders using a search operator.
- Certain types of folders and directories are excluded from Google Desktop's index.