Tip of the day: Find a file, jump to its folder

These days, Windows is littered with search utilities. You can use the Find Search tool in Windows Explorer to hunt for individual files. You can do the same in Outlook and Outlook Express. If you really want top-notch search capabilities, you can add a third-party utility like those from Copernic, MSN, Google, and X1.

Every single one of these tools produces a list of individual items. And every single one has an incredibly useful command hidden away. Right-click any file name in your list of search results and choose Open Containing Folder from the shortcut menu. That option opens Windows Explorer and displays the contents of the folder that contains the item you selected.

This option comes in very handy when you’re searching for all the files associated with a project, or when your search turns up a file that’s related to the one you’re looking for but isn’t quite right. If you’ve organized your files by folder, you’ll have better results by switching to Windows Explorer than by trying to refine your search.

If you’re searching using the built-in Find tools in Outlook Express, you’ll have to dig a little deeper. In Outlook Express, the Open Containing Folder option is buried on the File menu and not available via right-click shortcut menus. The Open Containing Folder option isn’t available at all in Microsoft Outlook’s Advanced Find window, but this feature shows up on right-click menus if you use X1 or Copernic Desktop Search.

It’s another example of the axiom every Windows user knows: When in doubt, right-click.

Update: It works with Firefox downloads, too.