In Windows, if I type date stamp YYMMDD within file names (or content) can I later search for results within a particular YYDDMM range? How?

Question

I use Windows 10. If I use date stamps ( YYMMDD ) within my file names how can I go back and search for files with names that contain YYMMDD values within a certain range?
If I used the date stamps within the contents of a file and the Windows inbuilt Search capability is able to index the file contents, can I still search for files that contain YYMMDD values within a certain range.

Answer 1

No. You can't.

The only dates Windows search can interpret as actual dates are datemodified, datecreated, ... (source)

Windows search also doesn't support functions, nor regex. So you can't grab the YYMMDD part and convert it into a date.

If you were to add the YYMMDD into the file contents, it would still only be searched as a string, not as a date.

So, the answer to your specific question, is, unfortunately, no.

Possible workarounds though:

• Write a PowerShell script to list all files containing the YYMMDD pattern, convert it to a date, and apply a filter.
• Write a PowerShell script to update the Creation or Modified date of all files into their YYMMDD timestampt. Once you update those dates, you can use creation/modified date in windows search.