How do I view only specific extension types in Outlook's "attach file" explorer window?

I send a lot of, nearly exclusively, .docx, pdf, or .xlsx. Whenever opening an explorer window following an "attach file" command I'd love to be able to only see the files with these extensions within this window.

I know how to group files in a normal Explorer window, but it does not seem to work in this case.

How do I view only specific extension types in Outlook's "attach file" explorer window?(Please, no suggestions of changing my workflow.)

P. O.

Posted 2013-04-18T18:15:54.950

Reputation: 300

Update: if you use "insert picture" in Excel, the same explorer window is used, but with only picture extensions type (.jpg . wmf .bmp etc.)appearing in the window, so this search window behavior seems to be changed depending on wich command or program is launching it. – P. O. – 2013-04-18T20:46:16.743

1The file filters for each Open File dialog are hardcoded in the program and can't be changed. – Karan – 2013-04-19T00:13:44.970

Answers

In the explorer's search window,

enter image description here

you can enter multiple wildcard criteria to filter what you want. Using the following will only display PDF, Word and Excel files;

*.pdf OR *.xlsx OR *.docx

enter image description here

In the Places Bar on the left, you can right click on Favorites and choose Add current location to Favorites. This will give you the ability to have a single click filter.

enter image description here

CharlieRB

Posted 2013-04-18T18:15:54.950

Reputation: 21 303

thanks for the effort and the print screens.It's exactly the result I'm trying to obtain, but is there a way to have this search by default (and only in the "attach file" window) ? The idea is trying to save a few seconds in the process, not add a step to it. Something with Regedit , maybe ? – P. O. – 2013-04-18T19:53:12.273

Might be. I will have to look into it. I thought of it, but was concerned it would change all instances of that window. – CharlieRB – 2013-04-18T20:01:16.353

It looks like there are at least two different behaviors available.For example, in the "attach file" one, the "folder options" in the organize menu is not available –I cannot switch the tool bar on– whereas in the Explorer window it is on. I thought, trying sthg similar to how you could change the way a program starts (windowed or full screen) depending on the parameters of two differents shortcuts. Thanks for editing the question, by the way. – P. O. – 2013-04-18T20:11:56.460

1I've added instructions to add the filter to the Places Bar on the left. It's not a one-click solution, but I think it will make it a two-click solution and be much faster. Haven't found how to modify the registry yet. – CharlieRB – 2013-04-19T11:36:26.827

Actually, it's not what I had in mind: it's better ! Setting up this favorite location on my root user folder, I don't need to navigate to a particular file or click recent files, most of the time it's the last one used that I'm looking for. Such a simple solution for an even better result than what I was looking for (I spent two hours yesterday trying find a way with regedit). You're a genius ! Thanks. – P. O. – 2013-04-19T15:43:51.577

Is it good enough to switch the “Choose File to Upload” dialog box (or whatever it’s called) into “Details” view and then sort by type?

Scott

Posted 2013-04-18T18:15:54.950

Reputation: 17 653

that's what I do now, but it's still not as clean as I'd like. Thanks. – P. O. – 2013-04-18T19:47:17.593