How to search subfolders and folder names on iPadOS 17.5

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Level 1

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How to search subfolders and folder names on iPadOS 17.5

How can I search subfolders in iPadOS 17.5?

This means that whatever I search for is also searched in the subfolders of the folder I am searching. If I have an art project with 30 concepts in it I do not want to jump into 30 folders one by one and type a filename 30 times.

2 . How can I search folder names in iPadOS 17.5?

A search only returns filenames within the currently selected folder. Not subfolder names.

It’s weird that I can’t do this as this has been available on computers since 1981.

Are there some ancient boolean terms I need to use like /s?

iPadOS 17.5, iPad Pro 13” M4.

iPad Pro

Posted on May 18, 2024 5:24 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

LotusPilot

Level 10

303,902 points

May 19, 2024 2:35 AM in response to Gold333

Perhaps you need to explore using Spotlight Search directly from your Home Screen:

Search with Spotlight on iPad - Apple Support

The often overlooked iPad User Guide provides information about Spotlight Search, Siri Search and other features of your iPad and iPadOS. Here is a base-link to the full User Guide:

iPad User Guide - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Gold333 Author

Level 1

37 points

May 18, 2024 8:28 PM in response to KaeBFly

No, no, no. Thanks for the reply, but I’m talking about subfolders. It’s a folder within a folder.

Go to files. Make a folder called “1”. Go to that folder. Make a new folder inside 1 called “2” and put a file in this 2nd folder.

Now go to folder 1 and search in the search box for the filename. The file will not be listed as it’s inside a subfolder.

Obviously the file will show up in “Recents” and “Entire iPad” because you just made it. But if you hook up an external drive the files are unsearchable.

We have projects that are thousands of filenames in varying project folders on external drives and iPadOS search simply won’t return any search results in subfolders.

In addition to this iPadOS also isn’t usable to search for foldernames, only filenames (even on just the iPad itself). If you search an external drive for a foldername the result will be 0.

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Answer 3

KaeBFly

Level 6

8,659 points

May 18, 2024 7:56 PM in response to Gold333

Assuming you are referring to the Apple Files app you should be able to just type what you are searching for in the search box without clicking on a lot of folders. Unless you’re saying you have a lot of locations listed (I imagined you were referring to folders you created in one of the locations). I don’t have a problem doing this. Maybe I am completely misunderstanding what exactly you are referring to though.

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