How to Find All Excel Files in Windows 10

To find all Excel files in Windows 10, open File Explorer, select This PC, and type *.xlsx in the search box. Windows lists every Excel workbook on your drives. Search for *.xls to find older Excel files too.

Applies to: Windows 10. Microsoft ended Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025, so a PC without Extended Security Updates no longer receives security fixes; that program runs until October 12, 2027.

Search with File Explorer

1. Press Windows key + E to open File Explorer.
2. Select This PC on the left to search every drive. To search one folder, open that folder instead.
3. Type *.xlsx in the search box at the top right and press Enter.
4. Wait for the green bar in the address bar to finish.

To find other spreadsheet types, search for:

• *.xls for older Excel files
• *.xlsm for workbooks with macros
• *.csv for CSV files

Sort and filter the results

1. Select the View tab and choose Details.
2. Select a column heading, like Date modified or Size, to sort the list.
3. Select the Search tab and choose Date modified to show only recent files.

Right-click any file and select Open file location to go to its folder.

Search with Command Prompt

To get a full list you can copy, open Command Prompt and run:

dir C:\*.xlsx /s /b

It lists the full path of every .xlsx file on the C: drive.

Include older and macro Excel files

Searching for *.xlsx misses other Excel formats. To find all of them at once, type this in File Explorer’s search box:

*.xlsx OR *.xls OR *.xlsm OR *.xlsb OR *.csv

• .xls is the older format from Excel 2003 and earlier.
• .xlsm is a workbook with macros.
• .xlsb is a binary workbook, often used for very large files.
• .csv is plain text that opens in Excel. Leave it out if you only want real workbooks.

Narrow the search with filters

File Explorer’s search box understands filters you can type alongside the file type. Combine them with spaces:

• ext:.xlsx finds files by extension, the same as *.xlsx.
• name:budget ext:.xlsx finds workbooks with budget in the file name.
• ext:.xlsx datemodified:last week shows workbooks changed last week. You can also use this week, this month, last month, this year, or a date range such as datemodified:1/1/2026..3/31/2026.
• ext:.xlsx size:large finds big workbooks. Sizes go from tiny and small up to large, huge, and gigantic. You can also type an exact size, such as size:>10MB.
• ext:.xlsx author:Jordan finds workbooks whose Author property matches the name.

Filters on name, date, and size work anywhere, but they’re fastest in indexed folders like Documents and Desktop.

Save a search you use often

After running a search, select the Search tab and choose Save search. Windows saves it to your Searches folder, and you can pin it to Quick access. Opening it runs the search again with up-to-date results.

Search one drive or folder at a time

If you keep files on a second drive or USB stick, open that drive in This PC before typing the search. It finishes faster than searching every drive at once, and you can still use the same filters.

Save the list to a file

To get a list you can open in Excel itself, run this in PowerShell. It saves every workbook’s path, size, and last-modified date to a CSV file on your desktop:

Get-ChildItem C:\Users -Recurse -Include *.xlsx,*.xls,*.xlsm -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object FullName, Length, LastWriteTime | Export-Csv "$HOME\Desktop\excel-files.csv" -NoTypeInformation

Change C:\Users to C:\ to search the whole drive, which takes longer.

Find Excel files you opened recently

Open Excel and select Open to see your Recent list, including files from OneDrive and SharePoint. In File Explorer, Quick access also shows recent files. Right-click an entry and choose Open file location to find where it’s saved.

If the search finds nothing

• The files are in OneDrive and not downloaded. Online-only files still show in search, but only if OneDrive is running and signed in.
• The search is limited to one folder. Select This PC before searching so every drive is included.
• The file was saved with another name or format. Search for part of the name instead, for example budget.

Frequently asked questions

Why are some files missing from the results?

Windows searches faster in indexed folders. Folders outside your user folders may take longer. When files that should be there still don’t appear, fixing Windows Search in Windows 10 is the next step.

How do I see file extensions like .xlsx?

File Explorer hides them by default. You can turn them on by showing file extensions in Windows 10.

How do I search for other kinds of files?

The same wildcard trick works with any extension. More search options are covered in searching for files in Windows 10.

Can I search inside Excel files for a word?

Yes, for indexed folders. Type content: followed by the word in File Explorer’s search box, such as content:invoice. Windows searches the text inside workbooks as well as their names. It works best in your Documents and Desktop folders, which are indexed by default.

How do I find an Excel file I never saved?

Open Excel, select File > Info > Manage Workbook > Recover Unsaved Workbooks. Excel keeps unsaved copies for a few days after it closes.

Why does the search take so long?

Searching This PC looks through every folder, including ones Windows doesn’t index. Search a smaller folder, such as Documents, for faster results.

Does this work in Windows 11?

Yes. The same search box, wildcards, and commands work in Windows 11 File Explorer.

Found a workbook with macros? Read up on enabling macros in Excel before you run them.

Every filter the search box accepts is listed in Microsoft’s Advanced Query Syntax reference.

Related: How to find all Word documents on your computer.