Search pane (8) Guide
A guide for users of the Jaws screen reader, written by David Bailes.
More guides are available on the
Jaws Guides page
of the VIP Software Guides website.
Contents
Introduction
This is a guide to the Search pane in Windows 8, which is also sometimes referred to as
the Search Charm. Note that if you're using Windows 8.1, there's a separate guide to
The Search pane on Windows 8.1.
The Search pane can be used for searching for a wide range of items,
and this introduction provides an outline of how to use it. The following sections of
the guide then provide detailed descriptions of searching for various kinds items.
In this guide Windows 8 apps are normally referred to simply as apps, and traditional
programs, simply as programs. Microsoft often refer to these traditional programs
as desktop apps.
The search pane contains:
- Search box.
- List of search suggestions, if provided.
- List of options for the scope of the search. Jaws reads the name of this
list as the search application list box.
The options for scope of the search are:
- Apps, which is for searching items on the Apps screen: programs, apps, and items pinned
to the Start screen.
- Settings, for items in PC Settings, the Settings pane, and the Control panel.
- Files, which by default is for the files in your
personal folder, and all the folders included in your libraries.
- The names of individual apps, which is for searching the named app.
You'll rarely need to select an option for the scope of the search, since there
are convenient keystrokes described below which open the Search pane with
the desired scope already selected. If you Tab to the list of scopes,
then the current scope is the initial focus. And if you do need to select a scope, then
move to it, and press Enter.
To display the Search pane with the appropriate scope selected:
- To search for programs, apps, and items pinned to the Start screen, press
Windows Key to move to the start screen, and type in your
search terms.
- For Settings, press Windows Key + W.
- For files, press Windows Key + F
- To search the active app, press Windows + Q. Note that if an app isn't
active, then the Apps scope is selected.
The search pane is displayed on the the right hand side of the screen, and the
Search edit box is the initial focus. You can type in either complete words, or the
beginnings of words as you search terms. The list of search results are displayed in
the remainder of the screen.
If you open the search pane, and decide that you don't want to open anything, then
you can return to your previous location by pressing Windows Key
twice. Alternatively you can press Esc two or three times.
Searching for programs, apps, and items pinned to the Start screen
To search for programs, apps, and items pinned to the Start screen:
- Press Windows Key to move to the Start screen, if you're not already there.
- Start typing in your search terms. The search pane is displayed on the right hand
side of the screen, the search terms are entered in the Search box, and in the list
of scopes for the search, Apps is selected.
- As you type characters in the Search box, the list of search results is
continuously updated. Whenever you pause after typing one or more characters, Jaws
reads the name of the first result. As soon as you hear the name
of the program or item you want, you can press Enter to open it
– you don't have to type in the full name.
- Normally, by either typing in some distinctive search terms or by
typing the full name, you can get the program or item you want to open
to be the first item in the results list. However, to open some items,
there's a need to move to another item in the list so
that you can then open it. You can move to other items in the list by using
Down Arrow and Up Arrow.
Scope of the search
When the scope of the search is set to Apps, then all the items on the Apps screen
are searched, that is:
- Installed apps.
- Installed programs, together with any associated items.
- Anything pinned to the Start Screen, for example, folders and portable
programs.
In addition, you can search for the following, but you have to type in the full
name of the item before it appears in the list of results:
- All of your libraries, and a small number of folders, such as Downloads.
Note that these are available without pinning them to the Start screen.
If you do pin them to the Start screen, then this has the advantage that
you won't necessarily have to type in the full name. Note also, that if you
have the Music app installed, and type music, both the app and library appear in the
results, and the library is the second of the two results.
- Some other programs which are part of windows. For example, sndvol opens
the Volume mixer.
Searching for settings
To search for settings in PC settings, the Settings pane or the Control panel:
- Press Windows key + W. The search pane is displayed on the right
hand side of the screen, the Search box is the initial focus, and in the list of
scopes for the search, Settings is selected.
- As you type characters in the Search box, the list of search results is
continuously updated. Whenever you pause after typing one or more characters, Jaws
reads the name of the first result. As soon as you hear the name
of the setting, you can press Enter to open it
– you don't have to type in the full name.
- Sometimes, by either typing in some distinctive search terms or by
typing the full name, you can get the setting you want to open
to be the first item in the results list. However, to open some items,
there's a need to move to another item in the list so
that you can then open it. You can move to other items in the list by using
Down Arrow and Up Arrow.
- If you want to return to the search box, press Windows Key + W.
The list of results for this search is always ordered so that the results for
PC settings, and the Settings pane come before the results for the Control panel.
For sighted users, the icon which is shown as part of each result indicates
which of these two groups of settings it belongs to. Unfortunately, this
information is not available for users of screen readers.
If you're interested in a setting which is in the Control panel, then either browsing
or searching the Control panel is an alternative to this search.
Also, the quick link menu, which you can open by pressing Windows Key + X,
provides a quick way of opening frequently used administrative tools, including the Control panel,
and Programs and features.
Searching for files
By default, you can search for files which are in your personal folder, or in your libraries:
- Press Windows Key + F. The search pane is displayed on the right
hand side of the screen, the search box is the initial focus, and in the
list of scopes for the search, Files is selected.
- Type in your search terms. You then have to press Enter for
the search, unlike searching for apps or settings. Jaws reads the first first
search result, and you can open this by pressing Enter.
- You can move through the other search results using Down Arrow
and Up Arrow. When you move to a result using one of these
keystrokes, Jaws reads the name of the file. If you press Insert + Up Arrow
Jaws reads additional information.
- If you want to return to the search box, press Windows key + F
An alternative to using the Search pane for searching for files is to use
File Explorer, which is described in the Searching section of the
File Explorer guide.
Additional notes
- Advanced search terms. You can use any of the advanced search terms which
are described in the Searching section of the separate
File Explorer guide.
For example, the search term modified:today, refines the search results to
the files which have been modified today. You can restrict the search to single
folder of library by using a search term of the form in:foldername, or in:libraryname.
Note than when these terms are used, the sub folders of these locations are
not searched.
- Folders searched. The folders searched are those that are indexed, and by
default your personal folder, and all the folders included in your libraries
are indexed. So if you want some other folder to be searched for files, you
can either include it in an existing or a new library, or manually add it
to the folders to be indexed. You can do this in the Indexing options dialog,
in the Control panel.
- Filtering by kind of file. If the search results contain more than one kind
of file, for example documents and music files, then a group of buttons appears
above the list of results, which enable you to filter the results by the kind of the file.
You can Tab to the first button, which is always All, and then use
Right Arrow and Left Arrow to move between the
buttons. The number of files of a particular kind is given in parenthesis after
the name of the button.
- Search suggestions. Depending on what you type, a list of search suggestions may
appear below the search box. You can use Down Arrow and
Up Arrow to move through these suggestions. When one of the suggestions
is the focus, the text automatically appears in the search box, so you can just
press Enter to search using the suggestion.
Searching an app
To search the active app:
- Press Windows Key + Q. The search pane is displayed on the
right hand side of the screen, the Search box is the initial focus, and
in the list of scopes for the search, the app is selected.
- Type in your search terms, and press Enter. The search results
are displayed by the app.
- Return to the app by pressing Tab twice, or
Shift + Tab once. The search pane automatically closes.
Keystrokes
| Command |
Keystroke |
| Search for programs, apps, and all the items pinned to the Start screen |
Windows Key, then start typing |
| Search for settings |
Windows Key + W |
| Search for files |
Windows Key + F |
| Search active app |
Windows Key + Q |
| In the search box, clear text |
Esc |
| Close Search pane, and return to previous location |
Windows Key twice, or Esc two or three times |