Windows – How to change the default filter Windows is using for indexing file contents

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In windows every file type is indexed using specific filters. Windows give an oportunity to change between two options for each file type in Indexing Options > Advanced > File Types:

  • Index Properties Only
  • Index Properties and File Contents

If the second option is selected every file type has certain filter that is default but I can't find how to change this filter without going into registry?

For example .html files have associated HTML Filter, problem is that this filter does not search everything inside html file as described here:

Filter components may ignore some text because of the format or content of the text. For example, the HTML 3.0 filter (Nlhtml.dll) ignores text that is contained in comments in an HTML file (for example, a file with an .htm or .asp extension) because the text is not displayed when you open the file in a browser.

That being said default filter for .html files can be changed to Plain text filter by changing HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html\PersistentHandler\(Default) value to {5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb} which is Plain text filter persistent handler that can be found in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}\(Default) = Plain Text persistent handler.

Best Answer

You can use PreviewConfig to easily change the preview handler for a specific file type without needing to wade through the registry:

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