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<h2 id="overview">Overview</h2> <p>The command sends the specified lines to the <a href="/facts/Standard_output/r92M7Wd4">standard output</a> device.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> It is similar to the <a href="/facts/Find_(Windows)/YVFoxeRQ">find</a> command. However, while the find command supports <a href="/facts/UTF-16/ofSmbCem">UTF-16</a>, findstr does not. On the other hand, findstr supports <a href="/facts/Regular_expression/KFL3veHX">regular expressions</a>, which find does not. The findstr program was first released as part of the <a href="/facts/Windows_2000/amJIt9gz">Windows 2000</a> <a href="/facts/Resource_Kit/ypdhwzeQ">Resource Kit</a> under the name qgrep.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>findstr cannot search for <a href="/facts/Null_character/IMYNHNxR">null bytes</a> commonly found in <a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a> computer files.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="syntax">Syntax</h2> FINDSTR flags strings [drive:][path]filename[...] <p>Arguments: </p> <ul><li>flags This can be any combination of flags described below.</li> <li>strings Text to be searched for.</li> <li>[drive:][path]filename Specifies a file or files to search.</li></ul> <p>Flags: </p> <ul><li>/B Matches pattern if at the beginning of a line.</li> <li>/E Matches pattern if at the end of a line.</li> <li>/L Uses search strings literally.</li> <li>/R Uses search strings as regular expressions.</li> <li>/S Searches for matching files in the current directory and all subdirectories.</li> <li>/I Specifies that the search is not to be case-sensitive.</li> <li>/X Prints lines that match exactly.</li> <li>/V Prints only lines that do not contain a match.</li> <li>/N Prints the line number before each line that matches.</li> <li>/M Prints only the filename if a file contains a match.</li> <li>/O Prints character offset before each matching line.</li> <li>/P Skip files with non-printable characters.</li> <li>/OFF[LINE] Do not skip files with offline attribute set.</li> <li>/A:attr Specifies color attribute with two hex digits. See "color /?"</li> <li>/F:file Reads file list from the specified file(/ stands for console).</li> <li>/C:string Uses specified string as a literal search string.</li> <li>/G:file Gets search strings from the specified file(/ stands for console).</li> <li>/D:dir Search a semicolon delimited list of directories</li></ul> <p>Note: Following command displays the detailed help about this command: </p> FINDSTR /? <h2 id="example">Example</h2> <p>Save your running services into file _services.txt and search in this file for lines containing word "network" - case insensitive: </p> @echo off set searchstr=network net start>_services.txt FINDSTR /I "%searchstr%" _services.txt pause <p>output would be: </p> Network Connections Network List Service Network Location Awareness Network Store Interface Service Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service Press any key to continue . . . <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: <i>Guide to Windows Commands</i> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Regular_expression/KFL3veHX">Regular expression</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Wildcard_character/LErwSxvh">Wildcard character</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/List_of_DOS_commands/d72UqhJ3">List of DOS commands</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Find_(Unix)/bg18ASlI">find</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Grep/PdGQeFfD">grep</a></li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Stanek, William R. (2008). <i>Windows Command-Line Administrator's Pocket Consultant, 2nd Edition</i>. <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Press/5bNASSu4">Microsoft Press</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0735622623.</li> <li>John Paul Mueller (2007). <i>Windows Administration at the Command Line for Windows Vista, Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000</i>. <a href="/facts/Wiley_(publisher)/53g3LqJc">John Wiley & Sons</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0470165799.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/findstr">findstr | Microsoft Docs</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Microsoft WinXP documentation for findstr <a href="https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490907.aspx" target="_blank">https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490907.aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Microsoft Server 2012/2016 documentation for findstr <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/findstr" target="_blank">https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/findstr</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Reactos/Reactos". GitHub. 16 October 2021. <a href="https://github.com/reactos/reactos/blob/master/base/applications/findstr/findstr.c" target="_blank">https://github.com/reactos/reactos/blob/master/base/applications/findstr/findstr.c</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>MS-DOS and Windows command line findstr command <a href="https://www.computerhope.com/findstr.htm" target="_blank">https://www.computerhope.com/findstr.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Excellent documentation on usage of findstr <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8844868/what-are-the-undocumented-features-and-limitations-of-the-windows-findstr-comman#8844873" target="_blank">https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8844868/what-are-the-undocumented-features-and-limitations-of-the-windows-findstr-comman#8844873</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>History of Findstr from Raymond Chen <a href="https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20121128-00/?p=5963" target="_blank">https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20121128-00/?p=5963</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Findstr - Search for strings - Windows CMD - SS64.com <a href="https://ss64.com/nt/findstr.html" target="_blank">https://ss64.com/nt/findstr.html</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>