I believe that one of the most under-evangelized areas of SharePoint is its Windows integration.  Consistently, we find that many users simply assume they have to use the Web interface to access SharePoint, but you can actually do a majority of your daily document management and collaboration work without ever accessing SharePoint via the Web.  In fact, my ratio of Windows to Web SharePoint use is probably 75:25; 75% of my document management and collaboration work being done completely within Microsoft Windows.

In this tip, we focus on searching SharePoint from Windows.  The screenshot-filled instructions below will walk you through downloading the search connector provided by your company or SharePoint, installing the connector, and using it in Windows 7.

1. At C5 Insight, we have created our own Search Connector that points everyone to our Search Center site.  We have also customized the search connector for our organization, and provided this to our employees, rather than everyone having to use the default SharePoint connector. 
   
   To build your own search connector, you can start here:
   http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd742958(v=vs.85).aspx
    
2. You can also use SharePoint's default search connector that is available on the search results page.
   
   Check out the walkthrough here:
   http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff899315.aspx#BKMK_O14AsAFedProvider
    
3. Regardless of the search connector you choose, if you have never downloaded the connector, you will be prompted to add the connector to Windows.
   
    
4. 
    
5. Once added, you will notice that there is a new search option in your left navigation, and the focus is on the search text box in the upper right corner of the Explorer window.
   
    
    
6. You can immediately begin searching, and this search will cross all boundaries, including individual sites (depending on the scope of your search connector).
    
7. Tips and Tricks:

   a. For quicker access, rearrange this search connector in your "Favorites" section
   
   

   b. For even faster access, pin to your Start Menu or add a Quick Launch button

   i. To pin to your Start Menu, simply drag the search from your Windows Favorites navigation to the Start Menu.
   
   

   ii. To add a Quick Launch button, first do this, then you can add this shortcut in the same manner - one-click access to SharePoint search.
   
   

c. By default, the search view is set to "Content."  You can change this as you would with any view in Windows, just under the search bar.  Content is a nice view, since it actually shows you portions of the file and also does "hit highlighting."

 


 

d. You can adjust your sort as well, but by default, I would ensure your results are sorted by Search ranking, Descending.  Right-click to get to this menu. 


 

e. Quotes and filters in the search box work on SharePoint as well!

 

i. Only "SharePoint 2010" PowerPoint presentations. 

 

ii. "SharePoint 2010" documents where Amber Butler was an author. 

 

iii. "SharePoint 2010" documents modified after 1/1/2011 


 

i. You can easily save a search for quickly finding similar documents at a later time


 

j. Lastly, with one click, you can open this search in the SharePoint site for additional filtering and refinements.

 

i. Once opened in the Search Center, all refinements are available on the left. 

As you can see, there are many ways to integrate SharePoint with Microsoft Windows, and this was only for search!  Our goal is to always add value for our clients, and Windows integration is a huge time saver and productivity booster.  We hope this has been helpful for you as well.