Productivity Features
File Finder
File Finder is a native Project Notes service that discovers files for active projects and adds or updates them on the project's Files & Folders tab. It runs every five minutes while Project Notes is open and File Finder is enabled. You can also start a scan immediately.
File Finder is no longer a Python plugin and is not configured from Plugins > Settings. Open the app menu, choose Settings, and select File Finder.
How File Finder Matches Projects
For each active project, File Finder looks for a folder whose name contains the complete project number. Matching is case-insensitive, and the project number must be separated from surrounding letters and numbers. For example, project ABC-001 can match ABC-001 Project Name, but not XABC-0012.
Each configured local search location is traversed once per scan. After File Finder finds a project's folder, it adds the folder as Project Folder and scans its files and subfolders. If Include Office 365 locations is enabled, it can also find a Microsoft Teams channel named for the project and scan the channel's SharePoint files.
The local folder it finds also becomes the project's primary project folder when the project doesn't have one yet. Plugins and reports use the primary project folder, so archived email and generated documents land there. File Finder never replaces a primary project folder you set or cleared yourself. A Teams channel link is not used as a primary project folder, since it isn't a folder on your computer. See Project Page for choosing one by hand.
File classification rules are evaluated in order. The first regular expression that matches a file name or normalized path supplies the classification. The resulting description has the form Classification : filename.ext.
When local and Office 365 discovery find a file with the same project, classification, and filename, they reconcile to one row instead of creating source-specific duplicates. The local (system) discovery wins: if a row already points at a local path and that path still exists, a Teams/SharePoint match for the same file does not replace it with a web link. This matters if you work with a file through an application that isn't integrated with Microsoft Teams — a CAD tool, an old Office install, anything that only understands a filesystem path. As long as your local search location still finds the file, Files & Folders keeps opening it locally instead of routing you through a browser link. Office 365 discovery only supplies the row when no live local copy was found, and it still adds any remaining unmatched files from either source. File Finder does not delete entries when a file disappears from a source.
File Finder Settings
File Finder Controls
| Setting or action | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable File Finder | Starts scheduled reconciliation. Disable it to stop background and manual scans without deleting settings or existing file entries. |
| Include Office 365 locations | Adds Microsoft Teams and SharePoint discovery to local discovery. Configure and sign in on the separate Office 365 Integration settings page first. |
| Scan Now | Starts an immediate scan using the saved settings. The current status and previous scan summary appear beside the button. |
| Reconsider All Files | Clears File Finder's discovery cache and performs a fresh scan. It keeps search locations, exclusions, classification rules, and existing Files & Folders rows. Use it after remote folders change in a way an ordinary scan does not detect. |
Microsoft 365 account configuration is intentionally kept on its own settings page so it can support more Project Notes features over time. See Office 365 Integration.
Search Locations
Search locations are local root folders. File Finder recursively examines each root until it finds folders for the active project numbers.
- Enter a path and select Add, or use the folder button to browse.
- Select the delete action to stop scanning a root. The folder and existing Project Notes entries are not deleted.
- Add multiple roots when project folders are stored in more than one place.
~means the current user's home folder and is the default for a new profile.
Avoid adding overlapping roots because the same directory tree will be visited from each root.
Excluded Folders
Folder exclusions prevent File Finder from entering unwanted directory trees. Each entry is a case-insensitive regular expression checked against the folder name and its normalized path, with and without a trailing /. When an expression matches, that folder and its entire subtree are skipped for both local and Office 365 discovery.
New profiles exclude Engineering/.* by default. Add, edit, or delete expressions directly in the grid. For example:
(^|/)(node_modules|[.]git)(/|$)
This skips folders named node_modules or .git anywhere below a search root. Changing exclusions invalidates the Office 365 folder cache so remote content is reconsidered on the next scan.
File Classifications
Each row contains a classification and a regular expression. Expressions are case-insensitive and are matched against both the file name and normalized path. Rules run from top to bottom, and only the first match is used.
| Pattern | Example use |
|---|---|
.*[.]mpp$ |
Microsoft Project schedules |
.*Quote.*[.]pdf$ |
PDF files containing Quote in the name or path |
.*[.](pdf|docx)$ |
PDF or Word files |
^(?!.*\bTemplate\b).*Risk.*[.]xlsx$ |
Risk workbooks except files containing Template |
Use the blank row to add a rule, edit existing cells in place, or use the delete action to remove a rule. Reset Defaults replaces all classification rules with the maintained defaults; it does not change search locations or exclusions.
Changing classification rules invalidates the Office 365 folder cache. Run Scan Now if you want the new rules applied immediately.
First Run and Upgrades
New profiles start with File Finder enabled, ~ as the local search root, the default Engineering/.* exclusion, and the maintained classification rules.
When upgrading from the retired Python File Finder, Project Notes imports existing search locations and classification rules once. The retired plugin, settings dialog, and background thread are not used after migration.
Related Documentation
- Office 365 Integration — Configure Microsoft identity and sign-in independently of File Finder.
- Plugin Settings — The plugins that come with Project Notes and their settings.