FAQ: Office 2007 documents, kind:document, and 64-bit Windows

If you’re running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, or a 64-bit version of WDS 3.x on Windows XP/2003, you may notice that the new Office 2007 document formats (.docx, .xlsx, etc) don’t show up when you search using the “Documents” filter in the search UI, or the kind:document Advanced Query Syntax.

This is a known issue with the 64-bit property system, and happens because the 64-bit shell only looks in the 64-bit section of the registry for a set of keys that map file extensions to various “kinds” for filetypes that don’t emit their own “kind” information.  Because Office 2007 is a 32-bit application, it registers its kinds in the 32-bit section of the registry, where the shell never sees it.

In a future release, the shell / search engine will be updated to better handle this situation.  For now, I have uploaded a .reg file which will fix the KindMap for Office 2007 documents on 64-bit machines.

Disclaimer Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. I cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Click here for the workaround reg file