Question: How do I find files in Windows 7+ (7, 10, 11) that have a parenthesis or dot or other special search character in the file or folder name?
Yes Microsoft's "advanced query syntax" reference for desktop search mentions nothing about this, however there is an escape sequence that can be used:
Answer: Use following syntax to escape: ~= (tilda+equals sign)
~= is an escape character and then you can put a special character like (, &, ? etc. in double quotes.
For example to find files with parentheses in the name use thew following: ~="("For example to find files or folders that start with "Search." use the following : Search~="."*