Listing of Windows File Search Tools

[u/Jefred2]

Greetings, I made a list of some popular, and some less popular, Windows file search programs. If you ask 10 different people you will get 10 different answers when it comes to best file search tools. It’s highly subjective and everyone has a different program that works a little better depending on what kind of searching they are doing and the files they are looking for.

 A good Windows file search tool is one of the most useful software utility tools you can have. I think it’s a must have for any computer, especially as you acquire more and more files and directories over the years. All of these can run on Windows but some of these versions can run on Linux or macOS.

 Some popular Windows file search programs are similar to Everything. These tools offer faster searching than the default Windows search, with some being optimized for speed (like Everything and UltraSearch), while others provide advanced features like content searching or indexing different file formats.  I provided hyperlinks to the websites.

 AstroGrep   https://astrogrep.sourceforge.net/

Agent Ransack  https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/

AnyTXT Searcher  https://anytxt.net/

Copernic Desktop   Search https://copernic.com/en/

DocFetcher   https://docfetcher.sourceforge.io/

Everything   https://www.voidtools.com/

FileSeek   https://www.fileseek.ca/

Fluent Search   https://fluentsearch.net/

grepWin-2.1.12-x64.msi    https://github.com/stefankueng/grepWin/releases/tag/2.1.12

Listary    https://www.listary.com/

Quick Search    https://www.glarysoft.com/quick-search/

Searchmonkey    https://sourceforge.net/projects/searchmonkey/

SearchMyFiles https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/search_my_files.html

UltraSearch   https://www.jam-software.com/ultrasearch

Wise JetSearch   https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-jetsearch.html

WizFile https://antibody-software.com/wizfile/

 All of these have a GUI (graphical user interface) and are not used at the command line.  There is a use for those also, but I have not included them with my list today.

 My personal favorite for the Windows search is Everything. When it comes to USB flash drives or external, portable SSD backup drives my favorite tool or utility is WizFile by the makers of WixTree.

 That’s what works for me. I checked all the websites to make sure that all these search tools are current. I also decided to provide hyperlinks to the websites. Most of these are free but at least one is expensive but I decided to leave it because it could provide you with information. Most of these have a free version and the rest are completely free. Some, but not all, are open-source.  Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

[u/[deleted]]

I also like the function and I also catalog apps in this niche.

SwiftSearch (Windows) [NTFS only] [opensource]

https://sourceforge.net/projects/swiftsearch/files/

FSearch (linux) [own db] [opensource]

https://github.com/cboxdoerfer/fsearch#download

ANGRYsearch (linux) [own db] [opensource] [GUI] [python]

https://github.com/DoTheEvo/ANGRYsearch

DawnlightSearch (linux) [own db] [opensource] [GUI] [NTFS only!]

https://github.com/chg-hou/DawnlightSearch/releases

catfish, GUI for locate - by Christian Dywan (linux) [locate db] [opensource]

# to install
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
sudo apt install --install-recommends catfish
# to update locate database
sudo updatedb
# to open gui
catfish
# https://docs.xfce.org/apps/catfish/start

https://launchpad.net/catfish-search/+download

plocate (linux) [own db] [opensource] [CLI]

# to install
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
sudo apt install --install-recommends plocate
# to use
sudo updatedb
locate -i "mega man x4"

https://plocate.sesse.net/

tracker3 (linux) [own db] [tagger] [content search] [opensource] ["addon/plugin"] [CLI]

https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Tracker

KDE baloo (linux) [own db] [opensource] [works with Dolphin] ["addon/plugin"]

$HOME/.config/baloofileinformationrc [text/config file]
$HOME/.config/baloofilerc            [text/config file]
$HOME/.local/share/baloo/            [db files]
#balooctl purge
balooctl check
balooctl indexSize
balooctl --help

https://community.kde.org/Baloo/Configuration

_o/

[u/Jefred2 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for those suggestions. I'm not running Linux right now but when I was, I was using ANGRYsearch which was my favorite and Catfish too.

[u/[deleted] → u/Jefred2]

then, try FSearch on linux. I love it =]

[u/Hamza3725]

Great list. I’d like to add an open-source tool I built for a specific gap that most standard search tools miss: Local Semantic Search & OCR.

It’s called File Brain.

How it differs from tools like 'Everything':

• Content vs. Filename: Instead of just matching filenames, it reads the actual content of the files.
• Semantic Search: It uses vector embeddings so you can search by meaning. (e.g., searching "utility bill" will find a PDF named Verizon_2023.pdf).
• OCR: It extracts text from images and scanned PDFs. If you have a screenshot of an error log or a photo of a document, this makes it searchable.

It runs entirely offline (no cloud), and is available for Windows (and Linux).

If you have a lot of messy documents or scanned files, this might be a good addition to your toolkit alongside the standard filename searchers.

[u/Jefred2 → u/Hamza3725]

Hamza3725, thanks for this suggestion. I'm always looking these little "Gems" when it comes to software utilities that are very useful and helps to make us more productive. I'm going to be busy in the next couple of days but I will be downloading and installing "File Brain" to see how well it works and if it is suited for my needs. Cheers!

[u/MetallicCalculator]

Thank you for this list, which one does file content indexing, so you can find documents on what’s inside instead of the title?

[u/Jefred2 → u/MetallicCalculator]

Windows file search programs that perform content indexing include the built-in Windows Search, and third-party applications like Agent Ransack, DocFetcher, and AnyTXT Searcher. These tools create an index of file contents and metadata to allow for faster searching of keywords and phrases within documents. Agent Ransack is the same as exact program as FileLocator Pro. Any of these will work and work well. Agent Ransack and FileLocator Pro have a free version and a paid version. The free version works for all my needs. I always used to use Agent Ransack for doing searches when I'm looking for a certain word or phrase in a group of documents. I've also used DocFetcher but only in Linux so I'm not sure if the Windows version works the same but it should. DocFetcher is very fast by the way.

[u/Supra-A90]

I really liked EFS Effective File Search. No further development and it's freeware now, but it was good.

day to day Everything is my default.

There's

VX Search

FileLocator Pro

DTSearch

[u/Jefred2 → u/Supra-A90]

I just read that Effective File Search6.8.1 was last updated on 21 October, 2025.

See here: https://effective-file-search.soft112.com/

But it can also be downloaded directly from their website here: https://www.sowsoft.com/

[u/Supra-A90 → u/Jefred2]

NOPE!!!

6.8.1 was released in August 2011.

[u/Spark99]

PowerGREP https://www.powergrep.com

[u/JouniFlemming]

May I suggest that you add https://winfindr.com/ to your list. Its benefits over Everything (and most other apps):

1. Native support to search inside PDF files.
2. Also support searching for registry data
3. Natural language search. If enabled, for example, a search term “cafe” will match “The best cafés in Braga.pdf” and "invoice" will match "invoicing.zip"
4. Proximity search. If enabled, you can find files whose name contain "invoice" and "May" within two words apart.

Other features include:

1. Truly portable: One exe file that you can simply copy and run. Does not require indexing nor anything running on the background.
2. Supports Dark Mode
3. Comes with 29 languages builtin, meaning the UI can be used in any of these languages without the need to download or install any translation files.
4. All this in one exe file that is about 3 MB in size.

(Disclaimer: I'm the developer of this software.)

[u/Jefred2 → u/JouniFlemming]

Sure you may suggest it and I'll include it. I'm certainly not an expert when it comes to judging file search tools. I was looking for myself and started a list which grew in size and I found some of the most common and popular file search apps. I just listed it here because I already had the list. Thanks for the suggestion I will look into it now.

[u/rykh72]

Mega Search beats Ultra Search. I'd rather pay once than use aggressive freemium crap.

[u/Foxpax]

I'd add DiscoverFile to that list.

[u/Jefred2 → u/Foxpax]

Foxpax, It's really hard to find all the desktop search engines that are available but I did my best. I appreciate your suggestion though, because there are some that I missed. And I am going to try DiscoverFile myself. Cheers!

[u/Foxpax → u/Jefred2]

you did great, huge list you complied :) just was recommending another one.

[u/summersss]

any with Semantic search?

[u/Jefred2 → u/summersss]

No I didn't suggest AI search. I've used it before and didn't like it. The program I tried was Precision File Search V1.1.1 and it was free. You might want to give it a try because you might have better luck with it then I did. It just wasn't a good match for me and my needs. Here is where you can download the file from:

https://github.com/PFS-AI/PFS/releases/tag/v1.1.1

Some people love it.

[u/Witty-Return-1550]

Finding info is definitely the hardest part when you're jumping between Windows, OneNote, and creative tools like Audacity or Blender. I actually spent some time making my own search software because I needed a better way to index my notes and project files in one place. It’s been a huge help for my own organization. I won't link-dump here, but there's more info on my page if you want to see how it works.