Everything about this feels like what Microsoft should have done. It’s absolutely amazing to me that search is so broken in Windows and yet a free third-party tool can instantly find any file anywhere.
One hypothetical I wonder about is what the windows ecosystem would be like if third parties could make distributions of windows, if somehow that could be licensed and enough windows building/packaging was opened up. It'd be interesting to see whether collaborations of projects would form where they pull out MS parts and substitute their own, presumably with the constraint that they maintain compatibility. I imagine it'd take a while for any commercial products thinking of getting involved to figure out sharing, trust, and how to offer it in a way companies or individuals might want to donate/pay for.
Windows file search has been useless as far back as I can remember. Especially file indexing and the load it puts on the CPU. I usually just disable file indexing on a new windows install.
I genuinely just don't use the Start Menu anymore. It cannot find anything, and every search will include two Internet results (Bing only of course) and a Microsoft Store reference.
Saw this mentioned in a comment recently, I just downloaded, installed and used it to find a file while Windows Search was still saying 'Working on it...'. So I thought others might like to know.
I'm running the 1.5 Alpha for many of the reasons listed on its page: https://www.voidtools.com/everything-1.5a/ (especially Dark Mode and support for Properties/Tags/xattr/ADS/XMP)
I used this for a while. What I don't like is that it updates its database by creating an entirely new copy and then deleting/renaming. For me that meant a several-hundred-MB file was being unnecessarily rewritten on a regular basis. It's a rather excessive waste of resources and not a polite thing to do when a lot of people have SSDs now.
I think you could uncheck “Indexes” → “NTFS” (or ReFS, or FAT, or whatever else) → “Monitor changes” to disable that and leave yourself to press the “Force Rebuild” button at whatever cadence you like.
Or, in `Everything.ini` terms:
allow_force_rebuild=1
home_update_indexes=1 -- ‘use the monitor_pause and monitor_stop states’
monitor_stop=1
home_update_indexed_properties=1 -- ‘use the indexed_property_pause state’
indexed_property_pause=1
read_directory_changes=0
Also I just realized you can get a better middle ground between the default daily DB update and RAM-only mode:
db_auto_save_type=1 -- (From daily to interval mode)
db_auto_save_interval=<milliseconds>
and btw sorry I'm not trying to convince you to like Everything; was just curious to figure out if/how it could be done :)
This tool has completely changed the way I work with files - I no longer need to remember where they are, just a part of the name. Coincidentally, this means my files are better organized, since I know I can always just jump straight there instead of having to think about the folder structure.
I use it so often that I put it in the search bar, so that I can open it with Win + 1.
When I use Windows, Everything is one of the first tools I install. I also disable Windows search and indexing.
I use this with Keypirinha [1], which is a launcher (kinda like Quicksilver [2] on Mac) that integrates with Everything using the Everything package. [3]
This combo makes finding files as well as launching programs (or doing quick calculations or currency conversions) a breeze!
Everything is amazing. Even better if you set a shortcut key (I use ctrl+shift+/) and it's just so fast. You can even query (I just recently learned this) like:
This might be harder to do on linux because filesytems are different. If I'm not mistaken, NTFS has big tables that can be directly read without iterating through the filesystem tree. I don't think this is true of most popular linux filesystems.
I used this a lot when I was doing Windows stuff professionally, and I always really liked it.
The command line interface is good too: supply file spec that you'd type in to the GUI, and it'll print a list of matching files to stdout, one per line. Very easy to work with. I cobbled together a bit of Python stuff so that any time I was putting together a tool that needed to search for files, it could find the Everything command line tool if present, and use that instead of os.walk and the like, for a useful speedup.
(If nothing else, "es PATTERN" (to instantly find any name matching PATTERN anywhere on the system) is less typing than "find FOLDER -iname 'PATTERN'", and finishes more quickly. And compared to using locate, there's less chance of the database being out of date.)
I typically use ninite to install this, and my favourite thing is when it says "Downloading Everything" followed by "Installing Everything". I always get a kick out of that!
I do like XYplorer as well and have a license for it too, but its startup time is just so slooooow that I can't reach for it like I reach for File Pilot.
If you select Search > Advanced from the menu, you get a window where you can enter the content to search for. This is available in the normal as well as the alpha version.
Halfway because it is fast, but it's fast because it keeps the index entirely within RAM and thus you can't yet throw an arbitrarily-large disk of stuff at it to content-index.
This tool is incredible for its simplicity. I was looking for old files I thought I deleted from flash drive and it was able to detect them instantly on my PC vs. native explorer.
Best thing about windows and biggest thing I miss. Have never been able to find equivalent for Mac — stuff that comes close but really not quite the magic of Everything. Same w Total Commander. Sad!
It's not a gui, but in case you hadn't heard of it before: unixes usually have a `locate` command that'll do ~instant file/folder name searches. The index is usually rebuilt via a cron job though, it's not always up to date like Windows can do.
This is one of the first things I install on a new Win OS install. Combined with good tagging in file names it makes finding things so fast. It is absurd Windows doesn't have this built in since it is a simple index that leverages NTFS file table.
* The tool is truly amazing. Both for simple usage, and the advanced queries that it accepts. Very powerful, like a command line tool.
* As another comment says, v1.5 alpha has many advantages. Despite the alpha label, I find it to be very stable.
* Several software integrations exist: https://www.voidtools.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6326, I mostly like being able to see folder sizes instantly in explorer. I used xplorer2 in the past, which has a plugin, but I went back to native explorer, which has a Windhawk mod, feels like what Microsoft should have done: https://windhawk.net/mods/explorer-details-better-file-sizes
Everything about this feels like what Microsoft should have done. It’s absolutely amazing to me that search is so broken in Windows and yet a free third-party tool can instantly find any file anywhere.
One hypothetical I wonder about is what the windows ecosystem would be like if third parties could make distributions of windows, if somehow that could be licensed and enough windows building/packaging was opened up. It'd be interesting to see whether collaborations of projects would form where they pull out MS parts and substitute their own, presumably with the constraint that they maintain compatibility. I imagine it'd take a while for any commercial products thinking of getting involved to figure out sharing, trust, and how to offer it in a way companies or individuals might want to donate/pay for.
Windows file search has been useless as far back as I can remember. Especially file indexing and the load it puts on the CPU. I usually just disable file indexing on a new windows install.
I genuinely just don't use the Start Menu anymore. It cannot find anything, and every search will include two Internet results (Bing only of course) and a Microsoft Store reference.
This is why it’s slow, everything you enter is being exfiltrated for ads. Windows is corporate malware.
Saw this mentioned in a comment recently, I just downloaded, installed and used it to find a file while Windows Search was still saying 'Working on it...'. So I thought others might like to know.
Previously on HN a year ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41337268 and probably other times
Thank you, whoever you were!
I'm running the 1.5 Alpha for many of the reasons listed on its page: https://www.voidtools.com/everything-1.5a/ (especially Dark Mode and support for Properties/Tags/xattr/ADS/XMP)
e: also available in WinGet as `voidtools.Everything.Alpha` https://github.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs/tree/master/manifes...
I've been using this tool for a while. It is incredibly useful. Kudos to the developer(s).
The real question is: why is the default Windows search so terrible? Did Microsoft make it useless on purpose?
Because the default windows search actually iterates every folder/subfolder, rather than using the global file table, which "everything" uses
I think it also searches inside documents by default.
It now seems to serve the purpose of funneling users into edge, AI products, or serving ads.
It's been bad since early 2000s though
I used this for a while. What I don't like is that it updates its database by creating an entirely new copy and then deleting/renaming. For me that meant a several-hundred-MB file was being unnecessarily rewritten on a regular basis. It's a rather excessive waste of resources and not a polite thing to do when a lot of people have SSDs now.
I uninstalled it for that reason.
If you set `no_db=1` in `Everything.ini` you can configure it to be memory-only: https://www.voidtools.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9994#:~:text...
I think re-indexing all my drives every time it runs is even worse.
I think you could uncheck “Indexes” → “NTFS” (or ReFS, or FAT, or whatever else) → “Monitor changes” to disable that and leave yourself to press the “Force Rebuild” button at whatever cadence you like.
Or, in `Everything.ini` terms:
Also I just realized you can get a better middle ground between the default daily DB update and RAM-only mode: and btw sorry I'm not trying to convince you to like Everything; was just curious to figure out if/how it could be done :)This tool has completely changed the way I work with files - I no longer need to remember where they are, just a part of the name. Coincidentally, this means my files are better organized, since I know I can always just jump straight there instead of having to think about the folder structure.
I use it so often that I put it in the search bar, so that I can open it with Win + 1.
You may find FlowLauncher useful too: https://github.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher
It can be configured to use an existing Voidtools Everything install in its settings, so a universal launcher can double as the everything searchbar
Huh, looks cool! Thank you for sharing, will check it out.
Amazing utility that just works. Windows version of ‘locate’
IIRC it loads the FS index into memory and queries directly off of it. If a simple metadata search is enough for you I don’t think you can do better
When I use Windows, Everything is one of the first tools I install. I also disable Windows search and indexing.
I use this with Keypirinha [1], which is a launcher (kinda like Quicksilver [2] on Mac) that integrates with Everything using the Everything package. [3]
This combo makes finding files as well as launching programs (or doing quick calculations or currency conversions) a breeze!
[1]: https://keypirinha.com/
[2]: https://qsapp.com/index
[3]: https://keypirinha.com/packages/everything.html
WizTree uses a similar idea - load the file system indices and works almost instantly.
Everything is amazing. Even better if you set a shortcut key (I use ctrl+shift+/) and it's just so fast. You can even query (I just recently learned this) like:
*.txt size:>1024kb
Everything is fantastic, I wish I could find a Linux alternative with a similar GUI and filter/search bar syntax.
This might be harder to do on linux because filesytems are different. If I'm not mistaken, NTFS has big tables that can be directly read without iterating through the filesystem tree. I don't think this is true of most popular linux filesystems.
This is the first thing i install on windows for like 10 years. Then i set up Ctrl+alt+s to toggle the everything window.
I used this a lot when I was doing Windows stuff professionally, and I always really liked it.
The command line interface is good too: supply file spec that you'd type in to the GUI, and it'll print a list of matching files to stdout, one per line. Very easy to work with. I cobbled together a bit of Python stuff so that any time I was putting together a tool that needed to search for files, it could find the Everything command line tool if present, and use that instead of os.walk and the like, for a useful speedup.
(If nothing else, "es PATTERN" (to instantly find any name matching PATTERN anywhere on the system) is less typing than "find FOLDER -iname 'PATTERN'", and finishes more quickly. And compared to using locate, there's less chance of the database being out of date.)
I typically use ninite to install this, and my favourite thing is when it says "Downloading Everything" followed by "Installing Everything". I always get a kick out of that!
Literally the only good piece of software left on windows. Masterpiece
And File Pilot :) https://filepilot.tech/ (t. FP Pro license holder)
I prefer XYPlorer.
I do like XYplorer as well and have a license for it too, but its startup time is just so slooooow that I can't reach for it like I reach for File Pilot.
Now written in twinBASIC for 64-bit support! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42637089
I have it in my startup. No time wasted to open its window.
This is most often used tool in my daily work.
I work on win11. I don't use native search because it sucks and is slow as tar drip experiment.
Onedrive/sharepoint files content search at least works at all but only in web version. Still slow as hell, unreliable, ui/ux is crap.
With Everything I search >500k real files/folders + >300k fake files in milliseconds.
So powerful, I unitentionally slide into using it sometimes as a file manager.
Do you think future devs on this tool can use a new fast method to find content within files?
If you select Search > Advanced from the menu, you get a window where you can enter the content to search for. This is available in the normal as well as the alpha version.
1.5 Alpha kind of halfway does this: https://www.voidtools.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9793
Halfway because it is fast, but it's fast because it keeps the index entirely within RAM and thus you can't yet throw an arbitrarily-large disk of stuff at it to content-index.
I use Listary, which seems to do something similar. Is there a good reason to switch?
This tool is legitimately one of the best utilities I've ever used. I've got my entire corporate branch using it.
It's a shame Microsoft can't figure their shit out and get a high quality native search figured out.
Just pray they don't buy and kill it the way they did Lookout (which was an instant search plugin for Outlook).
shame Microsoft won't figure their shit out and get a high quality native search figured out.
This tool is incredible for its simplicity. I was looking for old files I thought I deleted from flash drive and it was able to detect them instantly on my PC vs. native explorer.
Best thing about windows and biggest thing I miss. Have never been able to find equivalent for Mac — stuff that comes close but really not quite the magic of Everything. Same w Total Commander. Sad!
Cardinal: Fastest and most accurate file search app for macOS. https://github.com/cardisoft/cardinal
It's slower to start-up than Everything but just as useful once running.
There are a few Mac oddities like OneDrive files appearing twice because macOS is convinced they exist in two locations, but that's a minor annoyance.
As sibling notes, you can use locate just like the patriarchs (once you do some osx-specific fiddling)
https://egeek.me/2020/04/18/enabling-locate-on-osx/
It's not a gui, but in case you hadn't heard of it before: unixes usually have a `locate` command that'll do ~instant file/folder name searches. The index is usually rebuilt via a cron job though, it's not always up to date like Windows can do.
How does it perform if you have one of those 30 TB hard drives filled with files (100 million+)?
Better than anything windows provides.
Obviously. I was just wondering how it does with huge numbers of files.
How does it handle files with long paths? Windows had limitations on that…
I used this for years
It is a HUGE memory hog so buyer beware
Love this program. .this plus filepilot makes windows almost usable
I love this I use it all the time.
This is one of the first things I install on a new Win OS install. Combined with good tagging in file names it makes finding things so fast. It is absurd Windows doesn't have this built in since it is a simple index that leverages NTFS file table.
This tool is living proof that high-performance software is straight up addictive. Some folks at Microsoft could learn this lesson.
HOLY SHIT that is fast. Thank you!