FileSearch finds a file by name the moment you start typing. No indexing wizard, no "please wait while we scan your disk" on first run, and no multi-hundred-megabyte database quietly parked on your drive. Open it and search.
It works by reading the search index your computer already builds and keeps up to date, so the first search is exactly as fast as the thousandth. Nothing is uploaded, nothing needs an account, and there is no index of its own to rebuild, corrupt, or clean up later.
Highlights
- Results as you type - name searches come back in well under a second, on the whole machine or inside one folder you choose.
- Finds what the index misses - some places are never indexed: external drives, network shares, temporary folders, anything you have excluded. Point FileSearch at one and it reads the folder directly, then tells you that is what it did.
- Nothing to build, nothing stored - no database of its own, no background scanning, no first-run wait. Install it and the next search is instant.
- A real results table - sort by name, kind, size or date, select many rows at once, and drag them straight into a folder, an email, or any other app.
- See it before you open it - a preview panel shows the file, where it lives, how big it is and when it changed. Press Space for a full-size look.
- Narrow it down fast - one click limits results to documents, images, video, audio, code or archives, with a live count beside each.
- Four ways to match - contains, starts with, exact name, or wildcards like *.pdf when you know the shape of what you want.
- Straight on to the next thing - open a result, reveal it in the file manager, copy its full path, or open a terminal in its folder, from the keyboard or the right-click menu.
How it works
Type part of a name. Results fill the table immediately, and the bar at the bottom tells you how many there were and how long it took. Click one to see it in the panel on the right; press Return to open it, or Space for a quick look.
The list on the left decides where to look. Start with everything, or narrow to your home folder, Desktop, Downloads, or any folder you add yourself. If a folder is one the search index does not cover, FileSearch reads it directly instead and says so in the status bar, so you are never left wondering whether "no results" meant "not there" or "not indexed".
Perfect for
- Anyone who knows roughly what a file is called but not where it ended up
- People working off external drives or network shares, where the built-in search comes up empty
- Developers and designers digging through deep project trees
- Anyone who has tried a search tool before and given up when it wanted an hour to index first
