Tools better than Windows Search - what are you using?

[lfm]

I've been on Microsoft feedback for some months now as they introduced complete gamble if search field in File Explorer succeed in searching anything. It's just not reliable anymore since two months.

So start looking for solutions and found this
https://www.lifewire.com/11-free-file-s ... ls-1356644

and tried UltraSearchFree only so far. Way, way better and more reliable than Windows Search. I always find what is there, on any word or letters as part of filename or foldername.

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

If I search in Windows Search for HHH and there is a file named AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFFGGGHHH is does not find it. Reported such occurances for 6 months now to Microsoft.

And UltraSearch has separate field to enter if wanting to search content, as windows XP had. Way better than the stupid idea to have one search field and whether you attempt to search for content or not it will be searched, unless you disable that for all drives or file types. And then you cannot use if you wanted to.

UltraSearch also has easy to select file groups, that can be any list of file extensions to narrow search. Custom group also possible in free version.

And avaialbe in Explorer context menu if on a spot on a drive to search that alone.

More config options in Pro version cost $20. But free version is enough so far to improve immensly.

Maybe the others are even better, have not tried yet.

Did you try some other search tool?

[Karbon L. Forms]

Everything 1.5a

[lfm]

Aha, thanks.

[liquidsound]

Everything 1.5a

+
The best thing ever!
I use it daily.

[Orchidius]

Everything 1.5a

+
The best thing ever!
I use it daily.

No joke. Really good feature set, regular expressions etc. and it's free. What's not to like? Since I got to know this I literally tried nothing else. Is there even something better?? Paid software???

[liquidsound]

Everything 1.5a

+
The best thing ever!
I use it daily.

No joke. Really good feature set, regular expressions etc. and it's free. What's not to like? Since I got to know this I literally tried nothing else. Is there even something better?? Paid software???

I wish I could also use it on the Mac but... Windows Land is endless

[kperry]

cmd
c:
cd \
find <pattern> <filename>

or

dir /s <pattern>

[liquidsound]

cmd
c:
cd \
find <pattern> <filename>

or

dir /s <pattern>

Hieroglyphs?!!!

[BONES]

I've been on Microsoft feedback for some months now as they introduced complete gamble if search field in File Explorer succeed in searching anything. It's just not reliable anymore since two months.

Really? I use it every, single day at work and it seems fine. We're still on Win10 but we stay up to date. I don't tend to use it at home, because I know where I put things so I don't need to search for them.

If I search in Windows Search for HHH and there is a file named AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFFGGGHHH is does not find it. Reported such occurances for 6 months now to Microsoft.

OK, I just tried something similar - I've got a MIDI file by Modern English that runs the name together - ModernEnglish. When I search for "erneng" or even "ernEng", it can't find it but when I search for "Modern", it finds it straight away. But here's the thing, if I use a wildcard/placeholder - *erneng - it also finds it straight away. In fact, it had found it before I finished typing, probably at *ern.

I've always used the * when I'm searching, a hangover from the old days when you had to do it in File Manager. I wasn't sure if it was still necessary, but it seems it does still help.

[lfm]

I've been on Microsoft feedback for some months now as they introduced complete gamble if search field in File Explorer succeed in searching anything. It's just not reliable anymore since two months.

Really? I use it every, single day at work and it seems fine. We're still on Win10 but we stay up to date. I don't tend to use it at home, because I know where I put things so I don't need to search for them.

The worst started just two months ago, some extra cache or similar. Started typing in FileExplorer search field and press enter, "no items" but leave it for some minutes and then it suddenly shows.

Sometimes I could go to parent folder and search and then it finds it. And then go to subfolder and finds it too, like there is an extra cache that is refreshed.

And it seems indexing is done on parts in name with delimiters, and each word has a limit in length. My example was short, but in this case long names like 80-100 characters and searching for things close to file extension it just fails.

Sometimes thinking result is correct, file is not there, and download it again from youtube or whatever, and then finds it in a subfolder when to copy new download there. Different lessons, pods and whatnot.

Just not reliable.

Installed UltraSearch and two seconds and I could find the files I spent minutes on for windows search.

Search from Windows key, it was useless for me from windows 10. Hardly ever found files that way. Some settings and stuff work, but not files in general. So started using FileExplorer directly and worked for the most part, until recently.

But now finding these search tools from 3rd party, that is lightning fast too without any indexing, and always work, I will go that route.

XP search always worked too. It could chew on hdd a bit but always were reliable.

I will try Everything too, seems to be good for many.

[BONES]

It would never occur to me to look for files from the WIN key. That's for finding things in Start as far as I'm concerned and it annoys me that it shows other, irrelevant shit. As I said, I almost never have to search for files on my own computer because I know where everything is (because I put it there) but Win11's Start is so shithouse that it is too hard to find things, so I use search there. I've tried to get used to Win 11's Start but it is completely hopeless.

[jackoo]

Agent Ransack (Lite)

[ThomasHelzle]

I replaced Windows Explorer with XYplorer when Vista came out. Never looked back.
Everything is faster (just show me the frigging content of my download folder right away instead of thinking about it for 2 minutes! And yes, sorted by date as default... ) and it can be configured exactly to your liking, really deep featureset.
And: it's search, even without an index, is superfast and covers every scenario I ever needed.

But yeah, if you only need search, I'd go with Everything as well

[sjm]

+1 for Search Everything; one of the first things I install on a new machine ever since MS broke the "search"* in Win 7.


* Is it really a search if it can't find?

[lfm]

It would never occur to me to look for files from the WIN key. That's for finding things in Start as far as I'm concerned and it annoys me that it shows other, irrelevant shit. As I said, I almost never have to search for files on my own computer because I know where everything is (because I put it there) but Win11's Start is so shithouse that it is too hard to find things, so I use search there. I've tried to get used to Win 11's Start but it is completely hopeless.

True, since windows 10.

In Windows 7 I still could use windows key and search field, and if not listed directly a link at bottom "more search options" or similar. And you could select entire computer or just customize from a root folder on a disk. But it worked.

So that habit was there getting this windows 10 laptop.

I use the Enhanced search setting for entire computer, not just desktop and some user folders as documents.

Unchecked all file extensions that does not represent anything I would search for, so not cluttering result with such files.

And every time you do rebuild of index, setting is changed to Classic again and you have to set Enhanced again.

About 100 000 files indexed. I probably have a 1000 videos or so and as many pdf:s as manuals for prospects and owned products.

Windows search works sometimes, but fails so often and not reliable. Ultrasearch is just a sec to find it - any letters in filename.