You click Start, type a filename, and wait. And wait. And wait. "Working on it..."

Windows Search has improved over the years, but it's still heavy, slow, and often inaccurate. Infact, I often just disable it to keep my system snappy.

What if I told you there is a tool that indexes 1 million files in one minute and returns results instantly. Its real, and it's called Everything.

What Is Everything?

Everything is a free utility by Voidtools that locates files and folders by filename. Unlike Windows Search, which crawls files slowly, Everything reads the Master File Table (MFT) of your NTFS drive.

This allows it to know the location of every single file on your computer almost instantly.

Download and Install

Official Site: https://www.voidtools.com/

  1. Download the "Installer 64-bit".
  2. Run the installer.
  3. Crucial Step: When asked, select "Install 'Everything' Service".
    • This allows the tool to index your drives in the background without needing Administrator permission every time you launch it.

How to Use It

Open the app. You will see a list of... everything. Every file on your drive.

Start typing.

budget

Before you finish typing the word, every file with "budget" in the name appears.

Search Filters (The secret sauce)

You can do more than just type names. Everything supports powerful operators:

  • ext:jpg: Finds all JPG images.
  • zip:: Finds compressed files.
  • video:: Finds all video files.
  • size:>50mb: Finds files larger than 50MB.
  • dm:today: Finds files modified today.

You can combine them:

budget ext:xlsx dm:thismonth

This finds all Excel files with "budget" in the name modified this month. Try doing that in Windows Explorer.

Network Drives

By default, Everything only indexes local NTFS drives (because they have an MFT). To search network shares (NAS, file servers):

  1. Go to Tools -> Options -> Folders.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Select the network drive.
  4. Click OK.

Note: This method is slower than local search because it has to scan the network drive manually, but it's still often faster than Windows.

Everything has a built-in HTTP server.

  1. Go to Tools -> Options -> HTTP Server.
  2. Check "Enable HTTP server".
  3. Pick a port (e.g., 80).

Now, grab your phone. Connect to the same WiFi. Open your browser and type your computer's IP address. You can now search and download files from your PC directly to your phone.

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