Computer search tools

First update the database from file menu and then search for your files or folders. It searches very fast. You can use other Windows context commands on files or folders on search results. Copernic Desktop Search Lite is a free desktop search tool. It lets you search and preview files. To use this free version you have to first update its index from tools menu entire or for particular file types then search.

You can refine your search by clicking on any icon on the toolbar. You can search for emails also. You can export search results to various document formats. It has a simple and easy to use user interface. Hulbee Desktop Standard is a free desktop search tool. It lets you search for files based upon their contents for any particular keyword. You can sort your search results based upon relevance, name, date, size, extension, or language.

It also shows intelligent suggestion from your search results. It is easy to use software and is user friendly. Exalead one:desktop is a free and easy to use desktop search engine. It lets you find files on the basis of there contents. It opens the search window within your default web browser. It first indexes your PC drives to perform your search. You can change your preferences any time. It supports various common file formats for searching.

DocFetcher is a free and open source desktop search software. It lets you search the contents of the documents for any particular keyword you specify on your computer. You can sort and filter search results.

It creates index of your hard disk or folder you specify before searching. Everything is small and easy to use free search engine for your desktop. It searches very fast for any file or folder on your computer. It supports search parameters including Boolean operators. For example, search all files created in the last 15 minutes, between and bytes in size, and containing the word error. The application is lightweight and portable no installation required , so you can carry it around on a USB stick.

NirSoft also maintains hundreds of other useful utilities that are all clean, portable, and available free of charge. Exselo Desktop isn't as well-known as other free Windows 10 search tool options, which is a shame because it's actually excellent.

It supports powerful search queries, has a simple interface, securely shares data, and even integrates with Outlook. Not only can it search local drives, but Exselo can also comb through network and cloud stores.

And best of all, the Free edition is feature complete. The only difference between Free and Enterprise is support for multiple users.

As such, the scanning process can be a bit slow, but you can filter and set parameters to speed things up. And not only can the program delete said duplicates, but it can replace them with hard links that are basically shortcuts to one single file, thus saving you space without breaking anything in the meanwhile. Can you guess how much of your hard drive space is wasted by duplicate files?

The answer might surprise you. Duplicate files are more common than we tend to think, and if those duplicates are image, audio, or video files, they can take up a lot of unnecessary space. Registry Finder is a free tool that makes registry navigation easy. It can also search keys according to when they were last modified, meaning this tool comes in handy when you want to see all recent changes that were made e.

Despite the improved search features in Windows 10, the registry is still a bit crude and could use a lot of love. Whether you want to fix errors in the registry or make a few tweaks for usability, the process of finding keys can be slow and tedious—and that's why Registry Finder really shines.

They are also the creators of the popular hard drive space recovery program, TreeSize. UltraSearch offers essential search features plus a few extras, all while keeping it simple and fast.

Within the search window, all important file information is displayed. It also displays all of your computer's partitions and their total size and free space. Not only is the search interface familiar and comfortable, the app itself is portable and uses minimal system resources.

However, there is one drawback: the free version is a trial—not in the sense that the program will expire and become unusable, but the search window will time out. Open the window, complete your search, then close it. If you do this promptly, you should be fine.

Overall the search performance is OK. If you don't see the update and want to install it manually, head over to Microsoft's Windows 10 Update page and click the button to Update Now. To dive into Search, simply click the Search field at the left of the Taskbar. The Search window shows you your most recent documents and other files as well as your top apps--you can easily click a recent file or top app to open it Figure A.

To search for a specific file, application, or general subject, simply type your keyword or words in the search field. Depending on your search term, the results may point you to documents, apps, web pages, and other types of content Figure B. You can expand or narrow the search results by type. Click any of the headings at the top of the search window--Apps, Documents, Email, or Web--to filter the results by that specific type. Next, you can access the Windows Timeline to see a recent history of documents, web pages, and other files.

To do this from the Search window, delete your search term to go back to the main window and click the link for Manage History. Now, let's look at some ways to customize and control the Search tool. First, you can free up space on the Taskbar by shrinking the Search field into an icon. You'll now have to click the Search icon to use the search field, but you have more room for other Taskbar icons. To revert back, return to the Search menu item and change the selection to Show Search Box.

For your next step, you should review the Search settings, especially now that Search is no longer joined at the hip with Cortana. First, to take advantage of the integration of Windows Search into File Explorer, make sure you've upgraded to the Windows 10 November Update version Be aware, though, that there is a bug in this update that sometimes renders the search field in File Explorer unresponsive when you click in it.

The Microsoft support document Fix problems in Windows Search offers some workarounds for the issue. You'll also want to check for the latest updates following Windows 10 version to see if Microsoft has fixed the glitch. Open File Explorer to a specific folder that you want to search. Click in the Search field. If the functionality is working, you should see a list of items from previous searches.

Type a character or two, and the items from previous searches match your criteria Figure A. Press Enter to see all the search results in the window. Click on the right search result to open the corresponding document or other file Figure B. With the Search Ribbon in File Explorer, you can take advantage of different commands, options, and criteria to refine your searches. To expand the location of the search to your entire computer, click on the icon for This PC.

To limit the location to just the current folder and no subfolders, click on the icon for Current Folder. To include the current folder and all subfolders, click on the icon for All Subfolders.