Everything like tool for quick seaches

[yamgarcia]

Description of the new feature / enhancement

The tool would be a quick file indexer that allows fast searches in file and folder names.
"Everything" is a good example of this kind of software and currently I can't imagine myself at work without it.
Windows search is not as performant or efficient at finding matches for a given search term and PowerToys Run doesn't provide the same functionality.

Scenario when this would be used?

Used to find a matches of a given string in any folder and/or files within windows system and allow the user to open chosen files using the explorer.

Supporting information

https://www.voidtools.com/
https://community.chocolatey.org/packages/Everything

[crutkas]

can you provide some examples of what you are searching for / doing? /needinfo

if i were to create a test lab for speed tests / verification, what would be the steps :)

[yamgarcia]

I worked with monolithic applications in the past and one way to fix server problems in clients' VMs was to see the file in the log and use "Everything" to find the specific file.
The application is very quick to find the matches and also very precise. The Explorer search feature is very bad at finding matches for the search term.

Today, I work with a system that relies on timestamps for the names of the logs, and again Everything helps to find the matches very quickly.

Everything isn't open source and some companies won't allow using it, so it'd be nice to have a first-party opting that can handle the job.

Regarding speed tests. That depends on the execution. "Everything" takes time to index all folders/files but after that, it's incredibly quick. Although I believe accuracy (or the ability to find all folders/files) is more important.

I hope these two scenarios clarify it. Thank you.

[user1823]

Let me add my experience too:

Within seconds after installing Everything, I could start searching files on my laptop, which suggests that my 100k+ files were indexed in seconds.
On the contrary, rebuilding the Windows search index (which happens automatically after every Windows update) takes more than a week!

The indexing speed is not the only strength of Everything. Everything shows search results instantaneously while there is always a delay of at least a fraction of a second in Windows Search.

Because PT Run is based on Windows Search, it shares the same problems.

According to the developer of Everything, this is the reason behind its speed:

Everything scans the MFT directly, which limits Everything to NTFS volumes only.

Everything makes a very light copy of this mft and keeps it in memory, using the USN Change journal to monitor changes.

Searches are compiled into byte code and executed.

Source: https://www.voidtools.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2030

SwiftSearch, an open-source software, also seems to use NTFS Master File Table for searching. So, the PT team might want to look at their source code.

[Aronjlove]

I worked with monolithic applications in the past and one way to fix server problems in clients' VMs was to see the file in the log and use "Everything" to find the specific file. The application is very quick to find the matches and also very precise. The Explorer search feature is very bad at finding matches for the search term.

Today, I work with a system that relies on timestamps for the names of the logs, and again Everything helps to find the matches very quickly.

Everything isn't open source and some companies won't allow using it, so it'd be nice to have a first-party opting that can handle the job.

Regarding speed tests. That depends on the execution. "Everything" takes time to index all folders/files but after that, it's incredibly quick. Although I believe accuracy (or the ability to find all folders/files) is more important.

I hope these two scenarios clarify it. Thank you.

Microsoft's own Configuration Manager can put log files in different locations depending on the server roles, as does Adobe applications. I use Everything to find log files frequently.

I was looking through the issues tab here to see if any suggested adding Everything support to existing PowerToys like PT Run. I use PT Run at work, but I prefer Flow Launcher at home as it can use Everything's search results instead of Windows Search's results. Making a replacement for everything, and have PowerToys Run use it would be even better.

[msuheb27]

Description of the new feature / enhancement
Introduce a high-performance file and folder search utility for Windows within Microsoft PowerToys. This tool should enable users to quickly locate files and folders by name across NTFS and ReFS volumes, similar to Everything by Voidtools.

The utility would:

Index the names of all files and folders on NTFS and ReFS volumes.
Maintain an up-to-date index using NTFS change journals for minimal resource usage.
Support real-time searching with incremental results as users type.
Provide optional indexing of non-NTFS/ReFS folders, with a warning about slower indexing speeds.
Include advanced search capabilities such as regex support and wildcard matching.
Scenario when this would be used?
Developers & IT Professionals: Quickly find project files, logs, or system configuration files without navigating through directories.
Power Users & Content Creators: Search for media files, documents, or large datasets efficiently.
General Users: Locate misplaced files without relying on slower built-in Windows Search.
Supporting information
This enhancement aligns with the efficient search methodology used by Everything by Voidtools, which:

Uses metadata and NTFS Master File Table (MFT) indexing to achieve near-instantaneous results.
Continuously updates the index using NTFS change journals, ensuring minimal CPU/memory overhead.
Allows searching via fragments of filenames, wildcards, and regex patterns.
By integrating a similar approach within PowerToys, Microsoft can provide a native, lightweight, and high-speed search tool that enhances Windows usability without requiring third-party installations.