Fast when you need it, quiet the rest of the time.

Add a size filter such as size:>1gb and click the Size column header to sort the largest files first. You can combine it with an extension, as in ext:mp4 size:>500mb.

The default sort is Date modified, newest first, so typing part of the name puts the file you most recently downloaded or edited at the top.

The list shows up to 200 items by default. The search always covers everything, sorts it and shows it from the top, so 200 / 14,092 items in the status bar means 200 of 14,092 are shown. To see more, raise Settings → Max results.

Select with Ctrl · Shift click or Shift+arrow keys (Ctrl+A selects all), copy with Ctrl+C and paste in Explorer. Drag them to Explorer or the desktop and, just like Explorer, they're moved on the same drive and copied to another drive.

Select a file and press F2, or right-click → Rename. It starts with the name selected up to the extension; Enter confirms, Esc cancels. An existing name is never overwritten.

Turn on Settings → Use Explorer menu on right-click to get the same menu as Explorer (Open with, Send to, compress and so on) plus Open path · Copy full path to clipboard. Programs started from the menu run with normal rights, not as administrator.

Click the Settings → Shortcut key box and press the key combination you want (none at first). If another program already uses it, you'll be told. Even while hidden in the tray, that key brings it up immediately.

Focus always stays in the search box, so you can type right away.

Give a search after --search (or -s) and the window opens with that search. If it's already running, the open window runs that search. Add it to a desktop shortcut's target to open a frequent search in one go.

FileIndex.exe --search "ext:pdf Contract"
FileIndex.exe -s "*.psd"

Open the Drive list with the drive button at the right of the status bar, and click a drive's row to turn it off. To keep the list visible, turn on Settings → Drive list.

Yes. FileIndex is freeware. Use it for free without restriction anywhere — at work, at home, in government offices or at school — and redistribute it freely.

Reading the file list of a whole drive quickly requires administrator rights. Click Yes in the prompt that appears when it starts. No prompt appears when the installed version starts through Run at startup.

No. The file list is stored only on your PC. The internet is used only to check for a new version at startup, and searching works without it.

The first time, progress is shown in the middle of the screen while it builds a file list for each drive. From the second launch on, it reuses that list and only catches up on what changed while it was off, so you can search right away.

No. Closing the window, or pressing Esc with an empty search, hides it in the tray, and indexing and real-time updates keep running. To quit completely, right-click the tray icon → Exit.

No. Close the window and it hides in the tray, then gives back the memory it used for searching a moment later. While hidden it uses as little memory as possible, and when you call it back it usually finds results within 0.5 seconds.

No. It checks for a new version at startup and lets you know; clicking [Yes] opens the download page and closes the program.

It searches only internal and removable drives formatted as NTFS. Because it reads the drive's file list directly, it doesn't index exFAT · FAT32 USB sticks, network drives or CDs · DVDs.

At first it follows your Windows language, and you can choose one yourself in Settings → Language.