Search bars can be annoying, especially on Windows. It can sometimes just stop working amid the search or display random files when you are looking for something specific. Sometimes, it's slow, especially when dealing with large files. To overcome these challenges, you need third-party software. Most of them are faster and have advanced features that allow you to locate files quickly. Below are some free software for seamlessly searching for files on Windows across your folders and drives.

5 Everything

Most popular Windows search software

Everything has a download size of around 1MB, making the installation process easy and not taking up much computer space. It has a clean and straightforward user interface, and it indexes and builds a database of all the files and folders on your computer quickly and in real time. For example, indexing 120,000 files can take just one second, and indexing 1,000,000 takes about a minute.

The software also uses little resources on your system when indexing and searching for files. A hundred and twenty thousand files will use around 9MB of disk space and 14MB of RAM. 1,000,000, on the other hand, uses about 45MB of disk space and 75MB of RAM.

After indexing your files, Everything monitors your file system for any changes to ensure it misses nothing when it is not running. You can use boolean operators to customize your search. "And" is the default boolean operator. So, when searching for terms like XDA and developers, you type XDA developers without including "and." If you want to search for either of them, you add a vertical bar (I) so that it can be "XDA | developers." If you want to exclude something from the search, add an exclamation mark (!) at the front of the term. You can find the search syntax list from the software's Help menu. There is also an advanced search option if you would like more customization.

4 Fileseek

Customize your search even more

The free version of Fileseek offers more filtering options for locating files and folders based on various criteria, such as the date of creation, access, or modification. You can also search based on minimum and maximum file size or location. You can search for multiple paths at once, exclude one or more from the search results, and automatically locate subfolders.

Fileseek provides simple or advanced text queries for searching inside files. Once it generates the results, you can preview the text to determine whether it's the target file you are looking for.

If you have customized your settings and would like to use them constantly, you can save them as a search profile so that you don't need to start adjusting them the next time you launch the software. You can also sync the search profiles with other computers you use. When installing the software, remember to choose the trial version rather than the one that requires the license. After the 30-day trial, it will revert to the free version.

3 SearchMyFiles

Find even the hidden files on Windows.

SearchMyFiles supports complex filters like file size ranges and dates and can search for hidden files and folders. It can also search within ZIP archives and scan the Windows registry for file associations. Once you install the software, the first option in the top-left section is the Search mode. There are four of them: standard search, duplicate search, non-duplicate search, summary mode, and duplicate name search.

Below the search mode, you will see options to browse the folders and exclude some from your search, use a wildcard to search for files, and exclude specific files and file extensions.

The attributes section will enable you to customize the file search further by determining whether to search for or exclude hidden, compressed, archives, or encrypted files. In the File Time section, you can specify when the file was created, modified, or accessed. Below the File Time section, you will see a checkbox for determining the maximum number of files to reach before stopping the search.

You can always reset the settings to default by clicking on the Reset To Default option at the bottom section of the interface.

2 Quick Search

Display the files and folders quickly.

Quick Search has a simple interface similar to that of Everything. However, it lacks many tools and indexes files slightly slower than the former. Nevertheless, searching for files and folders is quick, real-time, and uses minimal computer resources.

When you open the software, you will see the search bar. Here, you can start typing your query, and it will display even without clicking enter. You can also choose the type of files to be displayed: shortcuts, documents, audio, pictures, programs, videos, or compressed files.

There is an Options option in the middle-right section, which allows you to customize more. For example, you can choose when the software starts, the files and folders to exclude, and the categories to search from, and you can add or remove from the ones already listed in the index. You can also choose which disk on your machine to search for. You can also find this option from the File section of the interface.

1 Wise JetSearch

Search and find local files.

Like the other search tools we described above, Wise JetSearch also has a user-friendly interface. To use it to search for files, you select the drive, type what you are searching for, and click the search button. It supports FAT, exFAT, NTFS drives, and external hard drives.

Once you find your file, you can preview it on the software's Preview Pane, which helps you determine the exact target file you are looking for, especially if they have the same name. Wise JetSearch also supports searching by Wildcard. If you don't remember the exact spelling of the name of the file or folder you are looking for, you can use the Wildcard characters like "*" and "?" to replace the letter you don't remember, and it will display it quickly.

Searching for files on Windows is easier with third-party software.

Don't struggle with searching for files and folders on your computer when there are a lot of third-party software that can make searching on Windows better. The good thing is that all the above software have a small file size and doesn't use many computer resources when indexing and searching for the files.