If you have accumulated a large number of files and folders on your Windows PC, it becomes difficult to perform a search for something you are urgently looking for. The poor performance of Windows search functionality doesn't help either. That's when Everything helps you.

If you are an avid Windows user, you might be familiar with this epic search tool. It helps you quickly search for files, folders, apps, and even processes on your system. Unlike the default Windows search, it's super fast and gives you results in a blink. However, you can make it even more optimized by applying some settings and using some search tricks. Let's discuss some of those.

8 Use advanced search operators

Narrow down your search with precision

Everything supports advanced search operators that allow you to refine your searches and get more accurate results. For example, you can use the boolean operators like AND, OR (|), and NOT (!) to combine or exclude specific terms. AND is the default operator whenever you search for something on Everything. For example, if you search for Cricket 07, Everything will display all the results containing "Cricket" and "07." Similar searching for !Cricket will list all the items without "Cricket" in their name, and Cricket | 07 will list all items that have either of the two terms.

Apart from boolean operators, you can also use wildcards like * (matches any sequence of characters) and ? (matches a single character) to find files with similar names. For instance, searching for a*z will list all the files and folders that begin with "a" and end with "z."

These operators make it easy to find exactly what you're looking for, even in a sea of files.

7 Use Filters for focused searches

Quickly sort files by type, size, or date

Everything allows you to apply filters to your searches, making it easier to focus on specific types of files. For example, you can filter results by file type (e.g., .CSV, .mp4), size (e.g., files larger than 100MB), or date modified (e.g., files created in the last week).

To use filters, simply type them into the search bar. Simply typing .CSV will list all the files with that extension. Similarly, size:>100MB will show files larger than 100MB. Typing dm:today will show files that were modified today. Filters are a great way to narrow down your search and find files faster.

6 Utilize advanced search options

Unlock powerful search capabilities with advanced options

Everything's advanced search options allow you to fine-tune your searches for even better results. These options include searching for file names containing certain words or phrases. You also can set the app to display search results that don't contain a particular word or phrase.

Further, you can set Match case, Match whole words, and Match diacritics to refine your search even more. You can also choose a particular folder to search for.

To access advanced search options:

1. Click on the Search menu in Everything.
2. Select Advanced Search to open the advanced search dialog box.

Here, you can specify criteria like whether you want to find files with any of the words in your search terms, all of them, or none of them.

Advanced search options are perfect for users who need to perform highly specific searches, such as IT professionals or power users.

5 Enable content search

Search inside files for specific text

By default, Everything only searches file names, but you can enable content search to look inside files for specific text. This is especially useful for finding documents, spreadsheets, or text files that contain certain keywords.

To enable content search, follow these steps:

1. Go to Tools > Options.
2. Switch to the Indexes section on the left, and under it, click the Content option.
3. Check the Enable file content box on the right and click OK.

The content will start indexing as soon as you enable the option. You can check the progress at the progress bar at the bottom. Once indexed, you can search for text inside files by using the content: operator to search files. For example, if you are looking for files that contain the phrase "to be or not to be," just use type content: "to be or not to be" in the search box, and all the files containing the phrase will be displayed in the results.

4 Enable match case for precise results

Find files with exact capitalization

If you're searching for files with specific capitalization (for example, Report.docx vs. report.docx), you can enable the Match Case option from the Everything setting. This ensures that the app only shows results that match the exact case of your search term.

To enable Match Case:

1. Go to Search > Match Case.
2. Alternatively, use the case: operator in your search (for example, case:Report.docx).

This feature is particularly useful for developers or anyone working with case-sensitive file systems.

3 Exclude unnecessary folders

Speed up searches by reducing clutter

Everything is already super fast, but if you want to make it even faster, especially when you have an HDD installed on your system instead of an SSD, you can add folders that you don't want Everything to index and exclude from performing searches in them. This reduces the clutter and speeds up the search results.

To exclude folders:

1. Navigate to Tools > Options.
2. Under the Indexes section on the left, click the Exclude option.
3. On the right, check the "Exclude hidden files and folders" and "Exclude system files and folders" boxes if you would like to exclude them from the Everything search.
4. Next, if you manually want to exclude some folders from indexing, check the "Enable exclude list" box and click the Add Folder button.
5. Browse for the folder that you want to exclude and add them to the list. You can add multiple folders to the list.
6. Finally, click Apply and OK to save the exclude list.

Excluding unnecessary folders will ensure that your search results are more relevant and focused.

2 Save frequent searches as bookmarks

Quickly access your most-used searches

If you frequently search for the same types of files, you can save those searches as bookmarks. This allows you to rerun the search with just a click, saving you time and effort.

To save a search as a bookmark:

1. Perform your search in Everything.
2. Go to Bookmarks > Add to Bookmarks.
3. Give your bookmark a name (for example, "Recent PDFs") and check all the options you want to associate with this bookmark.

Now, you can access your saved searches from the Bookmarks menu.

1 Enable fast indexing for external drives

Search external drives as quickly as internal ones

By default, Everything does not index external storage devices like USB drives and external hard disks in real-time, which can slow down searches. But you can manually add your external drive to the Everything indexes. This allows you to search for files on external drives just as quickly as you would on your main drive.

To enable indexing for external drives:

1. Go to Tools > Options > Indexes
2. Click the Folders option below it.
3. Add the external drive to the list of indexed folders and click OK.
4. Finally, click Apply and OK.

This feature is especially useful if you frequently work with files stored on external devices.

Optimize Everything for super fast search

Everything is already an advanced tool that gives you quick and effective search results, but you can make it even better by applying these tips. This really makes a difference when you have an HDD as your primary storage device. So, give these optimizations a try and see how much easier and quick it is to find everything you need on your PC.