Can’t remember where you saved that file? Type a few letters into Everything and results start appearing instantly. Finding one file among hundreds of thousands takes essentially no time.
What is Everything?
Everything is a file-name search tool for Windows made by voidtools (developer David Carpenter). The name describes how it works: when it starts, it lists every file and folder on your PC, and what you type simply filters that list. That is why results show up almost as fast as you can type.
It is freeware with no ads, and voidtools states plainly that it collects no user data, has no telemetry and runs completely offline. It is not open source, though. You get an installer and a portable version.
The problem it solves
- Windows Search often spins for ages and still misses things.
- You remember the file name had “invoice” in it, but not which drive or folder it lives in.
- Installers, screenshots and videos are scattered all over the place, and you want to round up every file of one type.
- You want to find the huge or duplicate files eating your disk space but don’t know where to start.
Everything’s trick is that it only indexes file and folder names, and it reads that information straight from the NTFS file system. According to voidtools, a fresh Windows 11 install (around 250,000 files) is indexed in about 5 seconds, and a million files in about a minute. After that, it watches the NTFS USN journal, so new, renamed and deleted files show up in search immediately. Even if Everything wasn’t running, it catches up on the changes the next time it starts.
Key features
- Instant search: type part of a file name and results update as you type.
- Simple but powerful syntax: a space means AND,
|means OR,!excludes a term,*and?are wildcards, and quotes wrap phrases with spaces. - Filter by location and type:
d:searches only drive D,\downloadsonly your Downloads folder, and*.pdfonly PDFs. Built-in filters likeaudio:,doc:,exe:andimage:are included too. - Sort by anything: click a column header to sort by size or date modified, which is great for finding big files or anything you touched recently.
- Content search:
content:searches inside files, but contents aren’t indexed, so it’s slow. Use it on a narrow set of files. - Regex, bookmarks and filters: regular expressions are supported, and you can save frequent searches as bookmarks.
- Network access: version 1.4 includes an HTTP server and an ETP/FTP server (both off by default). Turn one on and you can search and download files on that PC from a browser on your phone or another computer.
- Lightweight: about 35 MB of RAM for 250,000 files and about 100 MB for a million.
Download and install
- Go to the voidtools website and choose a build under Everything 1.4:
- The installer (recommended), or the portable ZIP that runs without installing.
- The 64-bit version if your Windows is 64-bit.
- There is also a Lite build, which drops the HTTP and ETP/FTP servers and the IPC interface, so the ES command-line tool and the SDK won’t work with it.
- Run the installer, choose your language and install location. Storing settings and data in
%APPDATA%\Everythingis a sensible choice. - Tick the option to install the Everything Service. It lets Everything index NTFS drives while running as a normal user, so you won’t get a UAC admin prompt every time.
System requirements: anything from Windows XP, Vista and 7 through 10 and 11. voidtools also offers a 1.5 beta with extras like duplicate-file finding. Try it if you are curious, but 1.4 is the better choice for daily use.
How to use it
- On first launch, Everything indexes all your local NTFS drives automatically. It usually takes a few seconds.
- Type part of a file name into the search box, e.g.
invoice 2026. - Narrow things down with location and type, e.g.
\documents !draft *.docx, which means “Word files in the Documents folder whose names don’t contain ‘draft'”. - Double-click a result to open it. Right-click to open its folder or copy the full path, or drag the file straight into another app.
- For USB sticks or external drives formatted as FAT/exFAT, or for network shares and NAS folders, add them manually under Tools → Options → Folders.
Pros
- It is genuinely fast. Results appear as you type, and once you’re used to it there’s no going back.
- A tiny installer with low memory and disk usage.
- The index updates in real time, so you never need to rebuild it by hand.
- Free, with no ads and no telemetry, and it works fully offline.
- Simple yet powerful search syntax, plus portable, command-line and network access options.
Cons
- Windows only. Mac and Linux users are out of luck.
- It searches names, not contents. Content search is slow, so for searching inside documents you need a dedicated full-text search tool.
- The near-instant indexing relies on NTFS. FAT/exFAT and network drives have to be added manually and aren’t as fast or as up to date.
- It isn’t open source.
- If you enable the HTTP server without a username and password, anyone on your network can browse your files, so be careful.
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
Great for: basically every Windows user, especially anyone with lots of files who keeps losing track of them: office workers, designers, developers and digital hoarders. It’s also handy when you need to hunt down space-hogging files.
Not ideal for: Mac and Linux users, people whose main need is searching the text inside documents, and locked-down work PCs where you can’t install software (though the portable version doesn’t change system settings, so it’s worth asking IT).
Related reading
How it compares
| Tool | What it is | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Search | Built-in system search | Nothing to install, but often criticized for being slow and incomplete |
| Everything | Instant file-name search | Free, extremely fast and lightweight. Windows only |
| Listary | Launcher + file-name search | Focused on quickly opening files and apps |
| PowerToys Command Palette | Launcher | Microsoft’s quick launcher, extensible with plugins |
| DocFetcher and similar | Full-text search | Searches inside documents after building a full-text index |
In short: use Everything to find files, and a full-text search tool to find what’s inside them. The two work well side by side.
Project details
- Latest stable: Everything 1.4.1.1032 (released January 23, 2026)
- Beta: Everything 1.5.0.1423b
- Platforms: Windows XP through Windows 11 (x86, x64, ARM, ARM64)
- License: freeware, closed source
- Download: voidtools.com
- Help: Everything support docs
- FAQ: Everything FAQ
