This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by khan saad
Ever been frustrated by Windows’ search taking forever to find a file you know is somewhere on your drive? 😤 Me too. That’s when I discovered Everything by Voidtools — a tiny but insanely powerful tool that indexes file names (not file contents), giving you results in milliseconds.
In this post:
What Everything is and why it’s different
How to install & configure it
Pro tips & power tricks
Real use-cases where it saves HOURS
🧠 What is “Everything”?
Lightweight file-search tool for Windows
Instantly indexes file names, not contents
Results show up as you type
Supports wildcards, regex, size/date filters, external drives & network shares
Almost zero CPU usage
Because it skips content indexing, it stays super fast—even on systems with tons of files.
(Yes, even your 1 TB HDD and your network shares)
🚀 How to Install & Set It Up
Go to the official site (Voidtools)
Choose between Installer or Portable version
Run it — it will index your drives (takes a few seconds)
Start typing: it shows results instantly
Optional setup tweaks
Use filters like *.pdf, *.mp4
Use size:>1GB or date:today
Save frequent searches as bookmarks
Include network / external drives in indexing
🔧 Pro Tips / Power Tricks
Regex searches for advanced patterns
Use bookmarks for searches you often repeat
Use Everything to help with cleaning: find huge files, duplicate media, old installers
Combine with productivity tools—like mapping keys to "open Everything search box"
💡 Use Cases — How I Use It (and You Can Too)
Locating lecture notes or documents
Finding game mods or config files buried deep
Quickly grabbing assets / files mid-project
Cleaning your drive — see what’s hogging space
✅ Why This Tool Is a Game Changer
It’s free & runs locally (no cloud, no data upload)
Changes your workflow — no more “folder hell”
Perfect even for average users, not just power users
📎 Dive Deeper (Full Guide)
For the full, detailed breakdown + screenshots + step-by-step comparisons, check out my complete guide here:
👉 Meet Everything: The Secret Windows Tool That Finds Any File on Your PC in Under a Second
Let me know if you want help integrating Everything into a specific workflow (for devs, creatives, large drives, etc.). Happy to help! 🙌
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by khan saad
khan saad | Sciencx (2025-10-06T19:09:37+00:00) How Everything Makes File Search on Windows Blazingly Fast (5 Tips + Setup Guide). Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/10/06/how-everything-makes-file-search-on-windows-blazingly-fast-5-tips-setup-guide/
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