Everything is a must-have utility in my toolbox. Its goal is simple: instantly find any file on your hard drive. When it's first installed, Everything takes a few minutes to build an index of all your files. It then runs in the background to make sure its index is always up to date.
Now say that you have a lot of files scattered among several different directories. You may not be sure where a particular file is, but Everything can find it. Just launch it and begin typing the name of the file. Everything searches as you type, so in just a second or two your file will appear in its results window. You can then open it, copy it, delete it, etc. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1. Searching for a file with Everything.
Another valuable use of this utility is if you know where a file is located, but you just don't want to take the time to launch Explorer and navigate to it. As before, simply launch Everything, start typing the file's name, and in no time your file will appear in the results window so that you can use it.
I use Everything every day and many times throughout the day. It's such a great timesaver I would be lost without it.
Everything is a free download with versions available for lots of different Windows versions. You can find it here:
http://www.voidtools.com/
This tip (12938) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.
If Windows Explorer or File Explorer leaves you wanting more from a file management utility, you might want to give ...
Discover MoreThe Dictation feature in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update provides a quick way to enter text without typing. Knowing ...
Discover MoreGot a program on your system that you can't get rid of? Here's a handy little program that Microsoft provides that may be ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WindowsTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2017-01-19 18:05:53
Gordon Schochet
It is every bit as wonderful and useful as Barry says: once you have it, you cannot work without it and will wonder how you ever did. Fortunately, it's generally intuitive, because the help items seem to be pitched at a relatively high level.
2017-01-18 02:50:27
Barry
It is not case sensitive.
2017-01-18 02:42:20
Jim jones
Is it case sensitive?
2017-01-16 08:41:06
Mark
Great tip, however, my company says that Australia is a forbidden country, and I can't get it.
2017-01-16 06:32:51
Barry
Everything indexes every file on your drive, so if you know part of the file's name you can find it instantly. Windows Search does not index every file, so using it to find a file is often an exercise in futility. You can also use regular expressions with Everything, which you cannot do with Windows Search.
I encourage you to give Everything a try. It doesn't take up that much disk space, and once you see how fast it is you'll wonder how you ever got by without it.
2017-01-16 06:26:16
Torgrim
What is the difference between Everything and the regular Windows search?
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WindowsTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2018 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments