Voidtools’ Everything finds any file on a Windows NTFS drive in under a second by reading the master file table directly. It is genuinely brilliant, genuinely free, and the reason most Windows power users never bother with the built-in Search. It also only runs on Windows, only indexes NTFS, searches filenames rather than content, and has an interface that has not been updated in years. People looking for Everything alternatives usually want one of three things: a Mac or Linux build, full-text content search, or tighter integration with their launcher and clipboard. Here are seven that cover all three.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | License | Platforms | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listary | Launcher integration | Freemium | Windows | File search inside every open/save dialog |
| Wox | Open-source launcher | Free, open-source | Windows | Plugin ecosystem, keyboard-first |
| Recoll | Full-text content search | Free, open-source | Windows, macOS, Linux | Reads inside PDFs, Office, archives |
| DocFetcher | Portable content search | Free, open-source | Windows, macOS, Linux | Works from a USB stick |
| FileSeek | Advanced filters | Freemium | Windows | Regex, content search, networked drives |
| Agent Ransack | Content plus filename | Free | Windows | Free for personal and commercial use |
| UltraSearch | Modern Everything-style | Freemium | Windows | NTFS instant search plus content option |
Why people leave Everything
Everything is Windows-only. Households with a Mac or a Linux laptop need a second tool, and the muscle memory does not transfer.
It is NTFS-only. exFAT external drives, network shares without indexing, and anything mounted from a Linux server fall back to slow recursive scans. Power users who keep media on a NAS hit this constantly.
It searches names, not content. Looking for a PDF by a phrase inside it, or a Word doc by a quoted sentence, requires a different tool entirely.
The interface looks like 2005. It works, but newer search tools integrate with the launcher, the clipboard, and the system file picker in ways Everything does not.
The alternatives
Listary: launcher integration
Listary’s signature trick is that it surfaces a file search bar inside every Windows open and save dialog. Type a few letters in any program’s file picker and Listary jumps to the file. It also acts as a general-purpose launcher (apps, web search, settings) and indexes NTFS volumes near-instantly the way Everything does.
Where it falls short: The free tier covers basic search; advanced features like custom commands sit behind a Pro license. Closed-source.
Pricing: Free for personal use; Pro is a one-time license.
vs Everything: Same instant search, plus deep integration with file dialogs and a real launcher.
Migrating from Everything: Install, then turn off Everything on startup. Listary will index in the background.
Download: listary.com
Bottom line: The pick if you spend your day in file dialogs.
Wox: open-source launcher
Wox is a keyboard-first launcher (Alfred for Windows, roughly) that searches files, apps, browser history, web queries, and anything a plugin adds. The plugin marketplace covers calculator, dictionary, system commands, and dozens of niche searches.
Where it falls short: Project pace is community-driven; some plugins lag behind Windows updates. UI customization is shallow compared to commercial launchers.
Pricing: Free and open-source.
vs Everything: Broader scope. File search is one feature among many, not the whole product.
Migrating from Everything: Install Wox, enable the file plugin.
Download: wox.one
Bottom line: The pick if you want a launcher first and a file searcher second.
Recoll: full-text content search
Recoll indexes the contents of files, not just their names. PDFs, Word and Excel documents, OpenDocument, EPUB, HTML, mail folders, and archives all get parsed and their text added to the index. Search syntax includes proximity, wildcards, and field-specific filters. Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Where it falls short: Initial indexing is slow on large libraries. UI is functional but plain.
Pricing: Free and open-source.
vs Everything: Different problem. Everything finds the file by name; Recoll finds the right file by what is inside it.
Migrating from Everything: Add to your toolkit rather than replace. Keep Everything for filename search and use Recoll for content.
Download: recoll.org
Bottom line: The pick when you remember a phrase but not a filename.
DocFetcher: portable content search
DocFetcher is a portable, open-source content-search tool that runs from a folder or a USB stick. Same idea as Recoll (parse documents, index the text, query with operators), with the bonus that the index travels with the app.
Where it falls short: Indexing is slower than Recoll on the same hardware. Project releases have been infrequent in recent years.
Pricing: Free and open-source.
vs Everything: Content rather than filename, and portable.
Migrating from Everything: Add to your toolkit.
Download: docfetcher.sourceforge.io
Bottom line: The pick when the search needs to live on a USB stick.
FileSeek: advanced filters
FileSeek is filename-and-content search with serious filter power. Regex queries, file-size and date ranges, hidden-file inclusion, queries across mapped network drives. The free tier covers most use cases; the Pro tier adds scheduled searches, cloud sync of saved searches, and command-line scripting.
Where it falls short: Closed-source. Some features hidden behind Pro feel artificial (basic content-search vs Pro-only saved queries).
Pricing: Freemium. Pro is an annual subscription.
vs Everything: Slower than Everything for pure filename search (no MFT trick) but adds regex and content matching.
Migrating from Everything: Add for the harder queries, keep Everything for the fast ones.
Download: fileseek.ca
Bottom line: The pick when your queries are regex-shaped.
Agent Ransack: content plus filename
Agent Ransack searches both filenames and file contents, with a results pane that previews matching lines from each hit. Network share friendly. Free for personal and commercial use, which is unusual.
Where it falls short: No MFT-style instant search; scans take seconds-to-minutes on large directories. UI is dated.
Pricing: Free.
vs Everything: Adds content search and result previews, in exchange for slower queries.
Migrating from Everything: Add to your toolkit for content-aware searches.
Download: mythicsoft.com
Bottom line: A reliable free pick for occasional content searches without subscription pressure.
UltraSearch: modern Everything-style
UltraSearch from Jam Software uses the NTFS master file table the same way Everything does, so basic filename queries are instant. The interface is more modern than Everything’s, and the Pro tier adds content search across documents, archives, and emails.
Where it falls short: Free tier covers filename only; content search is paid. Windows-only.
Pricing: Free for filename search. Pro is a one-time license that adds content indexing.
vs Everything: Same speed on filename search, plus content as an upgrade path.
Migrating from Everything: Install, disable Everything’s startup.
Download: jam-software.com
Bottom line: The pick if you want Everything’s speed with a modern shell and an optional content upgrade.
How to choose
Pick Listary if your workflow lives inside file dialogs and Save As windows.
Pick Wox if you want a keyboard launcher and file search is a side benefit.
Pick Recoll if your real problem is finding text inside documents rather than finding documents by name.
Pick FileSeek if your queries are regex-shaped and you need network-share support.
Pick UltraSearch if you want Everything’s NTFS speed with a more modern interface and an upgrade path to content search.
Stay on Everything if filename search on a single Windows NTFS machine is genuinely all you need. There is nothing faster for that exact job.
FAQ
Why is Everything so fast in the first place? On NTFS, the master file table holds a full list of every file on the volume. Everything reads that list directly at startup, which takes a couple of seconds, then watches for changes. Conventional indexers walk the filesystem, which is orders of magnitude slower.
Is there an Everything for Mac or Linux? No direct equivalent uses the same approach because macOS and Linux filesystems do not expose an equivalent global file table. The closest experiences are Spotlight on macOS (built-in) and tools like fzf, fd, or Albert on Linux. For content search across all three platforms, Recoll is the closest cross-platform Everything-shaped tool.
Can these alternatives search file contents like Word documents and PDFs? Recoll, DocFetcher, FileSeek, Agent Ransack, and UltraSearch’s Pro tier can. They parse common formats (Office, PDF, OpenDocument, HTML, EPUB) and index the text.
Will any of these work on a network drive? Listary, Wox, FileSeek, and Agent Ransack handle mapped network drives without trouble. Everything itself can index UNC paths but requires either the Everything service on the remote machine or a slower fallback.
Are any of these completely free for commercial use? Wox, Recoll, DocFetcher, and Agent Ransack are free for any use. Listary, FileSeek, and UltraSearch have paid tiers for advanced features or commercial licenses.
