Why is Everything so fast at filename search?

It reads the list of files that an NTFS drive already keeps for itself, instead of going through folders one at a time, so a single read covers the whole drive. It then watches for changes to stay up to date. That is also why it searches names rather than contents: the list holds names, sizes and dates, and nothing from inside the files.

Does Hefty Search do filename search as well as content search?

Yes. File names and folder paths are recorded alongside the contents and matched as ordinary text, so typing 4021 finds IMG_4021.HEIC, and typing invoice finds both files named that way and files with the word inside them. Short pieces like Q1 are covered too, and a match on a whole word ranks above one that only sits inside a longer word.

Can Everything search inside files?

It can, but that is not what it is built for. Searching inside files falls outside the fast method it uses for names, so it reads the files at the moment you search, unless you set it up to index the contents of particular folders. It also only finds text, so photos, video and audio stay out of reach.

What should I use to search the contents of documents?

For a one-off search of a folder you can point at, something like Agent Ransack reads the files directly and needs no setup. If you search the same documents often, a tool that builds an index first, such as DocFetcher or a properly set up Windows Search, is quicker after the first run.

How do I search photos and videos by what is in them?

That needs software that records what is inside the file rather than just its name. Hefty Search does this on your own computer for photos, video, audio and documents, so you can describe what you remember instead of naming the file.

Everything alternatives

Updated August 2026

Everything, made by voidtools, is free, small, and searches file names across a whole drive with almost no setup. If you know part of the name you are looking for, it does that job well.

Most people who go looking for an alternative have run into a different problem: they cannot remember the name at all. This page sorts the main Windows search tools by what each one can actually find. All five tools below are Windows-only; if you are on a Mac, the Spotlight guide covers the same ground for that side.

Why Everything is fast

Most search tools walk through your folders one at a time and write down what they find. Everything skips that step. On an NTFS drive it reads the list of files that the drive already keeps for itself, so one read covers the whole drive. After that it watches for changes, so new files show up straight away.

That is why it can list a million files in a couple of seconds and barely use any memory. It is also why it searches names and not contents. The list it reads holds names, sizes and dates. It does not hold anything from inside the files.

Worth checking before you blame the tool: this fast method only works on NTFS drives. If your files sit on an external drive formatted as exFAT, or on a network share, gaps in the results may be down to the drive rather than the software.

Three kinds of search

"Search my files" covers three different problems. They need different tools, and it is easy to move from one to the next without noticing.

You remember the name, or part of it. This is name search.
You remember a sentence inside a document. This is text search. The tool has to open files and read them.
You remember what the file showed or said. A photo of a receipt. A video of a talk. A voice note about a deadline. There is no text anywhere to match.

Which tool for which kind

Tool	Finds	Stops short when
Everything	File names, across whole drives, instantly and free	You cannot remember the name, or the file never had a useful one
Listary	File names, from a search bar and inside Open and Save windows	Same limit: names, not contents
Agent Ransack	Text inside files in a folder you point it at, with no setup first	You search the same large folder often, since it rereads the files each time
DocFetcher	Text inside documents, using an index it builds, free and open source	Photos, video and audio, none of which it reads
Windows Search	File names, and text inside documents once it is set up properly	Out of the box it skips most of your drive, and it cannot read photos or video
Hefty Search	Names, folder paths and contents together, including what a photo shows and what was said out loud	You want every single match on a drive listed at once, rather than the closest ones

For the second kind of search, the question is how often you come back to it. Once in a while, use something like Agent Ransack that reads the files directly and needs no setup. Every day, build an index with DocFetcher or set up Windows Search properly, and take the one-time wait.

When the file has no words in it

Open your Pictures folder and look at the names. IMG_4021.HEIC. Screenshot 2026-03-14 at 11.42.08.png. PXL_20260612_183344.mp4.

Now try to find the photo you took of a parking sign so you would remember where you left the car. There is nothing to type. The name is a timestamp. The photo has no tags, because nobody tags twelve thousand photos. The only thing you remember is the picture itself.

Every tool in the table matches text, so none of them can find it. This is not something Everything is missing. No name or text search can do it.

Finding those files needs an index built from what is inside them: what a photo shows, what someone said in a recording, what appears at a given point in a video. Once that exists, you can search by describing the file instead of naming it.

Name search still works

A fair worry about this kind of search is that you give up plain name lookup to get it. You do not. Hefty Search puts file names and folder paths in the same index as the contents, and matches them as ordinary text.

Type 4021 and you get IMG_4021.HEIC. Type invoice and you get every file with "invoice" in its name, along with the files that have the word inside them. Short pieces like Q1 or AI are covered too, which a lot of search tools drop. A match on a whole word is ranked above a match that just happens to sit inside a longer word, so searching for cat does not fill the page with files about education.

The real difference from Everything is what comes back. Everything lists every file on the drive that matches, and lets you narrow it down as you type. That is what you want when you are checking over a drive, or tracking down every copy of a file type. Hefty gives you the closest matches in order instead, because it is weighing names and contents against each other. If you want all forty thousand JPEGs on a disk in one flat list, Everything is the better fit.

One more difference worth knowing about. Everything uses the list the drive already keeps, so a new drive is searchable within seconds. Hefty builds its own index first, which takes time on the first run, and it covers the folders you choose rather than every drive on the machine.

One search box for all three

Hefty Search indexes the names, paths and contents of your photos, videos, audio and documents, on your own computer. Type part of a file name and it works like a name search. Describe what you remember and it finds the picture, the scene, or the line someone said. You can also drop in an image and get every similar one back.

All of it runs on your own machine. No cloud, no account, no tracking, and it keeps working without internet. Your folders stay where they are, and nothing is moved, renamed or copied.

Try it free for 7 days Windows 10 & 11 · macOS · No account · Works offline

Everything, Listary, Agent Ransack, DocFetcher and Windows Search are trademarks of their respective owners. We are not affiliated with any of them. Comparisons above reflect our own testing as of August 2026 and may not match a later version.