I'm looking for a software able to search for files and expressions in common files types (word, excel ...), index-based, quick ....
Something like Google Desktop (RIP), any idea (free or paid) ?

Thx for any advices.

 

Hello @trz303 simple and effective:

Find your documents in Windows 10
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...c289-fae4-f5f8-6b3fdba418d2#ID0EDD=Windows_10

 

Thanks but the Windows 10 search tool does not search terms inside documents like Word or Excel ...

 

Need to test it, thanks ! But seems that file content search is not indexed so it could be pretty slow ...

 

Give times asterisk and dot and then * .docx

Microsoft Word Document:
*.doc

Documents with macros:
*.docx

Advanced Search
Windows will also help you if, for example, you are looking for an Excel spreadsheet that contains the word budget. To do this, enter the term budget in the search field, followed by a space and the expression type: =. Xlsx. Now all Excel files in which the term budget appears will be searched.

With the freeware tool Everything, you can find files and folders on your computer in a matter of seconds.
https://www.heise.de/download/product/everything-60075

 

Thanks for info, will check it ...

BTW .doc and .docx are not based on without/with macros.
.doc are Word file in a legacy version (before Office 2010) and .docx are Office 2010 and up version.
.docx could be a Word file with no macro inside.

 

Agent Ransack is pretty slick too.

 

Is your indexing set up properly? Windows Search comes with an Office indexer enabling you to search inside documents.

So: Settings > Search > Searching Windows > Advanced Indexer Settings > Advanced > File Types tab

Look for your types like .doc/.docx and make sure the filter is set to "Microsoft Office Filter" and "Index Properties and File Contents" is set.

Then you probably want to rebuild your index, so go to "Index Settings" and "Rebuild", this will take a long while so perhaps leave it running overnight or when you're not using the computer for several hours.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 22, 2021

Regardless of whether there's a better tool that will search within documents, Everything is extremely fast at indexing files and finding them when needed, I would recommend it for anybody using Windows. I'd be lost without it.

 

@phumb-reh, @Crinklebumps : thanks for your advices, much appreciated !