Search within file contents?

[Just Visiting]

For example: inside Word documents, spreadsheets. text documents including CSV, PDF, and more.

[void]

To search file content, please try the content: search function.

For example, to search for the content "To be or not to be" in word documents, spreadsheets and text documents, modified this year, search for:
ext:docx;doc;xlsx;xls;txt;csv;pdf dm:thisyear content:"To be or not to be"

Note: File content is not indexed. Searching file content will be very slow.
For the best performance, combine the content: search with other search filters.

Please try the Advanced Search under the search menu and set the "A word or phrase in the file" field.
For the best performance, set as many fields in the Advanced Search as possible.

[harryray2]

For speed, you're probably better off using a Grep programme, such as Dngrep or similar, which also searches within archive files.

[horst.epp]

I miss the info that with version 1.5 content can be indexed
and therefore a fast search is possible.
Also the Everything query of the Windows index extends this.
For me its one of the best features of the new version.

[void]

Content Indexing in Everything 1.5
Searching the system index with Everything 1.5

[ChrisGreaves]

Hi Harry,

For speed, you're probably better off using a Grep programme, such as Dngrep or similar, which also searches within archive files.

Speed of program execution, maybe; possibly even probably.
But for speed of results, Everything.exe will probably still be best, because :-

(1) Before the contents of a file can be searched, you must first catch your file! And Everything seems to be faster at file-finding by name and location than anything up to and including probes that smash asteroids.

(2) The search design, syntax etc of Everything.exe gives each one of us a head-start in devising a competent search string.

Granted, if this is my first time using a computer, anything will work. But If I am certain that my "pastry" recipe is within T:\Personal\ rather than within "T:\Corporate\", and that I developed the recipe in the past twelve months right here in "Bonavista" ... then Everything,exe will give me a head start.

In terms of Content searching, Everything is competent and reducing the 404,284 object on my data partition down to

Code: Select all

ext:docx;doc;xlsx;xls;txt;csv;pdf dm:thisyear content:"pastry"

a mere 21 objects, makes for a blindingly fast Contents search of close to half a million objects!

It can (and should) be argued that other content-finding utilities have excellent file-finding syntax too, but then to prove that even one of them is faster than Everything requires some sort of proper trial to make the point.

Cheers, Chris

[NotNull]

1) Before the contents of a file can be searched, you must first catch your file! And Everything seems to be faster at file-finding by name and location than anything up to and including probes that smash asteroids.

FWIW:
dnGrep can make use of Everything to find filenames quickly, although not as fast as Everything itself [1]



[1]
Fun fact: Everything is too fast for dnGrep

as I was testing I found that the dnGrep UI was freezing during the search, and then finally refreshing when the search was done. So many files were getting processed that the status bar updates could not keep up, freezing any screen updates. I had to throttle the updates to keep up with the file processing.

(https://github.com/dnGrep/dnGrep/pull/296)

[MGadAllah]

For example, to search for the content "To be or not to be" in word documents, spreadsheets and text documents, modified this year, search for:
ext:docx;doc;xlsx;xls;txt;csv;pdf dm:thisyear content:"To be or not to be"

Hi,
Please correct me.
I've used this way, but nothing has shown in the result.
I've even tried to search for something I am sure that it does exist but still nothing is shown.
Sure I am doing something wrong.
I've just created a .txt file titled test voidtools.txt and added this line only:
voidtools forums
And saved and closed.
Then I added this to search bar:
ext:txt content:"voidtools forums"
But nothing showed.

[void]

Everything might be busy searching all txt files on your system?

Everything will show Querying... in the status bar when busy.

Please wait until Everything completes the search and the Querying status disappears.



Everything uses the system iFilter to search file content.
There might be something odd going on with your txt iFilter.

Please try the following search to avoid the iFilter and treat the file as UTF-8:

ext:txt utf8-content:"voidtools forums"

Does Everything find your file?

[MGadAllah]

ext:txt utf8-content:"voidtools forums"
Does Everything find your file?

I am afraid not.
Please advise.

[void]

Please try combining utf8content: with more filters:

For example:

Copy the txt file to your desktop and search for:

\desktop ext:txt dm:thisyear

Does this show your txt file?

-If so, please try the following content search:
\desktop ext:txt dm:thisyear content:"voidtools forums"

[NotNull]

Are you using Everything 1.5?

In Everything 1.5, when some files are content-indexed (Options > Indexes > Content), the content: function will be limited to the indexed ones.
In other words: If these txt files are not indexed and other files are, there will be no results.

To find content in these txt files in that case:

Code: Select all

\desktop   ext:txt   dm:thisyear   not-indexed:content:"voidtools forums"

[MGadAllah]

I will try your suggestions and feed you back.

Are you using Everything 1.5?

Everything 1.4.1.1024
Is it a beta version?
Please provide a link.

[NotNull]

From the voidtools home page, click In Development

2023-11-01 17_10_21-voidtools — Mozilla Firefox.png (40.51 KiB) Viewed 7923 times

Dedicated 1.5 subforum for questions and *lots* of info.