Alternatives to dnGrep

Search file contents, documents and archives on Windows. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as dnGrep.

  • Agent Ransack

    Searches file contents on Windows with regular expressions and boolean queries.

    FreemiumProprietaryWindows

    Agent Ransack searches file contents on Windows with regular expressions and boolean queries without an index, but it is closed source and some features belong to FileLocator Pro.

  • FileLocator Pro

    Indexed content search for Windows with scripting and Office format support.

    PaidProprietaryWindows

    FileLocator Pro adds an optional index, Office and PDF extraction and scripting on Windows, but it is closed source and needs a paid licence per user.

  • AnyTXT Searcher

    Local full-text search across documents, PDFs, code and ebooks on Windows.

    FreeProprietaryWindows

    AnyTXT Searcher builds a local full-text index covering documents, PDFs, code and ebooks on Windows, though it is closed source and the first index takes a long time.

  • DocFetcher

    Desktop search that indexes the text inside documents, not just file names.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    DocFetcher indexes document text and archives on Windows, macOS and Linux as an open-source Java application, with a dated interface and a slow initial index.

  • Recoll

    Full-text desktop search across documents and mail, built on Xapian.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Recoll is an open-source Xapian-based full-text search for Windows, macOS and Linux that also covers mail folders, though format support depends on external helper programs.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.