Alternatives to FSearch

Find Linux files quickly through an indexed desktop search. 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 FSearch.

  • Everything

    A free Windows search tool from voidtools that finds files and folders by name instantly.

    FreeProprietaryWindowsCommand line

    Everything offers instant filename search with real-time NTFS updates, a CLI and an SDK, but it runs on Windows only and is closed source.

  • Recoll

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

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Recoll moves from filename search to full-text indexing of documents and mail on Linux, Windows and macOS, relying on external helpers for some formats.

  • DocFetcher

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

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    DocFetcher indexes the text inside documents and archives across Windows, macOS and Linux, but indexing is slow and the Java interface is dated.

  • plocate

    A locate replacement that finds files by name in milliseconds using a trigram posting-list index.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxCommand line

    plocate is a command-line locate replacement with a compact trigram index, trading FSearch's graphical interface for terminal lookups on Linux.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.