Searching for files in Windows 10 is an exercise in patience… followed by frustration and disappointment. Honestly, I don't know what happened to the built-in search, and at this point I don't want to know. Moreover, the problem is not exclusive to files. Windows 10 also stumbles when it comes to locating internal menus and functions, something we have confirmed even in simple tasks like changing the mouse pointer. Fortunately, we have tools like CSearcher, which brings some order to the chaos.
Maybe you think I'm a bit obsessive about this topic, but I swear I don't exaggerate. The Windows 10 search is a weak shadow compared to its previous versions. The classic response from Redmond is “let it index the files”, but that shouldn't be mandatory. User complaints have multiplied, and some developers decided to share their own solutions. One of our favorites is SearchMyFiles, created by the very NirSoft. That program requires no prior indexing, and the download doesn't exceed 140 kilobytes. In general, NirSoft software doesn't need alternatives, but if you want one anyway, here is CSearcher.
How to Search for Files in Windows 10 with CSearcher
The program presents three search modes: Simple, exact, or with regular expressions, but in our tests the simple mode worked perfectly. We can also restrict results following specific patterns, by date and time (creation, modification and/or access), size, or content based on ASCII and Unicode. In CSearcher options we find commands to limit the search depth in subfolders or the maximum number of results, and the possibility of pinning CSearcher to Windows Explorer. Finally, this search engine can save all search parameters in configuration files, and generate XML reports with the results.
In short, if you're tired of the Windows 10 search and prefer a much more robust tool without turning your hard drive into a cheese grater, you can't go wrong with CSearcher. It's free, portable, doesn't come with strange gifts, and has a perfect score on VirusTotal.
