Download Download EverythingPowerToys Free

With every update, Microsoft’s flagship operating system enhances its range of features to better suit users’ needs by improving existing functionality or enabling additional functionality without the need for third-party applications. However, since there’s always a balance to be struck between a bloated operating system and a janky one, some of these features can be completely optional for power users who may need them.

This philosophy led to the creation of PowerToys, a valuable set of utilities also used through programs such as All power toys

Despite improvements over the years, one key part of Windows still seems to lag behind user expectations: the system search functionality. In order to provide users with the items they expect to find in a seemingly endless sea of ​​subfolders, the storage device must be indexed, which can take quite a while when the system inevitably updates its database.

To solve this specific problem, third-party developers have created custom programs that utilize the NTFS Master File Table database, which already stores the titles of all items present on the computer, in order to output results faster. While Microsoft was hesitant to adopt this approach for security reasons, popular programs like Everything managed to meet users’ pressing need to retrieve the correct items. Through PowerToys’ Run module, one can initialize an input box overlaid on top of the currently running program to perform various tasks, which is enhanced with plug-ins at hand.

Once downloaded, place the archive contents into the PowerToys Run plug-in subfolder in the modules directory and then restart the program. You can press the @ key followed by the name of the project you want to search for as long as Everything is running in the background. Thanks to its keyboard-centric workflow, users can switch between multiple options that open the containing folder of the selected file, run it as administrator, and copy its path, all from the Run input box, speeding up interactions and allowing you to continue working without any action. Switch between other open windows to do this.

If you’ve always wanted to combine the search capabilities of Everything with the speed and convenience of PowerToys’ comprehensive run commands, EverythingPowerToys might be the right tool for the job, allowing you to access anything you want from the comfort of an overlaid input text box. document.