Spotlight Alternatives
Spotlight
Spotlight is the system-wide desktop search feature built into Apple's OS X operating system since version 10.4 (Tiger). Backed by an index of all items and files on the system, it's designed to allow the user to quickly locate a wide variety of items on the computer, including documents, pictures, music, applications, and System Preferences. In addition, specific words in documents and in web pages in a web browser's history or bookmarks can be searched. It also allows the user to narrow down searches with file attributes (e.g. creation dates, modification dates, sizes, types) and, as of OS X 10.9, tags. Pre-installed plugins for the New Oxford American Dictionary and Calculator applications also included in OS X allow Spotlight to define words and evaluate mathematical expressions.
Adapted from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_ (software)
Best Spotlight Alternatives
Lets compare the best apps like Spotlight, shall we? We've picked out some really great programs for your platform. Check them out!
Everything
FreeWindowsFile and folder lookup tool that searches across local, removable, and network mapped drives.
Features:
- File Searching
- Instant results
- Support for regular expressions
- Data export/import
- Exclude files and folders
- Monitor File Changes
- File management
- File Searching
- Portable
Alfred
FreemiumMaciPhoneiPadAlfred is a productivity application for macOS, which boosts your efficiency with hotkeys, keywords and text expansion. Search your Mac and the web, and control your Mac...
Features:
- Workflow Automation
- Program Launchers
- Program Launchers
- Customizable
- File Searching
- Full text search
- Launcher
Keypirinha
FreeWindowsA lightning fast and flexible keystroke launcher for Windows. No installation required (portable). Extensible with Python3 plugins.
Features:
- Customizable
- File Searching
- Lightweight
- Portable
- Program Launchers
- Calculus solving
- Configurable
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- Launcher
- Plugins
- Web searching
Quicksilver
FreeOpen SourceMacQuicksilver is a fast and free Mac OS X productivity application that gives you the power to control your Mac quickly and elegantly. Quicksilver learns your habits...
Features:
- Program Launchers
- File management
- Launcher
- Mac Apps
DocFetcher
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxDocFetcher is a portable German/English open source desktop search application. It allows you search the contents of documents on your computer. - You can think of it as...
Features:
- Search-in-files
- Indexed search
- Online Photo Editor
- Reads odt files
- File content indexing
- File Searching
- Full text search
- Portable
- Search in Archives
- Semantic Search
- Shared folders
RecentX
CommercialWindowsRecentX is an innovative launcher that gives you instant access to your files, folders, programs, websites & clipboard history. It automatically remembers your...
Features:
- Program Launchers
- Desktop Environment
- File Searching
- Bookmark History
- Clipboard monitoring
- Drag n drop
- Duplicate File Finder
- Windows Explorer integration
- File Tagging
- Folder-Search
- Folder Tagging
- Indexed search
- Local Search
- Portable
- Image Preview
- Tabbed interface
- Tag based
Albert
FreeOpen SourceLinuxOmnilauncher for Linux to help you quickly find and run apps and do other useful things.
Features:
- Firefox bookmarks
- Program Launchers
- Calculators
- Customizable
- File management
- Launcher
- Lightweight
- QT Based
CerebroApp
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxCerebro is an open source and free electron-based productivity software alternative to Alfred and Spotlight. It is focused on speed and good UI and UX. In most cases you...
Features:
- Calculus solving
- Electron based
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- Launcher
- Multiplatform Export
- Theme changing
EasyFind
FreeMacEasyFind is an alternative to (or supplement of) Spotlight to find files, folders, or contents in any file without indexing.
Features:
- File management
- File Searching
ueli
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsDeveloped with the Electron framework, ueli is the type of tool that adopts simplicity, leaving out any unnecessary options and configuration settings. It creates an...
Features:
- Program Launchers
- Launcher
- Web searching
- File Searching
- Portable
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