Best Desktop Search

Google Desktop is available for the most platforms

If your computer uses a fairly new operating system, reviewers recommend checking the desktop search built into it before adding an extra one. Mac OS comes with the Finder, and Windows Vista included a better search tool than the one that comes with Windows XP. (Windows XP users can also download the newer search application, called Windows Desktop Search 4 for free). In reviews, experts say both of the built-in Mac and PC search applications work well, so you may not need anything else.

Among the major players, the field of free downloads has narrowed to Google Desktop, Copernic, Yahoo! Desktop Search and -- as noted above -- Windows Desktop Search 4. A less well-known desktop search application called Everything (also free) gets high marks for use on PCs.

The Everything desktop search engine is by far the fastest tool and it's far-reaching, able to index external drives. It can build an index in seconds -- compared with hours for more complex desktop search engines -- because it indexes only the file and folder names, not the contents. Oddly enough, most desktop search applications index files but not folder names, which some users find frustrating. Reviewers recommend Everything even if you decide to supplement it with a content-indexing search tool. Everything search works only with NTFS file systems, which is what most newer PCs use; many older PCs use FAT systems. To verify which type you have, go to "My Computer" and right click on your drive (usually "C") and click Properties; on. For more information, see our Useful Links section.

Among content-indexing desktop search engines, we see the most innovation in Google Desktop. It's available in versions for Linux and Mac as well as for PC, plus an Enterprise version for PC networks. A new Mac version, called Google Quick Search is being developed by the person who developed the popular Mac search tool, Quicksilver. Quicksilver is still available, but isn't being further developed. All these applications are free, customizable and can search the Internet as well as the user's own files.

Reviews say the latest version for Windows, Google Desktop 5.8 (free) has come a long way since its beginnings, with steady improvements. Brad Linder's March 2008 review at DownloadSquad.com compares it with Windows Desktop 4, testing both for indexing and searching speed, customization and number of files located. Linder likes the way you can set Windows Desktop 4 to search only the fixed drives you select, (which can save space in the index) and the way it automatically categorizes the results.

Google Desktop is also quite customizable and can be launched almost instantly in several ways -- for example, by double-tapping the Control key (or Command on a Mac). Each version of a file is indexed, which can be a huge help if the current version is ruined or lost and you need retrieve a previous version. An optional sidebar can be customized with miniature applications called widgets that draw current information from the Internet. The sidebar, which can be split apart and placed anywhere on your screen, can be customized to show e-mail, news, photos, weather, a scratch pad and more. Google Desktop can also search instant-message transcripts.

As noted earlier, Google Desktop can also search the web (via your default browser) and your web history. Version 3 of Copernic also integrates web searching (via Internet Explorer or Firefox). If we take into account reviews of earlier versions, Copernic is by far the most-recommended desktop search engine. Its main advantage is that it previews files in their original formatting and categorizes the results in an interface that's easy and intuitive to use. Both users and objective comparison tests agree that it's also very fast.

However, we found some complaints about the shift from version 2 to the current version 3, called Copernic Home. Copernic dropped some features from the free version -- searching a network and Outlook appointments and tasks, for example -- and now makes them available only in a paid version, Copernic Professional (*est. $50). Some users also complain that version 3 of the free version shows ads, and the Copernic site makes clear that the free version doesn't get any technical support. Copernic Professional (*est. $50) gets better reviews now than the free version.

Another paid desktop search engine, X1 Professional Client (*est. $50) has replaced the well-reviewed Yahoo! Desktop Search (which was free). It's still possible to find the free Yahoo! Desktop at some download sites, but it's no longer being developed. It was built on a basic version of X1, a desktop search application designed more for business use. Earlier reviews praised X1 for its ability to search networks and Lotus e-mail, but now Copernic Corporate (*est. $60) and Google Desktop provide these features. X1 still indexes more file types than its competitors, but reviews say that if Copernic or Google Desktop index the files you need most, they're easier to use.

E-mail indexing, as you might imagine, is crucial for desktop search. Copernic indexes Outlook e-mail as soon as it's received. You have to search from inside Copernic, but the results show a preview. The same is true for X1: it can also search inside Outlook archives, which use the PST (personal storage table) file format; many desktop search tools can't read this type of file. Both X1 and Copernic Corporate (*est. $60) index Lotus Notes and Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail.

The Enterprise version of Google Desktop (also free) can also index Lotus e-mail, and a free add-on lets Windows Desktop 4 do the same. Google Desktop 5.8 can add a search toolbar inside Outlook, but shows previews of e-mails only in the list of results from the main Google Desktop program. Windows Desktop Search 4 doesn't put a toolbar inside Outlook, but you can add one with another free download from Microsoft called Windows Live.

Both Google Desktop 5.8 and Windows Desktop Search 4 can be set up to allow for remote searches. This is handy if you work with more than one computer. Copernic Mobile (free) can also search your PC remotely from a cell phone or smartphone.