Best software to search files and files content on Fileserver
Posted by cloudy_cabage@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 63 comments
What solutions do you guys use to search for files and content in fileserver? Mainly for investigations.
Business_Class_8015@reddit
Voidtools everything
djDef80@reddit
I dropped that app in the far left position on my taskbar so that I can immediately call it with winkey + 1.
doubleknocktwice@reddit
What the. How did I not know this was a thing.
djDef80@reddit
🤣
Turbulent-Two-7361@reddit
omg I had no idea that was a thing. Forgive me, I'm new here; I've only been a sys admin for 14 years.
Maverick0984@reddit
Yep, me too. You're not alone. I'm 41 and use the Windows Key for shortcuts all day, every day.
djDef80@reddit
My fav hotkeys are the winkey+1,2,3 etc, just pin the few apps I need or frequently call (like cmd/powershell).
cjchico@reddit
Powertoys command pallete with the everything extension and activation key is goated.
crysisnotaverted@reddit
/thread
Nothing else compares. It yoinks the entire file table to search instead of crawling through folder structures slow as dogshit.
djmonsta@reddit
Yep this is the answer. Case closed.
sltyler1@reddit
Nothing better that I’ve seen.
iron233@reddit
This is the way
ZeroGeneral@reddit
I use FileLocator Pro for investigations / legal searches. Supports keyword searching content inside office docs, PDFs, emails nested inside PST files, etc.
cloudy_cabage@reddit (OP)
How big is the data set you are searching in? Just to get an idea if it can reliably handle our data sets
cloudy_cabage@reddit (OP)
Thanks I'll have a look
JFKinOC@reddit
X1 / x1.com … could not live without it.
jpmtg@reddit
My favorite is ncdu
Zer0circle@reddit
Agent ransack
SchmilK@reddit
Was going to say the same
WhoThenDevised@reddit
Yes, came here to give that answer.
jlaw7905@reddit
Same! Old school but it works well.
Ark161@reddit
1800.00 USD enterprise wide license for wiztree if you are a windows house. That thing is stupid fast.
boyrok@reddit
wizfile and wiztree portable
sambodia85@reddit
I find smf by funk.eu is great for some tasks.
Mostly because it uses a SQLite database, so I can take a listing and analyse it offline in SQLite Studio.
sysacc@reddit
Directory Opus or PowerShell
Tall-Introduction414@reddit
You have an Amiga server? dope. :)
clubfungus@reddit
Usually I just use Voidtools Everything.
But sometimes I need a different kind of search, and then I use FileSeek. There are free and paid versions. I've only ever needed the free version.
zetaworx@reddit
We have the following Jam Software products in use at a customer site: - SpaceObServer as Central File Index and Indexer running at Midnight - UltraSearch as the EndUser Frontend for SpaceObServer
Very fast. Pricing is OK. German Customer Service is responsive. They provide a 45 day trial.
cloudy_cabage@reddit (OP)
Thanks I'll have a look
Frothyleet@reddit
What kind of investigations? eDiscovery? There are some very powerful and expensive tools out there dedicated to that purpose.
cloudy_cabage@reddit (OP)
Yeah investigations mostly
justKindaCool@reddit
Try LocalSynapse
headcrap@reddit
Former regime decided to use the crawler from SharePoint 2019.
I keep bringing up that jank and most all sites have been migrated to SPO.. so "what's next" there...
boftr@reddit
Dngrep
Whyd0Iboth3r@reddit
I like AstroGrep on Windows. Just plain grep for linux.
RemyJe@reddit
findandgrep:)wrosecrans@reddit
Seriously, don't underestimate the classics. A lot of people assume they have intractably large problems when they honestly don't. Just because a few TB was "Big Data" that required a fancy Map Reduce cluster 20+ years ago, that doesn't mean you still need to think about every problem in hyperscale terms. You can grep through a few terabytes of files much faster than you can research and propose a fancier solution, let alone make use of it.
And I say that as somebody who has spent a lot of my career working on and around big clustered and distributed filesystems. There certainly are cases where you need complex stuff. But always start with the simple things.
Anonymo123@reddit
I use TreeSize (there is a free version) but will try some others mentioned here.
FriendlyITGuy@reddit
Not at all what the OP was referring to.
Anonymo123@reddit
"file server" to me is a server with an OS I can load apps on and scan files either local or shared. Or load said app on my PC and scan san\nas\cloud or on prem storage. Happy to learn something, so what did i miss?
FriendlyITGuy@reddit
OP is looking for a file indexing tool that can quickly find the file based on file name or contents of the file. Not something that can size out and pick large files out of the file system to see what's taking up space (which is what TreeSize does).
Ihaveasmallwang@reddit
Windows search is the best thing ever. Why would you ever want to find a replacement?
Zer0circle@reddit
It finds everything I need first go!
mishmobile@reddit
And has a cute yellow puppy to help find your files. You can also change it to a wizard. Like magic!
meatwad75892@reddit
I just search my backups. If someone is looking for "banana7854827326482387934.docx" and has zero clue where it would be, I can find current/alternate/deleted paths in 5 seconds in Cohesity.
OttoVonMonstertruck@reddit
dnGrep (for searching within text and binary files) with Everything integration (for indexed filetable searches).
J2E1@reddit
Last time I had to do something like this I used Agent Ransack
gerowen@reddit
locate grep
Tall-Introduction414@reddit
find, grep, locate. Basic Unix tools.
BigJDubya@reddit
WizTree
WhyLater@reddit
For search, you use WizFile. And it rules.
knifeproz@reddit
Second wiztree
Boedker1@reddit
Just powershell
smooth_like_a_goat@reddit
We do what we want
Fatel28@reddit
Just filenames - voidtools everything
If you need content indexed and have the ram for it, everything 1.5a does content but stores the index solely in ram so it's non persistent
If you need a persistent index, dtsearch works well but is paid
BeautifulTrade4488@reddit
sist2.
Outside-Banana4928@reddit
A43 File utility
notarealaccount223@reddit
It's 2026.
You need an LLM and MCP.
/S
bobdobalina@reddit
ripgrep
Tex-Rob@reddit
Surprised nobody has said Beyond Compare, is it no longer a thing or has it been replaced? This used to be my go to for this task.
sltyler1@reddit
Never used it beyond comparing. The Everything software is insanely good.
smooth_like_a_goat@reddit
Powershell/.NET. grep software and regex if you can't code.
jtonl@reddit
The explore agent of Claude Code.