my everything setup

Windows Search has improved over the years, but for finding files by name, I still do not trust it as my main tool.

My recommendation is simple: use Everything by Voidtools.

Not because it is fancy. Because it is fast, predictable, lightweight, and does the one job Windows Search often fumbles: finding files and folders immediately.

This is the setup I use/recommend after installing Everything on Windows.

1. Installation choices #

During installation, use:

• Settings and data location: %APPDATA%\Everything
• NTFS indexing: Install Everything Service

Do not choose:

• Run as administrator
• No NTFS indexing

The service is the cleaner option. It lets Everything monitor NTFS volumes properly without forcing the app itself to run as administrator all the time.

2. Installer options #

Recommended:

Option

Setting

Check for updates on startup

Off

Start Everything with Windows

On

Install folder context menus

On

Install Start Menu shortcuts

On

Desktop shortcut

Optional; I usually leave it off

Quick Launch shortcut

Off

ES URL protocol

On

Associate EFU files with Everything

On

Automatically index fixed NTFS volumes

On

The goal is to make Everything always available, but not noisy.

3. Startup search behavior #

Keep the default search mode simple.

Recommended:

Option

Setting

Match case

Off, or use last value

Match whole word

Off

Match path

Off

Match diacritics

Off

Match regex

Off

Search

Everything, or use last value

Filter

Everything, or use last value

Sort

Use last value

View

Use last value

Index

Local database

The important part: do not leave regex, whole-word matching, or path matching enabled by default.

That is how you make normal searches look broken.

Advanced search should be something you enable when needed, not something that sabotages every basic query.

4. Search settings #

Recommended:

Option

Setting

Fast ASCII search

On

Match path when search contains a path separator

On

Match whole filename when using wildcards

On

Allow literal operators

Off

Allow bracket grouping

Off

Expand environment variables

Off

Replace forward slashes with backslashes

Off

Operator precedence

OR > AND

I leave slash replacement off because I do not want the search box doing too much invisible magic. If you frequently paste Unix-style paths into Windows, then enabling it may make sense.

5. Results behavior #

This is the big one.

Turn on:

• Hide results when the search is empty

Without this, Everything opens by dumping millions of indexed objects on screen: caches, modules, dependencies, internal folders, and random junk you were not looking for.

Recommended:

Option

Setting

Hide results when search is empty

On

Clear selection when searching

On

Close window after opening item

On

Open path on double-click

Off

Auto-scroll preview

Off

Copy quotes around paths

Off

Do not select extension when renaming

On

Sort date descending first

On

Sort size descending first

On

Result list focus

Fixed

Icon loading priority

Normal

Thumbnail loading priority

Normal

Extended information loading priority

Normal

This makes Everything feel like a launcher/search tool, not a firehose.

6. Visual settings #

Recommended:

Option

Setting

Double buffering

On

Alternating row color

On

Show row under mouse

On

Highlight search terms

On

Show selected item in status bar

On

Show result count with selection count

Off

Show size in status bar

On

Show tooltips

On

Update display immediately after scrolling

Off

Size format

Automatic if available; otherwise KB

Selection rectangle

System default

These settings make long result lists easier to read without making the UI heavier than necessary.

7. Context menu #

This is mostly personal preference. It does not affect performance.

I keep:

• Open
• Open Path
• Copy Name
• Copy Path
• Copy Full Name

I usually hide or demote duplicate Explorer-style entries unless I actually use them.

Do not overthink this section. It is cosmetic.

8. History #

For a personal machine, I recommend:

Option

Setting

Enable search history

On

Keep search history for 90 days

On

Always show search suggestions

On

Enable run history

On

Keep run history for 90 days

On

But there is a privacy tradeoff.

If the machine is shared, or if you frequently search for sensitive files, turn history off. Convenience is not free; it leaves traces.

9. Index settings #

Recommended:

Option

Setting

Database location

Blank/default

Multi-user database name

Off

Compress database

Off

Index recent changes

On

Index file size

On

Index folder size

Off

Index creation date

Optional; useful for downloads, photos, and newly created files

Index modified date

On

Index accessed date

Off

Index attributes

Off

Fast size sort

On

Fast creation date sort

On if creation date is indexed

Fast modified date sort

On

Fast path sort

On

Fast extension sort

On

I do not recommend indexing folder size by default. It sounds useful, but it often adds cost without much daily value.

I also avoid accessed date. It changes for reasons that are not always meaningful and usually creates more confusion than insight.

10. NTFS settings #

At the top:

Option

Setting

Automatically include new fixed volumes

On

Automatically include new removable volumes

Off

Automatically remove offline volumes

On

For each local NTFS volume, use:

Option

Setting

Include in database

On

Include only

Blank

Enable USN Journal

On

Maximum size

32768 KB is fine

Allocation delta

Keep default/current value

Include USN Journal in recent changes

Off

Monitor changes

On

The important combo is:

• Enable USN Journal
• Monitor changes

That is what keeps Everything updated in real time.

11. Exclusions #

Do not blindly exclude hidden files or system files.

Recommended base settings:

Option

Setting

Exclude hidden files and folders

Off

Exclude system files and folders

Off

Enable exclude list

On

Why not exclude hidden/system files?

Because useful things live in places like AppData, config folders, profiles, tool directories, and application data. If you exclude too aggressively, you will eventually search for something and think Everything failed, when in reality you told it to ignore the file.

The better strategy is to exclude specific garbage.

Recommended developer-noise exclusions:

 1C:\Users\pablo\go\pkg\mod\*
 2C:\Users\pablo\go\pkg\sumdb\*
 3*\node_modules\*
 4*\.git\*
 5*\__pycache__\*
 6*\.venv\*
 7*\venv\*
 8*\target\*
 9*\dist\*
10*\build\*

If you want a more conservative version, start with only:

1C:\Users\pablo\go\pkg\mod\*
2C:\Users\pablo\go\pkg\sumdb\*
3*\node_modules\*
4*\.git\*

The Go module cache is a common offender. Folders like:

1C:\Users\pablo\go\pkg\mod\...

can flood results with dependency names that are technically valid files, but mostly useless for daily search.

Do not exclude all of AppData. That is too blunt.

Do not exclude an entire project drive unless you are absolutely sure. Exclude the noisy subfolder, not the whole drive.

Final checklist #

My recommended Everything setup:

• Store settings in %APPDATA%\Everything
• Install the Everything Service
• Start Everything with Windows
• Index fixed NTFS volumes automatically
• Keep USN Journal and change monitoring enabled
• Hide results when the search box is empty
• Keep basic search simple by default
• Enable fast sorting for size, modified date, path, and extension
• Do not exclude hidden/system folders globally
• Exclude specific developer noise: Go module cache, node_modules, .git, virtual environments, and build folders

That is the sweet spot: fast, clean, predictable, and not self-sabotaging.

Everything should help you find things, not make you stare at 10 million random objects before typing a single character.