Indexer++ is probably the best open-source desktop files and folders search utility for Windows.
DocFetcher Alternatives
DocFetcher is described as 'Open Source desktop search application: It allows you to search the contents of files on your computer. — You can think of it as Google for your local files. The application runs on Windows, Linux and macOS, and is made available under the Eclipse Public License' and is a very popular File Search utility in the file management category. There are more than 100 alternatives to DocFetcher for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and BSD apps. The best DocFetcher alternative is Listary, which is free. Other great apps like DocFetcher are Recoll, FSearch, Agent Ransack and Cling Fuzzy Finder.
filter to find the best alternatives
DocFetcher alternatives are mainly File Search Utilities, but if you're looking for File Managers or Application Launchers you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Mac. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to DocFetcher.
Alternatives list
A user-friendly, faster, more capable grep replacement. Includes a TUI, Google-like Boolean search with AND/OR/NOT, fuzzy search, hexdumps, searches (nested) archives (zip, 7z, tar, pax, cpio), compressed files (gz, Z, bz2, lzma, xz, lz4, zstd, brotli), pdfs, docs, and...
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application type
Platforms
- Linux
- Homebrew
- MacPorts
- Termux
- BSD
- FreeBSD
- OpenBSD
- NetBSD
- Alpine Linux
- Chocolatey
- Windows
An easy-to-use, fast and efficient full-text search tool for your iPad or iPhone. Search for content in files stored on your device, in iCloud, on network folders, USB drives and memory cards.
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easySearch is the most popular iPhone & iPad alternative to DocFetcher.
- easySearch is Freemium and Proprietary
6 SeekFast alternativesSeekFast is a software tool for quick and easy text search on your computer. SeekFast can search in all Microsoft Word documents (doc), PDF, RTF and text files in a folder and its subfolders on your computer.
FileSearchEX is the no nonsense file search utility for Windows 7 and higher. It offers the simplified search interface like Windows XP yet in an updated and modern fashion. Unlike other search tools, FileSearchEX works well with limited account permissions.
Wherever you have files DeskRule can locate them. Search your hard disk, but also in mobile phones and cameras, zipfolders, FTP, OneDrive and all the other virtual shell folders.
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The Spotlight Search Metadata on your Mac is a truly remarkable thing. Given some text it is able to find all occurrences anywhere on the filesystem in the blink of an eye. At that this point your options are limited however.
Panofind allows you to find texts in more than 70 document & media formats (like PDF, Word, Excel, etc.), more formats will be added in future versions. The tool will also index the files in a variety of compressed archives.
Comments about Panofind as an Alternative to DocFetcher
- Panofind is Free and Proprietary
Productivity tool that allows to launch everything (e.g. switch the next song, connect Bluetooth device, set a timer, etc.) so you can stay focused on your current task.
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Effective File Search (EFS) is a powerful but easy to use search tool. Search any files on your computer or local network with this effective software. EFS is a real replacement for the Windows Search utility. You can save a lot of time with this excellent file search tool.
Find files fast across folders, drives, disks and machines and emails in MS Outlook, find duplicates. Attach labels, bookmarks and comments, automatic backup, synchronize, messaging. Tag Web pages while downloading. Share labels with others.
rga is a line-oriented search tool that allows you to look for a regex in a multitude of file types. rga wraps the awesome ripgrep and enables it to search in pdf, docx, sqlite, jpg, zip, tar.*, movie subtitles (mkv, mp4), etc.
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Great alternative to DocFetcher, should be at top of the list. App updated July 2023. Configurable. Adjust font size. Select directory or folder, which it indexes. Add file types. Shows results list on left, preview on right. Click on a result for the doc, pdf, whatever, to open in your default reader.