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 administratorNo 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:
C:\Users\pablo\go\pkg\mod\*
C:\Users\pablo\go\pkg\sumdb\*
*\node_modules\*
*\.git\*
*\__pycache__\*
*\.venv\*
*\venv\*
*\target\*
*\dist\*
*\build\*
If you want a more conservative version, start with only:
C:\Users\pablo\go\pkg\mod\*
C:\Users\pablo\go\pkg\sumdb\*
*\node_modules\*
*\.git\*
The Go module cache is a common offender. Folders like:
C:\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.