FSearch

What is FSearch?

FSearch is a GTK‑based utility that mimics the instant‑search feel of the Windows program Everything. First released several years ago, it has reached a stable 0.3.x series and is packaged in major distros like Arch and Debian, showing solid community support. Its development continues under the GPL‑2.0‑or‑later license, so you can expect updates and bug fixes.

The program is aimed at users who need to locate files quickly without opening a terminal. It works well for both power users who rely on regular expressions and casual users who just type a few letters. The interface is minimal: a single window with a search bar and a live‑updating result list.

Compared with Everything, FSearch lacks deep system integration due to Flatpak sandboxing, meaning it may miss files outside its allowed scope. Still, its responsiveness and filtering options make it a practical replacement for most desktop workflows, especially on GNOME or other GTK environments.

Best for: Users who want an Everything‑like instant search on Linux without paying for proprietary software.

Key features of FSearch

• Instant search results as you type
• Case‑insensitive matching
• Regular expression support
• Wildcard and filter options (e.g., audio only)
• Exclude specific folders or patterns
• Sortable columns: name, path, size, date, extension
• GTK‑based UI with dark/light themes

Tips for Windows users

When moving from Everything, remember that FSearch does not index the whole filesystem by default; you may need to add folders to its search path manually. Keyboard shortcuts are similar – start typing in the main window to begin searching, and use Enter to open the selected file. If you use the Flatpak, adjust its permissions (e.g., via Flatseal) to grant access to the directories you need to search.

Recent releases

• 0.3.2 — September 20, 2026

  - Fix crash when the filesystem monitor received events for unknown watches (e.g. after aborted scans or removed folders) - Fix possible crash and removal of unrelated entries when folders are removed from the database - Fix implicit AND placement in search…

• 0.3.1 — July 17, 2026

  - Fix blocking UI when loading icons - Fix option 'action after file open' not getting saved - Remove duplicate language to fix build on newer gettext versions

• 0.3 — July 11, 2026

  - DB rewrite - DB: Add support for filesystem monitoring - DB: Allow files and folders to be excluded based on fixed patterns, wildcards or regular expressions - DB: Allow included folders to be scheduled and scanned after launch independently - DB: Make…

• 0.2 — August 15, 2022

  - New search engine - Greatly improved highlighting of search terms - Custom filters - Improved sort performance - Improved scroll performance - Remember file selection after a database update - Automatically scroll the result list in rubberband selection…