Recoll

What is Recoll?

Recoll has been around since 2001 and has grown steadily, with its latest version 1.44.1 released in July 2026. It works on Linux, macOS, and Windows, but the Linux package is the most mature and well‑maintained. The core idea is to build a local index of everything on your machine, then query it with a simple interface.

It is aimed at power users who need to find text inside PDFs, Word files, emails, and compressed archives without opening each file. The interface is straightforward: a search box, a list of results, and a preview pane.

Compared to Windows tools like Everything, Recoll is slower to build the index but offers richer search features such as regular expressions, Boolean operators, and full‑text ranking. The experience is more like a traditional desktop search than a quick‑lookup tool.

Best for: Power users who need deep, full‑text search across many document types on a Linux desktop.

Key features of Recoll

• Builds a local index of files, archives, and email attachments
• Supports most document formats (PDF, DOCX, ODT, etc.)
• Transparent decompression of archives
• Searches file names and file contents
• Boolean operators and regex support
• Preview pane for quick content view
• Can open results in native editors
• Cross‑platform (Linux, macOS, Windows)

Tips for Windows users

If you’re coming from Everything, you’ll notice Recoll takes longer to build its index but gives more precise results. Use the same file formats (PDF, DOCX, etc.); Recoll can read them out of the box. Keyboard shortcuts differ: Recoll uses Ctrl+F to focus the search bar, and you can navigate results with the arrow keys. The workflow is: index → search → preview → open in your editor. There’s no one‑click search everywhere; you must build the index first, but once built, queries are instant.

Recent releases

• 1.44.1 — July 22, 2026
• 1.44.0 — June 28, 2026
• 1.43.17 — May 12, 2026
• 1.43.16 — April 27, 2026