Genealogy Tool of the Month: Everything Search

Have you ever searched folder after folder looking for a genealogy file that you know is on your computer?

You remember part of the ancestor’s name. Maybe you remember that it was a census record. You might even remember approximately when you downloaded it. But you cannot remember where you saved it.

This is where a small program called Everything Search can be extremely useful.

Everything, created by Voidtools, is a filename search program for Windows. Rather than waiting for you to browse through folders one at a time, it creates an index of file and folder names and lets you search them very quickly. Voidtools describes the program as offering quick filename indexing, fast searching, minimal resource use, and real-time updating.

For genealogists with years of digital research stored on their computers, that can be enormously helpful.

Why Genealogists Might Find It Useful

Imagine that you are looking for something connected to your Chagnon family. You open Everything and type: Chagnon

Almost immediately, you can see files and folders containing Chagnon in the name.

There may be photographs, Word documents, PDFs, scanned records, research notes, and entire folders that you had forgotten existed.

You can also search using only part of a filename. Everything is designed to display matching files as you type, so you don’t necessarily need to remember the complete name.

That is especially useful when your genealogy files have accumulated over many years.

You Don’t Have to Remember the Folder

This may be the feature I find most useful from a genealogy perspective.

Normally, when we search manually, we need some idea where a file might be located.

Was it in: Genealogy → Chagnon → Vital Records?

Or: Family History → Documents → Birth Certificates?

Or perhaps: Downloads?

With Everything, you can begin with the filename instead of the folder.

If the ancestor’s surname is in the filename, that may be enough to locate the record.This is another reason why descriptive genealogy file names are so valuable.

A document called: 1905_Chagnon_Marriage_Record.pdf is much easier to rediscover than one called: document437.pdf.

A good search tool and a good file-naming system work together.

Search for Types of Genealogy Files

You can also narrow searches when you have many results.

For example, perhaps you remember that you saved a photograph connected to the Kent family.

Searching: Kent might return dozens of items. But Everything provides search filters for categories including pictures, documents, audio, video, folders, and compressed files. Its search syntax also supports terms such as pic: and doc: for narrowing results.

You do not need to learn advanced search commands when you first begin using the program. A simple surname or keyword search may be all you need.

As you become more comfortable, however, those additional search tools can help when you have a very large genealogy collection.

It Can Help You Discover What You Already Have

This is where Everything becomes more than a way to locate one missing file.

Try searching for one of your major family surnames. Look at the results. You may be surprised.

You might discover:

• records stored outside your regular genealogy folders,
• old research notes you had forgotten,
• several versions of the same photograph,
• duplicate census records,
• documents still sitting in Downloads, or
• family material you haven’t looked at in years.

In other words, searching can become part of the organization process.

Before deciding how to reorganize your genealogy collection, it helps to know what is actually there.

What Everything Does and Doesn’t Do

Everything is primarily designed to locate files and folders by their names. That distinction is important. It does not replace your genealogy software. It does not analyze your family tree. It does not determine whether a record belongs to your ancestor. And it does not magically fix an unclear filename.

If you saved a death certificate as scan0027.jpg, searching for your ancestor’s surname will not necessarily find it unless that surname appears elsewhere in the indexed information. That is why organization still matters.

Everything helps you search what you have. Good file names help make those searches meaningful.

Getting Started

Everything is available from Voidtools for Windows and can be installed normally or run as a portable version. The developer currently offers a stable 1.4 release as well as a separate 1.5 beta version. For most readers who simply want to try the program, I would recommend beginning with the regular stable installer rather than the beta version.

Once the program has indexed your files, using it can be as simple as typing an ancestor’s surname into the search box.

Start with a surname you research frequently. Then try a location. A year. A record type. Or a word you remember from the filename. You may find something you haven’t seen in years.

A Tool Doesn’t Replace Organization

There is an important lesson here.

Better search tools can help us locate our genealogy research, but they should not become an excuse to ignore organization altogether. Instead, use the files you rediscover as an opportunity.

When you find an oddly named photograph, rename it. When you locate a record sitting in Downloads, move it. When you discover three identical copies, decide which ones you really need.

Little by little, searching and organizing can work together. Because preserving family history isn’t just about collecting more records.

It is also about being able to find the records we already have—and making sure the next person can find them too.

You might want to also check out: https://ancestryseeking.com/why-your-genealogy-files-are-hard-to-find/