# Please suggest an App for Windows 10/11 that's similar to Dir in a cmd window **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311 "2026-02-02T17:30:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/1 "2026-02-02T17:30:30Z")
I find Search completely unusable. i misplaced a file. I knew the filename included several words and specifically included the word Alice. I opened Explorer, entered Alice in Search. it took almost 15 minutes. 🤬 🤬 i was literally shaking with Anger. i made myself a little sick for the next hour. My SO checked my BP with a cuff twice. scary stuff. I can’t risk a stroke because of a damn computer. a dir ===_Alice_.\*=== in a cmd window would find that file in under 10 seconds ( **can’t type a proper wildcard. discourse sees it as formatting a word** ) i won’t comment further on the Winblows Jism Search command. is there a handy directory App for Windows that facilitates various string searches in filenames? the question mark wildcards one character. dir \*Alice??.doc would find Alice23.doc, Aliceaw.doc **but wouldn’t find** Alice.doc or Alice023.doc a app could do that and make it easier for newbies that never learned DOS. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/2 "2026-02-02T17:39:23Z")
You can try Everything: [https://www.voidtools.com/](https://www.voidtools.com/) It’s a GUI though, not a CLI. The speed of it comes down to how indexing is handled (or not). The folder you were trying to search through in Explorer… was it in a custom folder and not under the standard Documents or such? If the folder is indexed, a filename search should take less than a second, not multiple seconds and certainly not 15 minutes. You can configure the Windows search index to be “enhanced” and cover the whole drive, as opposed to select folders: [Search indexing in Windows - Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/search-indexing-in-windows-da061c83-af6b-095c-0f7a-4dfecda4d15a) Or just try Everything, which builds its own index in just a few seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/3 "2026-02-02T17:45:18Z")
And oh, actually, it does have a CLI too: [Command Line Interface - voidtools](https://www.voidtools.com/support/everything/command_line_interface/) And either the GUI or CLI supports wildcards: [Searching - voidtools](https://www.voidtools.com/support/everything/searching/) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/4 "2026-02-02T17:54:18Z")
Since I have cygwin installed, I would just type the Linux command ``` find . -name '*Alice*' ``` You’d need to have an enormous number of files for that to take more than a couple of seconds. Other options besides installing cygwin are installing WSL, which is another way to use Linux tools on Windows, or use the Windows PowerShell. In the latter case, the syntax would be ``` gci -r -fi '*Alice*' ``` ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/5 "2026-02-02T17:57:56Z")
Using Linux for something like this is a bit overkill though, unless you’re already familiar with it and prefer it. Otherwise, there are plenty of native Windows search utils available, both CLI and GUI. Besides, their performance still depends on indexing. On Windows that can mean (among other things) being able to read NTFS metadata tables or hooking into the Windows search index. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/6 "2026-02-02T18:00:36Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > it took almost 15 minutes. 🤬 🤬 I just thought of something… does this computer still have a mechanical spinning hard drive, not a SSD? If so, that would make both searching and indexing quite slow. Indexed searches would still be fast after the indexing is complete, but that initial indexing might take minutes instead of seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/7 "2026-02-02T18:07:38Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > ( **can’t type a proper wildcard. discourse sees it as formatting a word** ) And as for this, use `blahblah` to format as code. That ` is the backtick, the key shared with the tilde left of the number 1. Or you can use backlash \ to “escape” the normal functionality of a character, like `\*` ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/8 "2026-02-02T18:09:34Z")
A few tips that might help, using the command-line window (CLI). The “dir” command with the “/s” switch (to include subdirectories) can quickly find files matching a wildcard specification on any given drive. Or, `dir x: *.* /s > filename.txt` will pipe the full directory of any drive to the file “filename.txt” which can then be searched with a text editor. The “where” command (type “where /?” for help) is a newer way to locate files. The “find” command locates files that contain a specified text string. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/9 "2026-02-02T18:10:15Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > The speed of it comes down to how indexing is handled (or not). The folder you were trying to search through in Explorer… was it in a custom folder and not under the standard Documents or such? I use Custom folders because I know they are stored on the local hard drive. IIRC The Windows Desktop, Music, Videos, Pictures, and Documents folders are managed by One Drive and in the Microsoft cloud. I prefer that Microsoft doesn’t have access to my files. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/10 "2026-02-02T18:11:33Z")
That’s all fine, but you can still make search much faster for them by indexing them. PS you can also disable and uninstall Onedrive completely if you don’t use it. I hate that thing and don’t use it either. Makes my folders “normal” again. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/11 "2026-02-02T18:14:16Z")
I’ll research adding indexing to Search. That would be very useful. i only have a 110 Gb drive. That’s tiny in todays TB world. i rely on pCloud for storage. my local hard drive only has project I’m working om. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/12 "2026-02-02T18:19:13Z")
Is it a mechanical hard drive or a SSD though? As for indexing, if you want something fast and easy, try that Everything app. It only indexes filenames (not contents) and it does so very quickly, a million files a minute or something like that. The default Windows index is a full text (file contents) search, I believe, and will typically take several hours to build, especially on a mechanical hard drive. Once indexed, though, either tool should be very fast. In case it wasn’t clear, indexing is a one-time operation that, well, indexes the files on your disk in one central, fast database. It’s a similar idea to a library index, where you have a list of book titles in a single database that can easily be scanned, instead of having to walk through all the aisles every time you want to find a book. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/13 "2026-02-02T18:25:10Z")
Drive properties reports SanDisk SDSSDA120G ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/14 "2026-02-02T18:25:27Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > The default Windows index is a full text (file contents) search, I believe, and will typically take several hours to build, especially on a mechanical hard drive. My own preference (and this is just a preference) is to always turn off indexing on all drives. I prefer to avoid the overhead and on the rare occasions when I need to do a search it doesn’t normally take very long anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/15 "2026-02-02T18:27:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > SanDisk SDSSDA120G That looks like an SD card you might have attached, not your primary drive? Anyway, it doesn’t really matter unless you were considering an upgrade anyway. Bang for buck, if you did have an older mechanical drive, a SSD would be the biggest upgrade you can get (both for searching and for general everyday use). ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/16 "2026-02-02T18:28:37Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I prefer to avoid the overhead and on the rare occasions when I need to do a search it doesn’t normally take very long anyway. I think on a recent enough computer with a fast SSD it won’t matter much. On older, slower computers, though, indexing can make a huge difference… it can turn an unindexed 15 minute search into a sub-second response. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/17 "2026-02-02T18:31:02Z")
i’m on This PC, local C:, properties, Hardware It’s a Dell Latitude that I bought used on Ebay. probably 2017 or 2018 build Windows 10 Not elgible to update to Win 11 I’ll fix the Search Indexing and then try another Search ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/18 "2026-02-02T18:37:23Z")
Just install the Everything; it will find your file as fast as you can type the string to search for. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/19 "2026-02-02T18:39:18Z")
Will, install and try 4 sure. Much thanks @DPRK and others that responded ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311/20 "2026-02-02T18:41:31Z")
Not adding anything to the discussion with this but I also recommend Everything. It’s simple and good. It does not search external drives, OneDrive, etc. by default so you need to add those in Tools\>Options > [@Reply](#): > > As for indexing, if you want something fast and easy, try that Everything app. It only indexes filenames (not contents) and it does so very quickly, a million files a minute or something like that. It doesn’t index contents, but you can search for them. Use the content:keyword format (or GUI Search\>Advanced Search\>A word or phrase in the file: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-an-app-for-windows-10-11-thats-similar-to-dir-in-a-cmd-window/1027311.md?page=2)