Search

Quick search

There are two quick ways to find something without leaving the folder you are in.

• Filter the current folder: just start typing while the file list has the focus, or press Ctrl+F to jump into the box Filter in …. While you type, the list only shows entries whose name contains your text. Backspace removes the last letter (with an empty filter it goes up one folder), Esc clears the filter. Only this folder is filtered, not its subfolders.
• Search everywhere: in a folder tab, press Ctrl+K or click the box Search everywhere or run a command … at the top right and start typing. A search tab opens with your text and shows results from all drives while you keep typing.

You can change both shortcuts under Settings › Keyboard shortcuts.

While a filter is typed, Space adds a space to the filter instead of opening the preview.

The search tab

A search tab searches all your drives at once. Results appear while you type, usually within a few milliseconds.

• At the top is the search box. Inside it on the right is the Natural language switch, next to it the Save search button.
• Below it, Understood as shows as chips what Tern Files made of your input, for example Type or Date. The × on a chip removes that part.
• On the left is the filter bar with Location, Type, Modified and Size. Under Location and Type, every option shows how many results it has.
• In the middle is the result list, with Sorted by above it and an action bar below it.

If you type several words, all of them must appear in the name – in any order, upper or lower case doesn't matter. Matches are highlighted. Press ↓ to move from the search box into the list.

The status bar shows which index answers and how big it is, for example Index service · 1,234,567 entries. While an index is still being built, results can be incomplete.

Filters and search syntax

Filters narrow the results down by type, size, date, folder or tag. You can click them in the filter bar or type them into the search box – it is the same thing. A click in the filter bar writes the filter into the search box, and typed filters tick the filter bar.

• ext:pdf or ext:jpg;png – file extension
• type:documents – also images, videos, audio, archives, code, folders
• size:>100mb or size:1mb..10mb – size in kb, mb, gb or tb
• modified:today, modified:week, modified:2026-03, modified:2026-01..2026-03 – also yesterday, month, year or a day like 2026-03-14
• in:Downloads – a folder of that name anywhere in the path, or a full path
• tag:Important – files with this tag
• "tax 2026" – exact phrase with a space; * and ? are wildcards for the whole name, like *.heic

In the filter bar, Week, Month and Year mean the last 7 days, month or year; a second click removes the date filter. The size boxes from and to take values like 5mb. Location lets you untick drives; it is not written into the search box. The German keywords work too (typ:, größe:, geändert:). A filter that can't be read stays a normal search word.

Search in plain language Pro

Sometimes it is easier to just ask. Switch on Natural language in the search box and type a question in English or German. Tern Files turns it into the same filter chips you could set by hand, so you always see what it understood and can correct it. The switch remembers your choice.

Examples it understands:

• invoices from march over 100 euros
• large videos from my last vacation – large means 1 GB or more for videos, and vacation looks for a folder of that name
• pdfs from yesterday, photos from 2025, movies from the last 30 days
• word documents in folder Projects, pictures in downloads, big files on drive D
• photos tagged Holiday, receipts under $20, invoices from Adobe

This works with built-in rules on every PC, without the AI model. If you switched on the local AI model, it refines the question a moment after you stop typing; if its answer doesn't fit, the rule result stays. Your question stays in the box as you typed it, and nothing leaves your PC – the page says Local AI · nothing leaves your PC. Words it doesn't understand are searched in file names.

Invoices, amounts and senders are found in the file contents. For that, switch on reading contents.

Search inside files

With Also read contents switched on, search also finds words inside documents and the amounts on invoices – for example all receipts over €100.

1. Open Settings › Search & index and switch on Also read contents.
2. Check the Shared folders: by default Documents, Downloads, Desktop and Pictures. + Add folder adds more. Contents are read only there.
3. Tern Files reads the files in the background. The page AI (local) in the settings shows the progress and how many documents are in the content index.

It reads PDFs, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX) and text files. Scans and photos (JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PDFs without a text layer) are read with the text recognition built into Windows. It recognises amounts, dates and senders. No AI model is needed, and everything stays offline. Tool folders like node_modules or .git are skipped, and files that are only online in OneDrive are never downloaded.

Then search with content:deposit or amount:>100, or just ask in plain language. Invoice also finds Rechnung, receipt and documents recognised as invoices.

Switching it off empties the content index. Clear cache on the page AI (local) makes Tern Files read everything again.

Working with results

Each result shows its name, the folder below it, Found in (Name, Content or Text in picture), the date it was last changed and its size. When you search contents, an Amount column and the Sum of the amounts appear as well.

• Sorted by: Relevance, Date, Size or Name – and Amount when you search contents.
• Enter or a double-click opens a file; a folder opens as a tab. Space shows the preview.
• Del moves the selected results to the recycle bin. F2 opens batch rename, even for results from different folders.
• Right-click offers Open, Open folder (with the file selected), Tags, Copy as path, Rename … and Move to Recycle Bin.

The action bar below the list: Copy all N to … copies all results into a folder you pick. Pack as ZIP creates an archive named after your search words and the month, for example invoice_September_2026.zip. Add tag … tags the selected results, or all of them if none is selected.

The list shows up to 500 results; the count at the top includes all of them. Copying, packing, tagging and deleting are in the history and can be undone.

Saved searches Pro

Searches you need again and again can live in the sidebar. A saved search always shows the current results – new files that match appear by themselves.

1. Set up the search: words, filters or a question.
2. Click Save search next to the search box.
3. Enter a name and click Save.

The search now appears in the sidebar under Saved searches. One click opens it as a search tab with fresh results. If you save again under the same name, the new search replaces the old one.

Words and filters are saved, the ticks under Location are not. After the trial your saved searches keep working; saving new ones needs Pro.

Index and index service

Instant search needs an index – a list of all file names on your drives. Tern Files takes the fastest source it finds, in this order:

1. Index service – reads the NTFS file table of your drives directly and follows every change. It is the fastest source: 11 ms for a search in 2 million files. Direct version only.
2. Everything – if the search tool Everything is installed and running, Tern Files asks it.
3. Index – Tern Files' own index, without administrator rights. It builds up in the background within a few minutes and then follows every change.

To set up the service, open Settings › Search & index, click Set up … next to Index service and confirm the Windows prompt. Afterwards it says Running; Remove … stops and removes it again. The service only delivers names, sizes and dates, never contents, and other users of the PC only see results in folders they may open.

On the same page you can switch drives on or off, add Excluded folders, choose Include network drives and Rebuild index. The own index leaves out the Windows folder, temp folders, the recycle bin and browser caches.

The Microsoft Store version can't set up the service. It uses Everything or its own index.