Searching apps and files is one of the most common and regular tasks of everyone using a computer. Windows by default offers Windows Search or Cortana for searching and finding items in the computer. Similarly, Apple offers a Spotlight Search feature to index files in Mac to facilitate the search. What if you want to use Mac like Spotlight Search in Windows PC? In fact, you can get more than that using PowerToys app for Windows.
Mac Spotlight Search Vs Windows Search
On Mac, you can click on the small lens icon showing on top right corner to open Spotlight Search box. Alternatively, you can also press “Command + Space” shortcut keys to open the search box. It will be a floating box showing at the center of your computer as shown below. You can type any keywords or use mathematical operations to get the results right in the search box.
On Windows, you can hover over the lens icon showing in taskbar. This will show the last three searches from your history with a search box.
When clicking on the search box, it will open the search in bigger window where you can enter the keyword and filter the results. You can find some additional options in the search results to quickly open the app in admin mode, go to source path and pint to start/taskbar.
Note: Latest Windows 11 adds Bing AI chat option along with discovered search results. You can easily disable them if they are distracting you.
Why to Use PowerToys Instead of Using Windows Search?
PowerToys is an official app from Microsoft which comes with multiple modules. You can change the key mapping, add additional split screen layouts and use an enhanced Spotlight like search. Here are some of the reasons why the default Windows Search can easily annoy users:
- On hover it will show a search box, however, clicking on it will open a bigger pop-up.
- Microsoft heavily promotes Bing web search, even for basic mathematical calculations.
- There are no additional plugins to trigger actions directly from the search box.
On other hand, you can easily trigger Mac like Spotlight search using a keyboard shortcut with PowerToys Run module.
Installing PowerToys and Enable Run Module
Go to Microsoft Store and find the PowerToys app. You can install and open the app in administrator mode like any other app on your computer. PowerToys has different modules and click on PowerToys Run module from the sidebar. Turn on “Enable PowerToys Run” option.
Setting Keyboard Shortcut to Launch Search
By default, the search works with “Alt + Space” keyboard shortcuts. If you want to change the shortcut keys, click on the pencil icon and setup your custom shortcut keys to trigger the search. The shortcut keys can be a combination of shift, alt, control, windows key with any alphanumeric keys. Make sure your custom shortcut is not overlapping with any existing system shortcuts keys like Control C.
Using Spotlight Search Box
Press Alt Space or your custom shortcut keys to open Spotlight like search. It will open a search box at the center of the screen in which you can type your keywords to find the results. For example, type edge to see the relevant search results including Microsoft Edge app.
Each search result will show additional options, you can either click on the option or trigger it with keyboard shortcut. Use up or down arrow keys or tab to select the result and click on it to open or use the following shortcut keys to trigger additional actions:
- Control + Shift + Enter to open the app in administrator mode.
- Control + Shift + E to open containing folder in File Explorer.
- Use Control + Shift + C to open the path in default console app. It will open in Command Prompt if you have set Command Prompt app as your default console app.
You can anytime press escape key to close the search box. If you also like the dock in Mac, check out our article on how to use Mac like dock in Windows PC.
Customizing PowerToys Run
Unlike default Windows Search, you have plenty of customization options to get best results from PowerToys Run.
- Choose the number of search results to show by default. You will always see the previous search when launching PowerToys Run search box which you can disable.
- You can choose the position of the search box whether you want it to appear in the monitor with the mouse cursor or where you have the focused window or always on the primary monitor.
- Select light or dark theme for the search or allow the appearance to follow Windows color settings.
Additional Plugins for Search
This is the best part of PowerToys Run which you will not get with the default Windows Search. You can enable more than 15 plugins to boost your productivity when searching in your computer.
After enabling the plugins, you can use a special key for each plugin to trigger the corresponding action when using queries in search box. Below is the summary of special keys you can use to get precise search results from PowerToys Run.
| Plugin | Purpose | Default Trigger | Syntax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calculator | Mathematical operations | = | =sin(30) |
| Folder | Navigates folder from C:\ or user’s home directory ~ | By default, included in search results | |
| Windows Search | Files and folder | ? | ?example-file |
| Program | Search only programs | . | .chrome |
| Registry Plugin | Navigate in registry editor | : | :HKEY_USERS and, press Control + Enter on any result to open it in Registry Editor |
| Service | Search Windows services | ! | !audiosrv to open Windows Audio service |
| Shell | Shell commands | > | >ping webnots.com |
| Windows System Commands | Run system commands | shutdown | |
| Time zone | Convert system time to selected time zone | & | ¢ral european |
| Unit Converter | Unit conversion | %% | %%10c to f to get temperature in Fahrenheit scale |
| URI Handler | Open URL in default browser | // | //www.webnots.com |
| Visual Studio Code Workspaces | Open workspaces, containers and remote machines | { | {powertoys |
| Web Search | Web search using default search engine | ?? | ??webnots |
| Windows Settings | Search in Windows Settings app | $ | $system |
| Windows Terminal | Terminal profiles | _ | _azure |
| Windows Walker | Show running processes to help switching between open apps | < | <chrome |
Some plugins do not need a special key which you can control over the syntax. For example, “Folder” plugin is useful for searching in specific folder which you can include in the search box like C:\ to search in C drive. However, it is also possible you can click on “Folder” plugin option and set a custom key to trigger the use in search result. Similarly, you can change the default trigger key of any activated plugins to use as per your convenient. You can include any of the plugin specific action in the global search results to get the result without using the special key.
Examples of Triggering Plugin Actions in Search
Here are some of crazy examples of searches you can do with Spotlight like search box with PowerToys Run.
Type =7! To get the factorial of 7 as 5040.
Wanted to find where the colors settings in your computer? – use this query $colors to see the results.
Simply enter &utc to get the current time in UTC.
You can convert any units, for example type %%10KJ to Cal to get the instant conversion of Kilojoules to Calories.
Fixing Indexing Warning with PowerToys Run
You can enjoy Mac like Spotlight search in Windows using PowerToys Run module. Though the possibilities of searching with PowerToys Run are unlimited, sometimes you may see an index warning as shown below.
The warning message will show you “Warning: Not all files are indexed” and click on it. This will open Windows Settings app and take you to “Privacy & security > Searching Windows” section. You can enable “Enhanced” option for “Find my files” allowing to index entire PC and use in search results. Also, scroll down to bottom of the settings and click “Advanced indexing options” link showing in “Related settings” section to include or exclude locations from search results.
This will help the seqarch function to index all files on your computer and based on your customizations, PowerToys Run app will show or hide items in search results.
Custom Spotlight Like Search Box
Some PC manufacturers also offer an in-built search option that looks like Mac Spotlight Search. For example, all Huawei laptops come with AI search which has advanced options than the default Windows search. If you are using Huawei computer, open Huawei Control Panel from taskbar system tray section. This will show list of icon and click on “AI Search” option.
Alternatively, press “Control + Alt + Q” shortcut keys to open the AI search box. This will exactly look like Spotlight Search box in macOS.
Type you query and AI will show the results like below. Select any file from the results to check its preview and find the searched keywords highlighted inside the file. You can delete, copy or share the file directly from the search results without going to File Explorer.
You can check with your computer’s manufacturer to find if there are default options available for you. Otherwise, you can also find any third-party apps with advanced AI search options instead of sticking with Windows Search with Bing AI chat.
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