I used to love exploring alternative Windows Shells and Explorer alternatives. As a heavy power user and PC enthusiast, I needed more than what Windows Explorer and Windows Search had to offer. I used to parade voidtool's Everything until I gradually increased my storage by magnitudes of TBs. Voidtool's Everything is amazing, don't get me wrong-- but it struggled to index my years of project data and archives once I passed around 5TB... It even corrupted its own database file a handful of times... I really was pushing Everything to its limits with my excess storage sizes.
That's when I found MasterSeeker. I decided to leave Voidtools' Everything behind for one goal-- a new file search and file manager that didn't crash and freeze up while scanning for constant file changes and indexing them. I required a replacement for Windows Search that didn't struggle with the uncountable files that I create on a day-to-day basis. I was accepting of a program that ran in the background and indexed as a Windows Service, even though it wasn't elegant and I preferred portable software.
MasterSeeker is absolutely crushing the competition for my multiple computers. The software is portable (which means it runs on any Windows PC from a USB thumbstick). I've even deployed/tested it via Google Drive/Cloud Drives. It loads the initial index faster and more consistently than the competition. It has never corrupted itself even once (unlike the competition). It's been years since I first found Everything and after switching to MasterSeeker (2 years and counting) I haven't looked back since.
WizFile - WizFile is a rapid file search utility.
Keypirinha - A lightning fast and flexible keystroke launcher for Windows. No installation required (portable).
Everything by Voidtools - Everything. Locate files and folders by name instantly. Everything. Small installation file. Clean and simple user interface.
Listary - Listary is a revolutionary search utility for Windows
UltraSearch - UltraSearch finds files and folders on local NTFS drives and provides the results in just a few seconds. UltraSearch enables you to exclude folders, files or file types from searches via an exclude filter.
Alfred - Alfred is an award-winning app for macOS which boosts your efficiency with hotkeys, keywords, text expansion and more. Search your Mac and the web, and be more productive with custom actions to control your Mac.