Microsoft already constructed a greater Windows Search; it simply forgot to place it in Windows

Windows Search is one Windows characteristic that I can by no means suggest to anybody. It’s painfully gradual, inaccurate, and recommends every little thing beneath the solar besides what you want. I’ve principally tried to replace Windows Search with Listary, which I am unable to suggest sufficient due to how briskly it will probably discover your recordsdata.

However, when you already use EnergyToys, you may need one thing even higher than Windows Search already put in. Command Palette is a PowerToys app that does what I all the time wished Windows Search to do. It can discover recordsdata, apps, and settings, and do all of it with out you ever leaving your keyboard.

Command Palette is what Windows Search ought to have been

A keyboard-first launcher that finds every little thing immediately

Command Palette is, at its core, an app launcher. Much like Flow Launcher, Listary, and Raycast, which is now also available for Windows, Command Palette is a keyboard-first launcher that you could activate with a shortcut after which begin typing. If you do not have EnergyToys but, obtain it from the Microsoft Store, launch the app, then beneath System Tools, choose Command Palette and toggle the Enable Command Palette change.

By default, you’ll be able to press Win + Alt + Space to open the launcher. Once it is open, begin typing. If you need to launch Obsidian, kind “Obsidian” and press Enter. But what makes it higher than Windows Search is how properly it handles partial matches. Type “obs” and select Obsidian from the checklist. The subsequent time you kind “obs,” it remembers and accurately suggests the identical app as the primary outcome. Windows Search, then again, would in all probability present you a Bing outcome about obsidian rocks.

The file search can also be quick. Type a filename and outcomes seem nearly immediately. So, no extra random internet solutions blended in together with your precise recordsdata.

Command Palette can do greater than search

Bookmarks, previews, and fast actions make it an actual software

Finding apps and recordsdata is beneficial, however Command Palette can do an entire lot extra. You can save any file path or URL as a bookmark, which turns it right into a named command you’ll be able to open like an app. I’ve bookmarked my Downloads folder and some undertaking directories so I can get to them in two keystrokes as a substitute of clicking by File Explorer.

Each search outcome additionally comes with actions hooked up. The backside bar reveals choices like Open hyperlink and Copy URL, and urgent Ctrl + Ok opens a menu with each out there motion for the chosen merchandise. So you’ll be able to copy a file path or open a folder with out ever launching the file itself.

There’s additionally a preview pane on the appropriate aspect of the palette. Select a outcome, and you’ll see its particulars in a Markdown pane with out leaving the palette window. This is beneficial if you’re wanting by an inventory of recordsdata and wish to verify which one you need earlier than opening it. You may even maintain typing to filter outcomes additional, and the filtering is quick.

You may pin any command to the palette’s most important display screen, so it is there the second you open it. If there is a folder or a software you open ten occasions a day, pinning it saves even these few seconds of typing.

The Dock places your favourite instructions on display screen

A toolbar for the instructions you employ day by day

Command Palette now comes with a Dock, a toolbar that stays anchored to the sting of your display screen and holds the instructions you employ most. It’s off by default, however you’ll be able to flip it on from settings and toggle Enable Dock. You can park it on the highest, backside, left, or proper edge, and set it to auto-hide if you do not need it on display screen on a regular basis.

The Dock is cut up into three areas, Start, Center, and End, very similar to a taskbar. The lightning icon on the left opens Command Palette with a click on, so you do not all the time want the keyboard shortcut. Pinning one thing is simple: right-click any command within the palette and choose Pin to Dock. For extra management, right-click an empty spot on the Dock, select Edit Dock, click on the + button within the area you need, choose a command, and hit Save. You may drag objects round to reorder them.

Dock may present dwell info. The built-in efficiency bands show CPU, reminiscence, GPU, disk, community, and battery stats, which saves you a visit to Task Manager for a fast test. More importantly, when you have a couple of monitor, every display screen will get its personal Dock with its personal set of pinned objects.

It will not substitute your taskbar, although. The Dock would not present your open home windows, so you continue to want the taskbar to modify between apps. As my colleague discovered when she moved half her taskbar to the PowerToys Dock, it really works finest as a associate to the taskbar, dealing with fast stats and every day apps whereas the taskbar handles every little thing else.

Extensions to reinforce the performance

Add GitHub, Mastodon, and extra with out leaving the palette

If you might be nonetheless not impressed, the extensions help may change your thoughts. Command Palette allows you to set up extensions so as to add further performance. It does include a couple of extensions put in out of the field (you’ll be able to see them in Settings > Extensions), however extra will be discovered on the Microsoft Store or Winget. To set up extensions, kind extensions, then select Microsoft Store or Winget as your supply.

For occasion, SteamPal allows you to seek for and launch Steam video games immediately from Command Palette. Other helpful extensions embody Virtual Desktop to modify between digital desktops, EverythingExt allows you to combine Everything Search with Command Palette, Git repositories to shortly discover your native git repositories, and Temp Cleaner, because the identify suggests, allows you to clear up your temp folder immediately from the Command Palette.

Extensions are additionally customizable. The GitHub extension, for example, has a “Saved GitHub queries” command. You can apply filters on GitHub, copy the URL out of your browser’s handle bar, paste it into a brand new question, give it a reputation, and pin it to the highest degree. You may even assign that saved question its personal hotkey and alias, identical to some other command.

Since the whole project is open source, anybody can construct an extension and share it. So, when you do not discover one thing you want, you’ll be able to create one your self.

Command Palette needs to be the default launcher for Windows

Microsoft is reportedly experimenting with Command Palette as an built-in characteristic for Windows 11. While it is nonetheless in testing, if executed proper, it will probably repair considered one of my long-standing gripes with Windows Search. For now, Command Palette by way of EnergyToys works simply in addition to a local app with a keyboard shortcut, and I do not discover myself reaching for Windows Search anymore.