File Minnow: a fast Everything alternative for Linux

File Minnow is an instant file search app for Linux. It works like Everything on Windows: it indexes your file and folder names once, keeps the index up to date in real time, and finds files as you type, across millions of files, in milliseconds. It is a small native app written in Rust with a compact GTK interface, a global hotkey and a tray icon.

If you have been looking for "Everything for Linux", a faster locate, or a lightweight desktop file search for Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch or openSUSE, File Minnow is built for exactly that.

Why File Minnow

• Instant results. Searches over a 1.6-million-file index typically take 10–50 ms. Results update on every keystroke.
• Real-time index. New, renamed and deleted files appear in the open results within a fraction of a second (Linux inotify). There is no hourly updatedb and no stale results.
• Light on resources. About 100 MB of memory for a 1.6-million-file index. It uses 0 % CPU when idle, has no animations, and never polls in the background.
• Familiar search syntax. AND, | (OR), ! (NOT), wildcards, ext:, size:, dm: (date modified), path:, regex:, and type filters like pic: and doc:.
• Native desktop app. It follows your GTK theme, fonts and file icons. Columns are sortable (name, path, size, date, type), and there is a type filter beside the search box.
• The right-click menu you expect. Open, Open With, Open Containing Folder, Open in Terminal, Cut/Copy (paste straight into your file manager), Rename, Move to Trash and Properties. It also shows your file manager's custom actions (Nemo actions, Thunar custom actions, Dolphin service menus, Nautilus and Caja scripts).
• Global hotkey and tray icon. Press your shortcut from anywhere and start typing. X11 is supported, and Wayland through the GlobalShortcuts portal.
• Built for keyboard use. Escape hides the window, Enter opens a file, F2 renames, Delete moves to the trash, and Ctrl+C copies the file.
• Private and local. No root, no network and no telemetry. It indexes only the folders you choose, with your own permissions.
• Command line too. Use file-minnow search 'ext:pdf invoice' in scripts, with NUL-safe output and exact Linux path bytes (non-UTF-8 names are preserved).

Install

Download (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian and others)

Get the latest .deb or portable archive from Releases, then:

sudo apt install ./file-minnow_*_amd64.deb

The .deb works on Ubuntu 22.04+, Linux Mint 21+, Debian 12+ and their derivatives. The portable .tar.gz runs on other 64-bit glibc distributions with GTK 3 (Fedora, openSUSE, Arch…).

Build from source

Install Rust (via rustup) and the GTK 3 development files:

Then build and run:

git clone https://github.com/Puddings22/File-Minnow-Linux.git
cd File-Minnow-Linux
cargo build --release --locked
./target/release/file-minnow gui --root "$HOME"

The folders you index are saved, so later starts only need file-minnow gui.

Debian package and portable archive

scripts/package.py builds a .deb (Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint) and a portable .tar.gz for other glibc-based distributions. See docs/install.md for packaging, desktop integration, autostart and the optional background service.

Using it

1. Start File Minnow and add folders with File → Add Folder… or Tools → Options → Folders (or pass --root). The status bar shows indexing progress. A large home folder takes seconds, not minutes.
2. Type. Results follow every keystroke; click a column header to sort.
3. Press the global shortcut (Ctrl+Alt+Space by default; change it in Options → Keyboard) from anywhere, type, and press Enter.

Search syntax

More in the user manual.

Keyboard

Everything vs. File Minnow: FAQ

Is there a version of Everything for Linux? voidtools Everything is Windows-only. File Minnow is an independent Linux app with the same idea: an instant filename index with Everything-style search syntax, a global hotkey and a tray icon.

How is it different from locate / plocate? locate reads a database refreshed by updatedb, often daily, so new files are missing. File Minnow watches your folders and updates instantly. It also has a desktop UI with sorting, a type filter and file actions.

Does it search inside files? No. Like Everything, it searches file and folder names and paths, which is why it is so fast.

Does it need root, or does it index the whole disk? No root. It indexes only the folders you add, with your own permissions. Pseudo filesystems (/proc, /sys, /dev, /run) are always skipped.

Which desktops does it work on? Any Linux desktop with GTK 3: Cinnamon (primary test desktop), GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce, MATE, Budgie and others. The global hotkey and the tray work on X11. On Wayland the hotkey uses the GlobalShortcuts portal where the compositor provides it, and the tray needs a StatusNotifierItem host. Window show and hide on Wayland is still being improved.

How much memory does it use? Roughly 60–70 bytes per indexed entry plus the GTK window. For 1.6 million files that is about 100 MB of index and about 170 MB for the whole app. See docs/performance.md.

Status

File Minnow is young (0.x). It is used daily on Linux Mint Cinnamon. Not yet available: file-content search, recursive folder sizes, search history and bookmarks in the UI, and network-share indexing beyond what a mounted folder offers. Bug reports and pull requests are welcome.

Development

cargo fmt --all -- --check
cargo clippy --locked --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo test --locked --all-targets
cargo build --locked --no-default-features   # CLI and daemon without GTK

Without system GTK development packages, scripts/with-gtk-sdk.sh cargo build can use an extracted SDK in .dev/gtk-sdk. The desktop integration tests run on a private X server and D-Bus session and never touch your desktop: python3 scripts/test_ui.py --xvfb /path/to/Xvfb [--tray] [--portal] [--daemon-first] and python3 scripts/test_focus.py --xvfb /path/to/Xvfb (runs Muffin inside Xvfb). See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

File Minnow is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by voidtools. "Everything" is the name of voidtools' Windows search tool. It is mentioned here only to describe what File Minnow is similar to.