FileRanger Help

Find the file you know exists. FileRanger builds a fast, private index of the drives and folders you choose, so you can search your PC by name, type, size, or date in an instant. This guide covers every feature, from your first index to rounding up files and cleaning house.

1. Overview

FileRanger is a file-search app for Windows. You point it at the drives and folders you care about, it builds its own search index, and from then on you can find any file the instant you start typing — filtered by kind, size, date, and more.

What makes it different

FileRanger keeps its own local index and does not rely on Windows Search. That index lives on your machine, searches return in milliseconds, and nothing ever leaves your PC. The app runs as a normal user — it never asks for administrator rights.

What you can do

Search your indexed files by name, extension, kind, size, or date — as you type.
Stack visual filters to narrow a search down to exactly what you want.
Preview files instantly with Quick Look, without opening another app.
Gather files from different places into a File Roundup, then move or copy them all at once.
Tag, reveal, copy, or recycle files right from the results.

2. Getting started

Installing

Run the FileRanger installer and follow the prompts.
When it finishes, launch FileRanger from the Start Menu shortcut.

Tip: If Windows shows a blue “Windows protected your PC” / unknown-publisher notice while installing, that's the standard warning for software still being signed. It's safe to proceed if you got the installer from CTRL Colab — click More info → Run anyway.

No administrator prompt to run. Unlike many disk tools, FileRanger never needs elevation to search or index. It runs as your normal Windows account, which also means it only indexes files your account is allowed to read.

Your first index

A brand-new install has nothing to search yet — you tell FileRanger where to look. In the left sidebar, click Add Drive or Location, pick a folder or a whole drive, and FileRanger starts indexing it right away. See Indexing your locations for the full walkthrough.

3. Indexing your locations

The left sidebar is home base. Under the heading Indexed locations you'll see every drive and folder you've added, each with a live status line underneath.

Adding a drive or folder

Click Add Drive or Location at the top of the sidebar.
In the folder picker, choose a single folder or a whole drive (like C:\).
FileRanger adds it to the list and immediately begins indexing. A spinning ring shows on that row while it works.

A whole-drive location gets a small accent-colored Root badge next to its name, so you can tell drives apart from individual folders at a glance. Adding a location that's already listed simply re-indexes it.

Location status

The status line under each location tells you where it stands:

Status	Meaning
`Not indexed yet`	Added but never scanned.
`Ready — click Refresh`	Restored from a previous session; refresh it to pick up changes.
`Indexing…` → `12,345 files…`	A scan is running; the count climbs as files are found.
`12,345 files indexed`	Done. (Shows `(7 skipped)` if a few files couldn't be read.)
`Failed: …`	Something went wrong; the reason follows.

Refreshing & removing

The circular-arrow button beside Add Drive or Location (Refresh all) re-indexes every location, one after another.
The small remove icon at the left of a row (Remove this location) drops it from the list and purges those files from the index.

The scan progress bar

While indexing, the bottom-left of the window shows a rounded progress pill — a gray track filled in your accent color with a shine that sweeps across it. On the far right, a file count is always visible: the live count while a scan runs, or your whole-index total when idle.

First scan vs. re-scan. The first time FileRanger indexes a location it can't know the total ahead of time, so the bar just sweeps. On a re-scan, it uses the previous file count as a target and fills toward roughly 100% — an approximate progress estimate, not an exact one.

4. Searching

The search bar runs across the top of the window. While it's empty it shows a faint Search hint with a magnifying glass. Just start typing — results update as you type (after a brief pause on your last keystroke), so there's no need to press Enter.

How matching works

Typing matches files by name. It matches from the start of each word (so inv finds invoice) and also text inside a word (so voice finds invoice).
Type several words and all of them must match.
Wrap a phrase in double quotes to match it exactly as typed.

Extension shorthand. Type a dot and an extension — like .png or .docx — and FileRanger treats it as an “Extension is …” filter, showing only files of that type instead of searching for the literal text.

Before you search & result counts

Until you type something (with no filters set), the results area shows a large magnifier and the heading Search your files. Once you search, the footer reports the outcome — for example “37 shown of 210 matches · 12 ms”, or No matches. if nothing was found.

Up to 300 results are listed at a time. If a search matches more, the footer's “shown of … matches” tells you the full count — add a filter or two to zero in on what you need.

5. Filters

Filters let you narrow a search by more than just the name. Click Add file search filter to open the Add a filter panel, choose a Field and a Condition, enter a Value, and click Add filter. Each filter becomes an accent-colored chip that reads in plain language, like Kind is Image or Size greater than 5 MB.

Fields you can filter on

Field	Conditions available
Name, Extension, Kind, Path, Folder	contains, is, starts with, ends with, doesn't contain, is not
Size	greater than, less than, between, is, is not
Modified, Created	after, before, between, is
Drive	is, is not, is any of
Is folder	is

Sizes, kinds & dates

Size — type just the number in the value box and pick the unit (B, KB, MB, GB, TB) from the dropdown, e.g. “Size greater than 5 MB”. For between, enter two numbers separated by a comma.
Kind — type a category: Image, Video, Audio, Document, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Archive, Code, Project, Font, or Executable — or an actual extension like png to match that exact type.
Modified / Created — type a date such as 2026-01-01 and use after, before, between, or is.

Managing filters

Each chip has an ✕ (Remove) to delete just that filter.
The trash button next to Add file search filter (Clear filters) removes them all; it's greyed out when there are none.

The toggles above the results

Once you have results, a small row of options appears above them:

Hidden — include hidden files in results (Include hidden files). This one is remembered between sessions.
Files only — leave folders out of the results.
Multi-select — see Selecting multiple files.

Saving a search

Built a search you'll want again? Click Save search (the bookmark button at the right end of the search bar), give it a name in Save this search, and click Save. It stores your text, filters, and the Hidden setting together. Saved searches appear in the sidebar under Saved searches — click one to re-run it, or use its trash button to delete it.

6. The results list

Matches appear in the center list. Each row shows the file's icon and name, with its folder path just beneath, and a colored dot if you've tagged it. The columns are:

Column	Shows
Name	File name (with folder path below it).
Kind	Category — Image, Document, Video, and so on.
Size	File size.
Modified	Date last changed.
Drive	Which drive it's on.

Sorting

Click the Name, Kind, Size, or Modified header to sort by it — a small ▲ (ascending) or ▼ (descending) arrow marks the active column. Click the same header again to flip the direction. Size and Modified start with the largest / newest first; Name and Kind start A→Z.

By default, results are ranked by relevance — the best matches for what you typed come first, so no arrow is shown until you pick a column. (The Drive column isn't sortable.)

7. The details panel

The right-hand pane has two tabs: Details and File Roundup. On Details, select any file to see everything about it. With nothing selected it reads “Select a file to see its details.”

Actions — an accent Open button opens the file in its default app, plus buttons to Open containing folder and Copy path.
Facts — a grid of Kind, Size, Modified, Created, Type (the extension), and Drive.
Metadata — an expandable section for extra properties when they're available (accessed date, attributes like Hidden/System, and more).
Why this result — for a search hit, a short note explaining why the file matched.
Preview — a live inline preview of the file (the same engine as Quick Look).

8. Quick Look

Select a file in the results list and press Spacebar to open Quick Look — a large preview window (titled Preview) that lets you eyeball a file without opening another program.

Key	In Quick Look
`↑` `↓` or `←` `→`	Step to the previous / next file
`Spacebar`	Advance to the next file (or close, if previewing just one)
`Esc`	Close Quick Look

With Multi-select on and files checked, Quick Look cycles just the checked files; otherwise it steps through the whole results list.

What it can preview

Type	Details
Images	PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, WebP, TIFF, ICO, HEIC — plus SVG.
Documents	PDF (first pages), Illustrator `.ai` (as PDF), Photoshop `.psd`/`.psb` (embedded thumbnail).
Video	MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WebM, WMV, MPG and more, with playback controls (doesn't auto-play).
Text & code	TXT, MD, CSV, JSON, XML, HTML, CSS, JS, PY, CS, and many more (long files preview the first part).
3D models	OBJ, STL, FBX, DAE, 3DS, PLY, GLTF/GLB render in an interactive viewport.

For other formats, FileRanger falls back to the Windows thumbnail when one is available — which covers many RAW, PSD, and other formats your PC already knows how to preview. If nothing can be shown, it reads No preview available.

9. Selecting multiple files

Turn on the Multi-select checkbox above the results (its tooltip: “Select multiple files, then right-click to act on all of them”) and a checkbox appears at the start of every row. Tick the files you want, then use any right-click action or the File Roundup on all of them at once. Turning Multi-select off hides the checkboxes and clears your ticks.

Action	Result
`Ctrl` + click a row	Toggle just that row (turns Multi-select on automatically)
`Shift` + click a row	Check the whole range from the last click
`Enter`	Toggle the highlighted row's checkbox (while Multi-select is on)

Right-click follows your selection. If you right-click a file that's part of a checked selection, the action applies to every checked file. Right-click a file that isn't checked, and it applies to just that one.

10. Right-click actions

Right-click any file in the results to open its menu:

Action	What it does
Reveal in Explorer	Opens File Explorer with the file selected in its folder.
Copy path	Copies the full path to the clipboard (one per line for several files).
Copy to folder…	Copies the file(s) into a folder you pick; originals stay put.
Collect to File Roundup	Adds the file(s) to the File Roundup.
Tag ▸	Attach a color tag (or remove it).
Delete (to Recycle Bin)	Sends the file(s) to the Windows Recycle Bin — recoverable.

Deleting safely

Choosing Delete first shows a confirmation — “Send "<name>" to the Recycle Bin?” (or “Send N files to the Recycle Bin?”) — with Delete and Cancel. Cancel is the default, so a stray Enter never deletes anything.

Deletes are always recoverable. FileRanger only ever sends files to the Recycle Bin — there is no permanent-erase option. If you remove something by mistake, restore it from the Recycle Bin.

11. The File Roundup

The File Roundup (the second tab on the right pane) is a staging basket. Gather files from different searches and folders into it, then move or copy the whole batch to one destination. The tab label shows a live count, like File Roundup (3).

Adding files

Right-click → Collect to File Roundup on any result (or checked selection).
Drag files from the results list and drop them onto the Roundup tab.

Duplicates are skipped automatically. When it's empty, the tab shows “No files collected yet.”

Moving or copying the batch

Each collected file has a checkbox (ticked by default). The Roundup's buttons act on the checked files:

Move to… — pick a folder; the files are moved there. A confirmation warns that the originals will be removed.
Copy to… — pick a folder; the files are copied there, originals untouched.
Clear roundup — empties the basket.

Move removes the originals. Move to… relocates the checked files — they no longer exist in their original folders afterward. To keep the originals in place, use Copy to… instead.

If a name already exists at the destination, FileRanger gives the incoming file a unique name rather than overwriting.

12. Color tags

Use the Tag submenu (right-click a file) to pin a color to it. The dot then shows next to the file's name in the results and in the Details panel — a quick way to mark files for follow-up, sort visually, or group a set you're working through.

Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple Gray

Choose No tag from the same submenu to clear a file's tag.

13. Preferences

Open Preferences from the gear button at the bottom-right. Changes take effect when you click Save (the one exception is Run indexing now, which saves and runs immediately).

Startup

Load FileRanger at startup launches the app automatically when you sign in to Windows — opening straight to the system tray so it's ready in the background. (This uses a per-user setting; no admin needed.)

The system tray

FileRanger lives in the Windows system tray (the icons near the clock). Clicking the window's ✕ does not quit the app — it hides FileRanger to the tray and keeps it running, so scheduled indexing can still happen. Left-click the tray icon to reopen the window; to exit completely, right-click the tray icon and choose Quit (the menu also offers Open FileRanger).

Indexing locations

The same list of drives and folders as the sidebar, with an Add location… button and a remove button on each row.

Scheduled indexing

Deep indexing (scan file metadata and text) — a deeper pass that reads file metadata and in-file text. Set the time it runs each day under Run deep index daily at (default 2:00 AM).
Scheduled re-index of locations and drives — a daily refresh of everything you've indexed. Set the time under Re-index daily at (default 3:00 AM).
Run indexing now — kick off a re-index followed by a deep index right away.

Scheduled runs happen while FileRanger is open (including minimized to the tray). If the app isn't running when a scheduled time passes, that day's run is simply skipped until the next time you have it open. Deep indexing a large index takes a while and resumes if interrupted.

Accent color

Pick the app's accent color with the color wheel (or type a hex value). A note reminds you it “Applies fully after restarting FileRanger.”

14. Keyboard & mouse reference

Action	Result
Type in the search bar	Search as you type (no `Enter` needed)
Click a column header	Sort by Name / Kind / Size / Modified
Double-click a result	Open the file in its default app
`Spacebar` on a result	Open Quick Look preview
Right-click a result	Open the actions menu
`Ctrl` / `Shift` + click	Multi-select rows (toggle / range)
`Enter` (Multi-select on)	Toggle the highlighted row's checkbox
Drag results onto the Roundup tab	Add them to the File Roundup
`Esc` / `←` `→` (in Quick Look)	Close / step between files

Shortcuts work while the FileRanger window is focused; there's no system-wide hotkey to summon it.

15. How it works & your data

A local index — not Windows Search

FileRanger reads the drives and folders you choose and stores what it finds in its own compact search database on your PC. Because it searches that local index (rather than walking your disk every time, or leaning on Windows Search), results come back in milliseconds.

Your data stays on your machine

FileRanger has no network features: no telemetry, no analytics, no auto-update, nothing uploaded anywhere. The only things it ever hands to the outside world are things you click — opening this Help page in your browser, or opening a pre-filled bug email in your mail app (see Reporting a bug).

Where FileRanger keeps its files

Everything lives in one per-user folder, %LOCALAPPDATA%\FileRanger:

File	What it is
`index.db`	The local search index.
`settings.json`	Your preferences and the list of indexed locations.
`diagnostics.log`	A local error log used only for bug reports.

16. Troubleshooting

Nothing shows up when I search

FileRanger only searches what it has indexed. If results are empty, make sure you've added at least one location in the sidebar and let it finish indexing (the status line will read “… files indexed”).

A folder or file didn't get indexed

FileRanger runs as your normal Windows account and doesn't use administrator rights, so anything your account can't read is skipped. That's why a location may report a few files “(skipped)”.

My scheduled re-index didn't run

Scheduled jobs run only while FileRanger is open (minimized to the tray counts). If the PC was off or the app was closed at the scheduled time, that run is skipped until you next have the app open past that time.

I closed FileRanger but it's still running

That's expected — the window's ✕ button hides FileRanger to the system tray rather than quitting, so it can keep up with scheduled indexing. Left-click the tray icon to bring the window back, or right-click it and choose Quit to exit completely.

Windows warned about an unknown publisher when installing

That's the standard warning for software still being signed. It's safe to proceed if you got the installer from CTRL Colab.

I deleted something by mistake

FileRanger only recycles files, so restore it from the Windows Recycle Bin.

17. Reporting a bug

If something isn't working right, FileRanger can hand you a ready-to-send bug report with the technical details already filled in, so our team can fix it faster. You stay in control the whole way — nothing is ever sent unless you send it yourself.

The bug button

Look for the small bug button (🐞) in the status bar at the bottom of the window; its tooltip reads “Report a bug (FileRanger Bug Squasher).” Click it and FileRanger will:

Copy a full diagnostic report to your clipboard.
Open a new message in your default email app, already addressed and filled in:

Field	Filled in with
To	`support@ctrlcolab.com`
Subject	`FileRanger Bug Squasher`
Body	A trimmed diagnostic summary. Because email links can't carry long text, paste the full report from your clipboard where it says so, then add a line about what went wrong.

Add a short description of what happened, then press Send.

Nothing is sent automatically. FileRanger only prepares the email — it goes out only when you press Send, so you can read exactly what it contains first.

What's in the report

The report is plain text: FileRanger's version, your Windows and .NET versions, your processor count, how many files are indexed, and the most recent entries from the local error log. No default email app configured? The report is still on your clipboard and saved to %LOCALAPPDATA%\FileRanger\diagnostics.log, so you can send it another way.

18. Support

Need more help? Visit ctrlcolab.com/fileranger or email support@ctrlcolab.com.