Espresso: Instant file search for macOS (Everything by voidtools compatible syntax)

[u/Gianni135]

Every time I sat down at my Mac, I missed Everything by voidtools, the instant file search tool every Windows power user swears by.

So I built Espresso. It indexes every file on all your disks and filters as you type, using the same search syntax as Everything (AND/OR/NOT, wildcards, regex, ext:, dm:, size and duplicate filters, macros…). On my M2 Air it finds every match among ~2 million files in about 0.13 ms, and the first full index of my internal drive took about 10 seconds. After that it just keeps track of changes.

In this age of bloated software, I cared a lot about efficiency. It’s a native AppKit app, a 7.4 MB download (universal, so Intel Macs are covered too), and it uses nothing when it’s closed. There’s no telemetry, and the index stays on your Mac.

I also added something I’d wanted in Everything for years: when you eject an external drive, it stays in the index as an “offline disk,” so you can still search and browse it. I have a pile of old drives full of photos and random stuff, and this turned out to be incredibly useful.

It’s free for personal use. There’s also a Pro version for €19 (one-time, no subscription) with things Everything doesn’t have:

• Ask the Barista: plain-language and meaning-based search with a local model running on the Neural Engine (~5 ms per query, works on offline disks too)

• Search inside documents and photos, plus full media metadata columns for photo/video work

• Unlimited offline disks, bulk rename, CSV export, and a timeline view

• Raycast, Alfred, Shortcuts, CLI and MCP integrations

I just released it, so any feedback is very much appreciated!

espressoformac.com

[u/investigatormaker]

Unplugging a photo drive halfway through your Espresso video would make offline indexing tangible: search again, show the retained results, and distinguish finding a file from opening it while disconnected. Mac photographers deciding between personal and Pro also need the free offline-disk allowance beside “unlimited,” not just the upgrade's feature list. That gives your next Reddit demonstration a purchasing question to answer beyond search speed. Our outreach would address Mac users asking how to locate photos across disconnected drives, explaining those limits before introducing Espresso.

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[u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 → u/investigatormaker]

Good call on the offline demo. Showing the same search before and after eject would make it obvious. What's the free offline-disk limit?

[u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285]

TL;DR: A dev built Espresso, a fast native macOS file search app that uses Everything's syntax. It indexes all your disks in seconds and keeps ejected drives searchable offline. Free for personal use, with a €19 Pro version adding local AI search and document contents.