Flow Launcher: the fast interface that brings together Everything and Windows tools

You open the Start menu to launch a program. Then File Explorer to find a file, or your browser to perform a calculation or conversion. Over time, these small actions become time-consuming. Flow Launcher aims to bring everything together in one place. This open-source project, launched in 2019 on GitHub, is free, ad-free, and tracking-free. Compatible with Windows 10 and 11It doesn't even ask for an email address to use it. But does this little utility replace Everything while speeding up application launches and searches under Windows?

Flow Launcher, a versatile launcher for Windows

The idea is quite simple. You press Alt + Space and Flow Launcher appears immediately. If you prefer, the Win Key plugin also allows you to reassign the left Windows key.

In terms of resources, the utility runs discreetly in the background. It consumes very little memory. And if you don't want to install it, the portable version works perfectly. Simply download the ZIP archive and run the executable. You can even use it from a USB drive, without any registry entries.

Once launched, everything can be done at keyboardThe results become more refined as you type. The first ten can even be opened with Alt + 1 to Alt + 0. Web searches are also better integrated. Links open directly in your browser. Sailor by default. Therefore, you are not required to use Microsoft Edge as you would with Windows Search.

Regarding the interface, several XAML themes are available, with acrylic or mica effects. Flow Launcher also supports 24-hour time display and multi-monitor setups.

How to integrate the speed of Everything into Flow Launcher?

If you already use Everything, you know how efficient the software is at finding a file in seconds. Its main drawback, however, remains simple: it's limited to file searching.

Flow Launcher doesn't aim to replace Windows Search. Rather, it provides a more modern and versatile interface. With the Explorer plugin, you can choose Everything as your primary indexing engine in the settings, instead of Windows Search. Then, simply leave Everything running in the background. You can also directly target your files using the % prefix or the keyword doc:.

The benefit is most noticeable if you have thousands, or even millions, of files. You simply enter the document name in Flow Launcher. The file then appears directly in the results, without having to open a separate window for Everything.

Five actions to save time at the keyboard

Quickly open an application

Type the name of a program to launch it immediately. This method is useful when the application isn't pinned to the taskbar or when your desktop contains many shortcuts.

Find a file or folder

Flow Launcher searches for a document, image, project, or folder. With Everything configured as the search engine, this search becomes even faster.

Perform a calculation

Enter a calculation directly in the Flow Launcher bar, instead of opening the Windows calculator separately. This is useful for quickly checking a price, percentage, or simple conversion.

Start a web search

Rather than opening the browser, then a searchEnter your query directly into Flow Launcher. Depending on the configuration used, keywords or plugins are used to choose the search service.

Execute a system action

The launcher also provides faster access to certain actions such as locking the computer, restarting Windows, shutting it down, or opening system settings.

Flow Launcher or Everything: which tool should you choose based on your needs?

To remain completely objective, Flow Launcher requires a little getting used to. In particular, you need to learn Action Keywords, and some community plugins require third-party interpreters such as PythonAnother detail to know is that installing certain extensions requires restarting the application.

flow launcher