Desktop search is the name for the emerging field of search tools which search the contents of a user's own computer files, rather than searching the Internet. The emphasis is on data mining all the information that is available on the user's PC, including web browser histories, word-processor documents, media files and so on.

Find your files, documents, music, pictures, and even video hiding on your hard drive instantly. Search your browser’s cache to view web pages you’ve seen even when you’re not online.

Desktop Search results for "Australia" in Images category displayed in Foxie enabled IE. You can preview found files without launching their associated applications. Results can be sorted by several attributes, including size, file type, and drive path.

The only way to achieve reasonable performance when searching several gigabytes of data is to build and maintain an index database. When indexing the files, Desktop Search collects three types of information about files:

1. file and directory names
2. meta data, such as titles, authors, comments
3. content of supported documents.

To search within documents, Desktop Search parses many different types of document. This is achieved by using filters that interpret selected file formats. For example, Microsoft Office Filter is used to search inside MS Office documents.