Multi-find

Multi-find is a free and open-source application developed in Java, designed to locate strings of characters across multiple files within a specified directory.

It features a couple of advanced settings that can be configured with ease, even by those less experienced with file searchers.

The program's packed in an executable .jar file that can be saved to a custom folder on the disk or copied to a removable storage unit, in order to effortlessly launch it on any PC with Java.

It doesn't add new entries to the systray, create files on the disk without your permission, or need DLLs or other components to work properly. In order to uninstall it, you simply have to delete this file.

Concerning the interface, Multi-find adopts a large window with a plain appearance and neatly structured layout, where you can input the search string and indicate the folder whose entire files you want to verify.

You can enable case sensitive mode and ask the utility to match the word. Search results reveal the full path of each file that contains at least one occurrence of the given keyword or phrase, along with the number of occurrences.

There are no options implemented for opening the selected files without leaving Multi-find's main window. On the other hand, you can export the list of results to spreadsheets (.xls format) for Microsoft Excel for safekeeping.

Search tasks were carried out in a decent amount of time in our testing, during which the program remained light on system resources usage.

On the other hand, it failed to find anything on newer Windows editions in our case, probably because it hasn't been updated for a long time. On top of that, Multi-find doesn't have a button for canceling the search job if it takes too long or if you just change your mind, and it's not explicit concerning the supported file types.