WSL Search Tool

Standalone Windows/Electron GUI for searching files across installed WSL distros and native Windows drives.

Search results are clickable and include the source they came from. Click a result to open the real file, or right-click a result to reveal it in its folder.

Features

• Search installed WSL distros without hardcoded distro names.
• Search Windows current profile, all drives, one drive, or a custom folder.
• Choose filename or file-content search.
• Filter by last edited time.
• Open files with the default Windows app.
• Reveal result files in Explorer.

Compatibility

This tool is intended for Windows users who have WSL installed with at least one distro. Windows search uses native Windows paths and covers the selected Windows scope.

WSL search does not depend on fixed distro names. The app lists installed distros with wsl.exe -l -q and searches whichever WSL instances exist on the user's machine.

Practical caveats:

• The default search root is /home.
• Users can change the root to another WSL path, such as /mnt/c/Users/<name>.
• Windows search defaults to the current Windows profile.
• Use the Windows scope dropdown to search the current Windows profile, all Windows drives, a selected drive, or a selected Windows root.
• The app defaults to filename search. Current-profile filename searches use the Windows Search index; all-drive, selected-drive, and custom-folder filename searches use a streaming filesystem scan for broader coverage.
• Windows file-content search over large roots can time out; keep content searches scoped to a specific folder.
• The packaged Windows app bundles rg.exe for broad Windows filename search.
• Full-drive Windows searches can be slow; FFF-backed search is a later optimization.
• Searches are fastest when rg / ripgrep is installed inside the WSL distro.
• If rg is not installed, the app falls back to standard Linux search commands.
• Opening files depends on WSL's standard wslpath -w conversion.

Install Release

Download the latest WSL-Search-Tool-*-win32-x64.zip from GitHub Releases, extract it, and run:

WSL Search Tool.exe

Keep the extracted folder together. The .exe depends on the files beside it.

Run Desktop App

cd "$env:USERPROFILE\wsl-search-tool"
npm run app

Run Browser Fallback

cd "$env:USERPROFILE\wsl-search-tool"
npm start

Open:

http://127.0.0.1:3789

Search Paths

Use WSL paths for WSL searches, for example:

• /home
• /home/<your-linux-user>
• /mnt/c/Users/<your-windows-user>

Use Windows paths for Windows searches, for example:

• all
• C:\
• C:\Users\<your-windows-user>

Filename searches with spaces are treated as required words, so project notes matches filenames containing both project and notes.

Use the Last edited dropdown to keep the default unfiltered search or limit results to files changed in the last 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days, or 90 days.

Test

npm test