Find Any File scans the disk at every search, so you wait. Locseek is faster: results as you type.
Find Any File works in a direct way: whatever you look for, it goes through the disk on the spot.
For an occasional lookup, that is fine. But if you search dozens of times a day, you wait for a pass over the disk each time. The bigger and slower the disk, the longer the wait.
Locseek saves you that waiting: the names are recorded ahead of time, so results appear as you type.
Illustration: the same search for a file with “contract” in its name. File names are examples.
Each time you search, it reads the disk again. The upside is that there is no index to build; the cost is a wait every time.
SourceThe Find Any File manual says it uses no database and searches the file system directly.
An internal disk is fine. On a network disk such as a NAS, the same search takes much longer. If the disk is not plugged in, you cannot search it.
SourceIts own network volumes guide says searching on network volumes is slower, and that a faster way depends on the server.
It scans once when you add a location, and every search after that is a lookup in its own index. The first search of the day is as fast as the fiftieth.
SourceLocseek's query p95 is 5.5 ms, and a changed file is searchable about 1 second later (internal test of version 1.6.0 on an Intel MacBook Pro 2018: 30 minutes, 1,800 create, rename and delete operations; how it was measured). After an external drive is unplugged, its names stay searchable.
"5.5 ms" and "about 1 second" come from an internal test of version 1.6.0 on an Intel MacBook Pro 2018: 30 minutes, 1,800 create, rename and delete operations. The first is the time of the query itself, the second the time from a file change to it being searchable. Both vary with hardware and file count. How each number was measured →
| Locseek | Find Any File | |
|---|---|---|
| What it searches | File and folder names only; never file contents | Names and file attributes; optional plain-text search |
| Where results come from | Its own name index, updated as files change | No database; reads the file system at search time |
| External drives, USB sticks, NAS | ✓ Add once and search; names stay searchable after unplugging (Pro) | ✓ Searches external and network volumes; slower on network volumes, per its documentation |
| Internet connection | No internet connection; no account | Update and licence checks, anonymous usage statistics |
| Price | Free tier; Pro yearly or one-time | Shareware, with a trial |
Written by the developer of Locseek. Facts about Find Any File come from the Find Any File website, its manual, its network volumes guide, its privacy policy, checked 10 November 2026. We have not timed the two side by side, so this page makes no speed ranking. Find Any File is a product of its own developer; Locseek is not affiliated with it.
Find Any File keeps no database and reads the file system at every search. Locseek keeps a name index, so repeated searches answer as you type.
With Locseek Pro, yes: indexed names stay searchable and are marked Not connected. Find Any File reads the disk when it searches, so the disk has to be connected.
No. Locseek searches file and folder names only. Find Any File has an option for plain-text contents.
Faster · More precise · Covers more · Easier · Safer
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