Document search

What Taskbar indexes (Documents/Desktop/Downloads), what it skips, and why.

Document search (what it indexes)

Document search in Taskbar is built to be fast and predictable. It intentionally focuses on the folders where “everyday files” live - not your entire disk.

Where it searches (by design)

Taskbar searches inside:

  • Desktop
  • Documents
  • Downloads

If you need files outside those folders, use your file manager and treat Taskbar as the “quick grab” layer.

What it skips (on purpose)

To keep results useful (and avoid junk), document search skips:

  • very large files (over ~50 MB)
  • apps and executables (.app, installers, disk images)
  • archives and media formats (zip/video/audio, etc.)
  • heavy developer folders such as node_modules, .git, DerivedData, .build

In other words: if it looks like “not a document” or “will blow up indexing”, it’s ignored.

How indexing works

Taskbar uses the best available strategy for your system:

  • Spotlight-backed results when possible (fast, incremental)
  • a lightweight local index as a fallback (still limited to Desktop/Documents/Downloads)

Indexing happens in the background. On first run (or after a big change), results may “fill in” over a short period.

Tips that actually help

  • Search by a distinctive word in the filename (not a generic “notes”).
  • Use multiple words (Taskbar matches all tokens).
  • If you rename files often, give indexing a moment to catch up.

Next steps