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Flow-Launcher / Flow.Launcher

:mag: Quick file search & app launcher for Windows with community-made plugins

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Repository Summary (README)

Preview
<p align="center"> <a href="https://flowlauncher.com"> <img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207167068-2196d2a3-2caa-4856-958b-a780fbda95c6.gif" width="500"> </a><br /> <img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207168016-85d0dd16-1f3b-4d42-9d37-0e0d5a596ead.png" width="400"> </p> <p align="center"> <img src="https://img.shields.io/maintenance/yes/3000"> <a href="https://crowdin.com/project/flow-launcher"><img src="https://badges.crowdin.net/flow-launcher/localized.svg"></a> <a href="https://ci.appveyor.com/project/JohnTheGr8/flow-launcher/branch/dev"><img src="https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/32r7s2skrgm9ubva?svg=true&retina=true"></a> <a href="https://github.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/releases"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/total.svg"></a><br /> <img src="https://img.shields.io/github/release-date/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher"> <a href="https://github.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/releases/latest"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher"></a> <a href="https://flowlauncher.com/docs"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Documentation-7389D8"></a> <a href="https://discord.gg/AvgAQgh"><img src="https://img.shields.io/discord/727828229250875472?color=7389D8&labelColor=6A7EC2&label=Community&logo=discord&logoColor=white"></a> </p> <p align="center"> A quick file search and app launcher for Windows with community-made plugins.</p> <p align="center"> Dedicated to making your workflow more seamless. Search everything from applications, files, bookmarks, YouTube, Twitter and more. Flow will continue to evolve, designed to be open and built with the community at heart.</p> <p align="center"> <sub>Remember to star it, Flow will love you more :)</sub></p> <img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144858082-8b654daf-60fb-4ee6-89b2-6183b73510d1.png" width="100%"> <h4 align="center"> <a href="#-getting-started">Getting Started</a> • <a href="#-features">Features</a> • <a href="#-plugins">Plugins</a> • <a href="#%EF%B8%8F-hotkeys">Hotkeys</a> • <a href="#sponsors">Sponsors</a> • <a href="#-questionssuggestions">Questions/Suggestions</a> • <a href="#development">Development</a> • <a href="https://flowlauncher.com/docs">Docs</a> </h4> <img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144858082-8b654daf-60fb-4ee6-89b2-6183b73510d1.png" width="100%">

🚗 Getting Started

Installation

Windows 10+ Installer or Portable Version

Winget

winget install "Flow Launcher"

Scoop

scoop install Flow-Launcher

Chocolatey

choco install Flow-Launcher

When installing for the first time Windows may raise an issue about security due to code not being signed, if you downloaded from this repo then you are good to continue the set up.

Or download the early access version.

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144858082-8b654daf-60fb-4ee6-89b2-6183b73510d1.png" width="100%">

🎁 Features

Applications & Files

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/145332614-74909973-f6eb-47c2-8235-289931e30718.png" width="400">
  • Search for apps, files or file contents.
  • Supports Everything and Windows Index.
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/145018796-658b7c24-a34f-46b6-98d4-cf4f636d8b60.png" width="400">
  • Supports search using environment variable paths.

Web Searches & URLs

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144517502-5325de01-d0d9-4c2e-aafb-33c3f5d82f81.png" width="400"> <img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144831031-0e01e8ea-3247-4ba4-a7b4-48b0db620bc1.png" width="400"> <img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/222829602-aabb1144-db5c-4250-b5ae-66f8342e4ae4.png" width="400">

Browser Bookmarks

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207143428-e6406306-4f1e-4c24-917d-d2a333d5dc2b.png" width="400">

System Commands

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144517557-9b5b82fc-6408-48a0-af59-69b385a0782e.png" width="400">

Calculator

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207142449-7de0c30d-8d5b-4331-967e-f3e78c17ea93.png" width="400">
  • Do mathematical calculations and copy the result to clipboard.

Shell Command

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207142197-9e910147-96a9-466e-bbc4-b1163314ef59.png" width="400">
  • Run batch and PowerShell commands as Administrator or a different user.
  • <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>Enter</kbd> to Run as Administrator.

Explorer

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207145376-fbb68ec2-93b9-4b0f-befe-0aeb792367a7.png" width="400">
  • Save file or folder locations for quick access.

Windows & Control Panel Settings

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207140658-52c1bea6-5b14-4db8-ae35-acc65e6bda85.png" width="400">
  • Search for Windows & Control Panel settings.

Dialog Jump

<img src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/046c00da-6e4e-4960-8424-b413852300ad" width="400"/>
  • Search for a file/folder and quickly jump to its path in the Open/Save As dialog window.
  • Use <kbd>Alt</kbd>+<kbd>G</kbd> to quickly jump the Open/Save As dialog window path to the path of the active file manager.

Drag & Drop

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207159486-1993510f-09f2-4e33-bba7-4ca59ca1bc5a.png" width="400">
  • Drag a file/folder to File Explorer, or even Discord.
  • Copy/move behavior can be changed via <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> or <kbd>Shift</kbd>, and the operation is displayed on the mouse cursor.

Priority

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144517677-857a2b0a-4b94-4be0-bc89-f35723ecddf9.png" width="400">
  • Prioritize the order of each plugin's results.

Preview Panel

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207159213-662999d3-2c18-4256-b473-c417efca0069.png" width="400">
  • Use <kbd>F1</kbd> to toggle the preview panel.
  • Media files will be displayed as large images, otherwise a large icon and full path will be displayed.
  • Turn on preview permanently via Settings (Always Preview).
  • Use <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>+</kbd>/<kbd>-</kbd> and <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>[</kbd>/<kbd>]</kbd> to adjust search window width and height quickly if the preview area is too narrow.

Customizations

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144693887-1b92ed16-dca1-4b7e-8644-5e9524cdfb31.gif" width="400">
  • Window size adjustment, animation, and sound
  • Color Scheme (aka Dark Mode)
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144527796-7c06ca31-d933-4f6b-9eb0-4fb06fa94384.png" width="400">
  • There are various themes and you also can make your own.

Date & Time Display In Search Window

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207159348-8b0c7a2b-0836-4764-916b-e0236087f7f3.png" width="400">
  • Display date and time in search window.

💬 Languages

  • Supports languages from Chinese to Italian and more.
  • Supports Pinyin (拼音) search.
  • Crowdin support for language translations.
<details> <summary>Supported languages</summary> <ul> <li>English</li> <li>中文</li> <li>中文(繁体)</li> <li>Українська</li> <li>Русский</li> <li>Français</li> <li>日本語</li> <li>Dutch</li> <li>Polski</li> <li>Dansk</li> <li>de, Deutsch</li> <li>ko, 한국어</li> <li>Srpski</li> <li>Српски</li> <li>Português</li> <li>Português (Brasil)</li> <li>Spanish</li> <li>es-419, Spanish (Latin America)</li> <li>Italiano</li> <li>Norsk Bokmål</li> <li>Slovenčina</li> <li>Türkçe</li> <li>čeština</li> <li>اللغة العربية</li> <li>Tiếng Việt</li> <li>עברית</li> </ul> </details>

Portable

  • Fully portable.
  • Type flow user data to open your saved user settings folder. They are located at:
    • If using roaming: %APPDATA%\FlowLauncher
    • If using portable, by default: %localappdata%\FlowLauncher\app-<VersionOfYourFlowLauncher>\UserData
    • Type open log location to open your logs folder, they are saved along with your user settings folder.

🎮 Game Mode

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/207144711-0c5f8b2b-4b1b-44c8-b23e-c123f6b05146.png" width="200">
  • Pause hotkey activation when you are playing games.
  • When in search window use <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>F12</kbd> to toggle on/off.
  • Type Toggle Game Mode
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144858082-8b654daf-60fb-4ee6-89b2-6183b73510d1.png" width="100%">

📦 Plugins

  • Support wide range of plugins. Visit here for our plugin portfolio.
  • Publish your own plugin to Flow! Create plugins in:
<p align="center"> <a href="https://flowlauncher.com/docs/#/develop-dotnet-plugins"><img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/147870065-4096f233-147c-434e-a3ac-69519582605f.png" width="64"></a> <a href="https://github.com/Flow-Launcher/plugin-samples/tree/master/HelloWorldFSharp"><img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/26427004/156536959-dfdc7be8-4b59-4587-9c6a-a297903e4ce1.png" width="64"></a> <a href="https://www.flowlauncher.com/docs/#/py-develop-plugins"><img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/147870066-7599eb15-0333-468e-82e8-4d432ceb5a45.png" width="64"></a> <a href="https://flowlauncher.com/docs/#/nodejs-develop-plugins"><img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/147870071-d67c736b-0748-428f-a283-14587696dfa3.png" width="64"></a> <a href="https://flowlauncher.com/docs/#/nodejs-develop-plugins"><img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/147870069-9bde6fe6-d50c-4d85-8fde-fe5ae921ab8c.png" width="64"></a> </p>

SpotifyPremium

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144533469-da920295-8c36-46e8-89eb-a9cdd94b74ef.png" width="400">

Steam Search

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144533523-afd79dca-a444-40e5-b2d9-6d3fe3aaece1.png" width="400">

Clipboard+

<img src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4a001dc9-0895-4670-a911-e5b81c70f571" width="400">

Home Assistant Commander

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144533538-3caa2944-3037-4755-87b9-70fa918d2efa.png" width="400">

Colors

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144533487-2caff162-a8f6-4577-af3f-d1b05d423ee4.png" width="400">

GitHub

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144533497-8677f800-95c5-4758-8ca3-c96333ee1943.png" width="400">

Window Walker

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144533517-07bf011f-726c-4221-8657-0e442eca8a82.png" width="400">

......and more!

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144858082-8b654daf-60fb-4ee6-89b2-6183b73510d1.png" width="100%">

🛒 Plugin Store

<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher.PluginsManifest@plugin_api_v2/assets/plugin_store.png" width="700">
  • You can view the full plugin list or quickly install a plugin via the Plugin Store menu inside Settings

  • or type pm install/uninstall/update + the plugin name in the search window,

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144858082-8b654daf-60fb-4ee6-89b2-6183b73510d1.png" width="100%">

⌨️ Hotkeys

HotkeyDescription
<kbd>Alt</kbd>+<kbd>Space</kbd>Open search window (default and configurable)
<kbd>Enter</kbd>Execute
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Enter</kbd>Open containing folder
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>Enter</kbd>Run as admin
<kbd></kbd>/<kbd></kbd>, <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>Tab</kbd>/<kbd>Tab</kbd>Previous / Next result
<kbd></kbd>/<kbd></kbd>Back to result / Open Context Menu
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>O</kbd> , <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>Enter</kbd>Open Context Menu
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Tab</kbd>Autocomplete
<kbd>F1</kbd>Toggle Preview Panel (default and configurable)
<kbd>Esc</kbd>Back to results / hide search window
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>C</kbd>Copy folder / file
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>C</kbd>Copy folder / file path
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>I</kbd>Open Flow's settings
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>R</kbd>Run the current query again (refresh results)
<kbd>F5</kbd>Reload all plugin data
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>F12</kbd>Toggle Game Mode when in search window
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>+</kbd>,<kbd>-</kbd>Adjust maximum results shown
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>[</kbd>,<kbd>]</kbd>Adjust search window width
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>H</kbd>Open search history
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Backspace</kbd>Back to previous directory
<kbd>PageUp</kbd>/<kbd>PageDown</kbd>Previous / Next Page

System Command List

CommandDescription
ShutdownShutdown computer
RestartRestart computer
Restart With Advanced Boot OptionsRestart the computer with Advanced Boot option for safe and debugging modes
Log Off/Sign OutLog off
LockLock computer
SleepPut computer to sleep
HibernateHibernate computer
Empty Recycle BinEmpty recycle bin
Open Recycle BinOpen recycle bin
ExitClose Flow Launcher
Save SettingsSave all Flow Launcher settings
Restart Flow LauncherRestart Flow Launcher
SettingsTweak this app
Reload Plugin DataRefreshes plugin data with new content
Check For UpdateCheck for new Flow Launcher update
Open Log LocationOpen Flow Launcher's log location
Index OptionOpen Windows Search Index window
Flow Launcher TipsVisit Flow Launcher's documentation for more help and usage tips
Flow Launcher UserData FolderOpen the location where Flow Launcher's settings are stored
Toggle Game ModeToggle Game Mode
Set Flow Launcher ThemeSet the Flow Launcher Theme

💁‍♂️ Tips

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144858082-8b654daf-60fb-4ee6-89b2-6183b73510d1.png" width="100%">

Sponsors

<p align="center"> <a href="https://coderabbit.ai/"> <img src="https://github.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/assets/6903107/7c996d74-0c69-4011-922f-a95ca7e874b0" width="30%" alt="Coderabbit Logo" /> </a> <br /> <br /> <a href="https://github.com/TheBestPessimist"> <img src='https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/4482210?v=4' width="10%"/> </a> <a href="https://github.com/Calapine"> <img src='https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/76205879?v=4' width="10%"/> </a> </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://appwrite.io"> <img src='https://appwrite.io/assets/logotype/white.svg' width="30%" alt="Appwrite Logo" /> </a> <br /> </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://github.com/itsonlyfrans"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/46535667?v=4" width="10%" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/atilford"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/13649625?v=4" width="10%" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/andreqramos"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/49326063?v=4" width="10%" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/benello"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/55357205?v=4" width="10%" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/Yuba4"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/46278200?v=4" width="10%" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/Mavrik327"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/121626149?v=4" width="10%" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/tikkatek"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/26571381?v=4" width="10%" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/patrickdobler"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/16536946?v=4" width="10%" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/benflap"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/62034481?v=4" width="10%" /></a> </p>

Mentions

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144858082-8b654daf-60fb-4ee6-89b2-6183b73510d1.png" width="100%">

❔ Questions/Suggestions

Yes please, let us know in the Q&A section. Join our community on Discord!

<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6903107/144858082-8b654daf-60fb-4ee6-89b2-6183b73510d1.png" width="100%">

Development

Localization

Our project localization is based on Crowdin. If you would like to change them, please go to https://crowdin.com/project/flow-launcher.

WPF UI Library

Our UI library is using iNKORE.UI.WPF.Modern.

<a href="https://docs.inkore.net/ui-wpf-modern/introduction"> <img src="https://github.com/iNKORE-NET/UI.WPF.Modern/blob/main/assets/images/banners/UI.WPF.Modern_Main_1280w.png?raw=true" alt="iNKORE.UI.WPF.Modern" width="400"> </a>

New Changes

All changes to Flow are captured via pull requests. Some new changes may have been merged but are still pending release. This means that while a change may not exist in the current release, it may have been accepted and merged into the dev branch and is available as a pre-release download. It is therefore a good idea to search through the open and closed pull requests before you start to make changes to ensure the change you intend to make is not already done.

Each of the pull requests will be marked with a milestone indicating the planned release version for the change.

Contributing

Contributions are very welcome, in addition to the main project (C#) there are also documentation (md), website (html/css) and others that can be contributed to. If you are unsure of a change you want to make, let us know in the Discussions, otherwise feel free to submit a pull request.

You will find the main goals of Flow placed under the Projects board, so feel free to contribute on that. If you would like to make small incremental changes, feel free to do so as well.

Get in touch if you would like to join the Flow-Launcher Team and help build this great tool.

Developing/Debugging

  • Flow Launcher's target framework is .Net 9

  • Install Visual Studio 2022 (v17.12+)

  • Install .Net 9 SDK

    • via Visual Studio installer
    • via winget winget install Microsoft.DotNet.SDK.9
    • Manually from here