X1 Search Reviews & Product Details

X1 Desktop Search helps to find the files, emails, and contacts that are stored on one's hard drive or SSD. After entering text in the search box, X1 consults its index to find "hits" in the file contents or file name.

I've been using X1 for about seven years. Whenever I've had problems with the software, customer support has always been responsive, even if you don't subscribe to the $19.95/year for premium support. Once, the support representative conferenced in one of the developers in order to resolve an indexing problem I had.

I would hope that, at some point in the future, X1 would incorporate frequency of the query terms into its search algorithm. For example, a document that contains more occurrences of a query term should be ranked higher than a document that has a lower frequency of the query terms. Right now, the results are ranked by date, not query term frequency.

I've compared X1 to other desktop search engines like Copernic, HoudaSpot, and Alfred, and I've generally found X1 to be superior. But one should read Internet reviews and experiment with trial versions in order to determine which desktop search is best for them.

I would hope that, at some point in the future, X1 would incorporate frequency of the query terms into its search algorithm. For example, a document that contains more occurrences of a query term should be ranked higher than a document that has a lower frequency of the query terms. Right now, the results are ranked by date, not query term frequency.

X1 searches my massive array of documents and files. It quickly returns documents without my having to laboriously search through folders. It's analogous to using an index to search a book rather than using the table of contents. X1 saves me time and energy by providing relevant documents quickly and efficiently.

X1 even has boolean search operators like and, or, and not, that you can use to refine and enhance your search query.

As we continue to collect data in all forms, e-mail, letters, data sheets, etc., X1 Search allows phenomenal recall of what you need when you need it. In a perfect world, all of your materials are appropriately filed in the right folders but we don't live in a perfect world. Being able to quickly bring up X1 Search and find what you need in an expeditious manner and then being able to manipulate it as you need saves times and effort. I cannot relay how many times materials we thought were lost were located by X1.

Given my experience with similar products, including those "built" into provided operating systems and software, I do not find any component lacking. Like some programs, the portal can be tweaked but I am confident that X1 continues to update as needed.

We solved retrieval and forwarding tasks among others. All too often ourselves with an immediate need to locate and retrieve key materials. The ability to be on a call or in a meeting and being able to locate, retrieve and share materials empowers you by letting others know that you are in full control of the material and data.

Instant search results, high density presentation of results, time-saving, frustration elimination

Not much at all. Once you understand how to configure it correctly, it works well.

So you're in a conference call with a bunch of co-workers, and someone says that you never sent him that email about a client. You open up X1 and search for emails, plug in the first three letters of your name into the FROM column, the first three letters of his name in the 'TO:" column, add the name of the client in the search field, and all related emails sent from you to him pop up in a list. So you say "I see where I sent you that email June 18th at 8;32 AM. Let me forward another copy to you." And from within X1, you click on 'Forward" and re-send him a copy of the email.

I used to sort and store all incoming emails by topic, but sometimes you can't decide whether the topic is 'Sales meeting issues' or 'AT&T Projects'. Now I don't move any emails to special places. I just mark them read, and if I need to go back to them, X1 finds them in seconds.

My company does not pay for this product. I paid for it out of my own pocket because I know it will save me hours of time each year and lots of frustration trying to find things in my PC. And it's the only App I pay an annual support fee for because when it crashes, I NEED to get it running again.

Lost emails, lost files. I'll accidentally save a file incorrectly, either with a spelling issue in the file name or I'll accidentally save it in the wrong folder. X1 is a life saver in finding things.

X1 Search is simply amazing. Its performance and efficiency are incredible even if you are not so precise in your search. It definitely achieve value for money and I can't now use Outlook without this software. I work a lot with emails and it helps me to find them without any difficulty.

It's so simple and intuitive to use and even when it's indexing, PC resources are not stressed at all. I literally find my perfect finding (not searching) software and i won't change it for no other solutions.

Customer Care service is one of the.most competent, kind and fast I've ever experienced.

Well, I honestly didn't find something to dislike and I'm using it since 6 years now. Every new version adds features, improves performances (already perfect from my pov), easy to use, value for money ... really no dislike at all

Start with a 14 days trial, I'm sure you will buy it for sure because you won't stay without it

Finding my email over hundreds of archives is so important for my business. It helps me every minute and i do not have need to store information in specific folders to find them ... i just have to find it with X1. Need to find a presentation with a specific word in it ? No problem, X1 does it in milliseconds.

It definitely saves my time, improves my work and my health (no stress spending hours in finding something)

X1 is a great and intuitive search that quickly finds data across various pools from file servers to email, attachments and other external sources. It's been our organization's go-to app for finding our personal and shared data for years, and once introduced to it, our new users become fans too. Customer service responses have been prompt and thorough as well.

Relatively rare instances of data indexing failing that needs re-indexing, but it's quite easy to do.

Based on my experience and our users, and the availability of customer service, I would definitely encourage a trial of X1. As a nonprofit we were provided a healthy discount.

Document creep is common among all organizations. While we've not gone as far as the Enterprise level offering, the desktop run X1 is very good at finding user defined data wherever they direct X1 to look.

I've been using X1 search since it was known as Yahoo Desktop Search. It's one of the few programs I've found that will search for data embedded within hundreds of different file formats. You just select the network shares, local folders and outlook files want to add the index, and forget about it. From there you can filter the search results in a multitude of ways - file type, date, filename, size, source etc.

I can't really think of much I would change about the software. I immediately saved the cost of the license by saving an hour of time searching for a CAD file I knew existed on the network somewhere that contained a certain text string.

So for controls/instrumentation needs, it is fantastic to search for a tagname and find every procedure, loopsheet, junction box drawing, and email that contains that tag.

Full text indexing with instant retrieval and preview of my entire electronic world (all files documents and email, calendar). This is the best substitute for memory ever invented. I started using X1 Desktop Search in 2004 (X1 just told me that) and my life has become so much more available and known to me. The program scales amazing well searching my million or so items as quickly as a few hundred items.

Nothing is disliked. Still, I start to wish that all my message streams (WeChat, WhatsApp, iMessage) would be indexed too. This may well be possible and I need to check.

Do not hesitate. This product is a winner loved by those who use it regularly.

See above.

I've been using this tool since it was called Yahoo Desktop Search in 2005. Now in 2018 I use it on an hourly basis, able to call up emails from years ago to finding data that my supervisors on a moments notice. There have been a few technical hiccups along the way (with the advent of more advanced enterprise security that sometimes creates ghost files that X1 wants to index) but the tech support from X1 Pasadena has been stellar.

If, when plugging in an external drive, the computer automatically renames it from D: to E: (because of multiple drives being plugged in via USB) X1 wants to restart indexing from scratch, which becomes a nuisance. Then when replugging in the changed drive later and it switches back to D:, the pain starts all over again. I have force-named the drive letter, however this issue pops up from time to time.

I'm the fastest guy to obtain desired/historical information. I don't waste my time categorizing files or emails since I can usually find what I am looking for in under 30 seconds (and as I type more search words ("clues") the search list is whittled down to a manageable 10-15 items I can scan by preview to find what I am looking for).

Instantly populates hits as you type and brings up the specific section of the document containing the keywords so I usually don't even need to open the document to get the info I need. Very customizable and allows for a broad list of cloud-based sources beyond the usual local files and outlook emails. Excellent and very responsive tech support.

It just takes a while to build the first index. Not unexpected for the huge amount of data I ask it to index, but still would be nice if there was a magic spell to speed up the initial indexing. It can feel a bit laggy when you are trying to conduct a search while it is indexing.

Allows me to locate within 5-10 seconds any piece of information I can build a good combination of keywords around, even hidden deep in old files whose name and location I forgot.

This software is very fast in locating files, emails, etc. I didn't understand how to add folders on the shared drive, and the customer support was fantastic. The software now is easy to set up. The thing most people will need to do is limit the amount that is searched, unless they want all the info including the shared drive.

Not a bad thing, requested technical support and in 20 minutes he showed me all I needed.

Fast and very inclusive

Have trouble finding files. It is easy to put a file in the wrong folder. Plus, your memory is not 100%

I've used X1 for over 10 years. Every. Single. Day. It's the most useful app I have on my laptop. At one point, I lost my license. (Totally my fault due to a switch in jobs/computers.). I had *no problem* buying another one and gladly would have paid much more for the license if I needed to. It's just one of the most elegant software solutions I've ever used. Oh, and they have killer customer support.

Nothing that I can really think of. There are other features and products that they have developed but none of them are of particular interest to me. The basic, default install gets me everything I need.

Get it. Now.

it turns the raw dump of your email data into an extremely useful resource.

Instant retrieval limited to month, day, particular period, boolean search capabilities. Essential for any litigator. Sometimes I race colleagues with whom I am working seeing who can retrieve material the fastest.In short--exceptional product. Amazon quality service. My internal Google.

Nothing to dislike. Occasionally like any software it can get corrupted. It happens once every couple of years. Easy to reinstall. Company gives great support. Especially their amazing Chris Wheaton.

Try it. Buy it. Don't leave home without it.

I use program daily, seamlessly as I use Outlook.,

It allows me to index documents and emails on 'real time' regarding client matters or engagement matters to find the exact document or correspondence needed on our entire server.

I wish they would make an IOS application! - Some day I hope

If you maintain an law office, this product is essential. It saves a tremendous amount of time in drafting documents, due diligence, and overall practice management.

Conflict Checks for clients, as well as cross-reference correspondence to document client advice

I have three monitors on my computer - and one of those is dedicated to my X1 screen all day long. I don't need to hire an assistant, I have X1 to find all those files, docs, pics. It is so FAST I can barely drink my Diet Pepsi - it's ready to go, waiting on me!

That we didn't buy the software earlier! No joke, been working 30 years in the industry and this product is the BEST. Been using it for 10 years!

Trust me, just buy it. Remember that thing you were going to do but couldn't remember where the hard copy folder went, just type in X1 -- it will find the file. Or see that person who is waiting outside your door to meet you, and you can't remember WHAT you said that last time you spoke, just bring up X1 and type in a few words and X1 will help you remember EXACTLY what you said before you greet that person!

Turning around quotes, refreshing them for customers, not remembering WHERE I saved the file let alone what I called that file. Just a few old memory keywords and X1 saves our company EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR.

I have been using X1 for over 6 years, both at work and at home, for Search of Files and Emails. The ability to immediately retrieve a file based on single word searches is amazing. Can't live without this function.

Also - their Customer Support. Recently, I had a problem with the App. I sent a question into their team. Chris Wheaton a Customer Care Representative from the X1 Customer Service Team responded within 6 hours suggesting a fix. Worked perfectly! Thanks much!

No complaints about any of the product features.

Simply quick access to info in my Email and files.

The search detail is much better and faster than the native features in Windows and also Outlook. I did have some issues based on a problem MS Office install however the X1 support team were able to identify the problem and provide a very specific solution path that worked precisely as documented.

It took a little bit of technical tinkering to make my installation work.

Worth a test drive for sure. So far, for my use, it's been great.

Outlook 2013 is not indexing properly. X1 solved this issue in spades.

It has more than once saved my a** when looking for a file. It finds files that are deeply hidden with a minimum time.

There is not much to dislike. It would be nice if it was free. In fact, it would be even better if they paid thousands of dollars each time you used it. ;>}

Finding specific files.

Fast search of large repositories of information. Search arguments for mail attachments.

Somehow I have not been able to use logical operators in my searches

Locating items from historical repositories that reflect business deals and contracts especially with government entities, from upwards of 20 years

This product once properly configured allows you to find the proverbial "needle in a haystack" on your PC. It has helped me find documents in seconds consistently.

Lacks tutorial of optimizing configuration. Lacks tutorial of best practices to use search features.

You MUST give this product a try. It is really the best of its kind.

Always difficult despite best practices of saving and naming documents to find what is needed based on content of document. X1 Search solves this issue beautifully.

Search has improved so much with O365 that I find X1 to be redundant now

Results searching in Outlook are comparable now. No need for a 2nd application any longer.

In the past it was the most effective, and really only way, to conduct detailed searches including attachment names

Fast and accurate. Many options to narrow the search. Large variety of file formats indexed.

Nothing. Could use minor improvements in User Interface (UI).

Fast search of difficult to retrieve material. Finding old emails and files.

X1 instantly enables me to find almost anything in 700,000 stored emails from the past 18 years--from prior notes to/from people with whom I'm now corresponding to email addresses to specific content. It's also useful for search documents. And on the few occasions I've needed support, my questions have been quickly and effectively answered.

Nothing....................................

highly recommended

Efficient search

Easy to use and it is FAST. Searching for things I have created or received from others can be highly frustrating, and X1 solves this for me

Nothing, it works great. I have friends with Macs who would love X1 so they should create a Mac client at some point ;-)

Try it for yourself

Finding information I need instantly across myriad sources and repositories

Love the products and supports for years! Highly recommended. X1 walks with me through my entire consulting career till today! Thanks for keeping this up and making it better and more stable.

Crashes at times, otherwise I am ok. More features.

X1 is my consulring tool

I am now able to search my Outlook contacts, emails and calendar.

I disliked not being able to search Outlook - but it appears that problem has been resolved.

I am now able to search my Outlook contacts, emails and calendar.

I don't need a photographic memory to with X1

There is no downside to X1. It is the most wonderful software on my PC because it make my entire PC usable for me.

Don't rely on your memory. Rely on X1 to find your data on you PC! Much better than memory.

My work spans decades and my knowledge is accumulative. Without X1, to accumulation would be practically lost. Its a career saver.

Comprehensive search of just about everything. Fast.

Easier to print out Boolean search rules

Try it and notice its speed and accuracy with Boolean searches of email, specified folders, and the preview window

I work across a wide range of fields. Thousands of files in many format. I always remember phrases within documents. Saves the day to see matching files in a preview pane in seconds.

Search speed is amazing and it supports our online resources at SharePoint, Box and OneDrive

There is nothing that I dislike about the product

I highly recommend this product

The staff can quickly find even very old data