Best keyword search app for Mac, private and fast
Sep 23, 2025
Best keyword search app for Mac, private and fast
You remember ideas, not filenames. You need to find text across PDFs, Word, Excel, Keynote, images, audio, and video, then open the exact page, slide, or timestamp. This guide compares the top Mac options, with a clear recommendation when privacy and precision matter.
TLDR
Best overall for private, precise search: Fenn. Supports Keyword, Semantic, Hybrid (both), and Exact match modes across documents, images, audio, and video. Opens directly at the right page, frame, or timestamp.
Good for file name and basic content search: Spotlight and Finder.
Database style research workflows: DEVONthink 4.
Power users of Finder queries: HoudahSpot.
App launchers with search add ons: Alfred or Raycast.
Not an apples to apples fight. Fenn is a precision file search engine. Others are file browsers, launchers, or document databases. Choose based on the job.
Why private and fast matters
Legal, research, finance, and product roles often cannot send content to third parties. With Fenn, indexing and retrieval run on your Mac. You get instant results and keep your work private.
Fenn, the private precision pick
What it is: A macOS file search engine that opens the exact moment inside your files, even from a fuzzy idea.
Search modes:
Keyword for terms you know
Semantic for fuzzy or abstract ideas
Hybrid to blend both in one pass
Exact match when phrase boundaries matter
Works across: PDFs, Word, Excel, Keynote, PowerPoint, images with text, audio, and video.
Opens at the moment: Page numbers, slide name, audio timestamps and video frames.
Privacy and speed: On device by default. Built for Apple Silicon.
Pricing:
Fenn Local: 9 USD per month, billed annually. One Mac. Updates. Founder support.
Fenn Lifetime: 199 USD one time. One year of updates. One Mac. Founder support.
Mini walkthrough:
Select sources to index, for example client folders, project archives, screenshots, and meeting recordings.
Choose a mode, semantic for ideas, keyword or exact when you know the phrase, hybrid for both.
Type what you remember, for example “cost of delay chart with Q3 KPIs.”
Scan contextual snippets with page, slide, or timestamp markers.
Open directly at the right moment in Preview, Keynote, or your media player.
Outcome: Fuzzy idea in, exact place out. No database migration. No lock in.
Spotlight and Finder
Good for: Filenames, simple content matches, and smart folders.
Limits: Keyword centric. Limited understanding of fuzzy intent. No reliable jump to a specific page or timestamp in long media.
HoudahSpot
Good for: Advanced Finder based queries, complex filters, saved searches.
Limits: Focused on files and metadata. Helpful previews, but not built to open exact pages, frames, or timestamps across all formats.
Alfred and Raycast
Good for: Launching apps, quick actions, basic file search, and workflows.
Limits: Great utility layer. Not designed for deep, cross format moment level retrieval.
DEVONthink 4
Good for: Document databases, tagging, smart rules, in app editing.
Limits: Database model means ingesting content first. Generative AI features can send data to cloud providers if enabled, or require local model setup with separate tools. Not a system wide precision opener for page or timestamp across every app.
Choose by job, not by brand
I remember the gist, not the words. Choose Fenn for semantic or hybrid search that still lands on the right passage.
I want a single research database with tags and notebooks. Choose DEVONthink 4.
I craft complex file queries from Finder. Try HoudahSpot.
I need a launcher with light search. Alfred or Raycast works.
I only need filenames. Spotlight or Finder is enough.
Examples by role
Lawyers: “Change of control protection” finds the clause in a 500 page PDF, opens at the page with definitions in view.
Researchers: “Alpha diversity critique in methods” opens the paragraph, then jumps to the seminar recording at the minute with the definition.
Finance and ops: “Variance analysis for prepaid expenses” lands on the audit PDF section, then opens the referenced Excel sheet.
Product and GTM: “NRR dip after price rise” pulls the screenshot with the label, then opens the earnings deck at the retention slide.
Mini case
A partner used to scrub a 60 minute call to find a client objection. With Fenn they search “timeline risk raised by client” and jump to 00:12:14. Five lookups per day save more than an hour each week, with everything staying on device.
How to switch with zero disruption
Keep your folders as they are. Install Fenn. Index the sources you care about. Start with Hybrid search. Use contextual snippets to confirm, then open at the exact moment in your usual apps.