FileLocator Pro review: is the paid mode worth it over the free one?

Not the official site. filelocator.net is an independent review site. We are not Mythicsoft, we are not affiliated with Mythicsoft Ltd, and this is not the FileLocator Pro product page. Our site name just happens to overlap with the product's. To download FileLocator Pro, buy a licence or get support, go to the developer directly at mythicsoft.com.

Who FileLocator Pro is for

FileLocator Pro is a Windows desktop search tool for finding text inside files, from UK developer Mythicsoft. It is not a filename launcher like Everything. It answers questions like "which of these 20,000 files mention this contract number?" The people who pay for it tend to be lawyers and paralegals doing document review, IT and support staff digging through logs and config files, developers searching large codebases, and records or compliance teams working through old file shares, scanned paperwork and exported mailboxes.

The main thing to understand first: since 2019, Agent Ransack and FileLocator Pro have been the same program. Mythicsoft merged them into one codebase, and each ships in two modes. The free Lite mode is free for personal and commercial use. Pro mode unlocks the paid features. Mythicsoft says the Pro licence codes work in either one. So the real question isn't "Agent Ransack or FileLocator Pro?" It's "do I need Pro mode?" That's what this review is about. If you haven't used the free tool yet, read our Agent Ransack review first.

FileLocator Pro vs Agent Ransack (Lite mode)

This is how the two modes compare, based on Mythicsoft's own feature matrix and our hands-on use. Where Mythicsoft lists a feature as "partial" in Lite, we've said so.

Key features

Optional indexing

The free mode scans files at search time. Results are always current, but big trees are slow. Pro mode lets you build an index over locations you search often. The first build takes a while. After that, repeat searches over the same share come back far faster. The index is optional and per location, so you can still run an index-free search on a USB stick or a newly unzipped folder. We think this hybrid is the smartest part of the product. Tools like DocFetcher and Copernic make you commit to an index, while the free Agent Ransack never uses one.

OCR for scanned documents

Scanned PDFs and photos of documents contain no text, just pixels, so a normal content search skips them. Pro mode can OCR them so their words become searchable. It's much slower than reading a native text layer, so point it at the folders that actually hold scans. If you're not sure which kind of PDF you have, our guide to searching inside PDFs explains the ten-second test.

Email stores and archives

Pro mode searches inside Outlook PST and MSG files, including emails, contacts, appointments and attachments. It also searches inside compressed archives such as ZIP. That makes it useful for eDiscovery-style tasks, like "find every email or zipped attachment that mentions this supplier", without exporting everything first.

Hash search and data discovery

You can search by MD5 or SHA-1/256/512 hash. That's handy for finding every copy of a known file across a share, even when the copies have been renamed. The data discovery tools help you find patterns like card or ID numbers in files that shouldn't contain them.

Command line, scripting and reports

FileLocator Pro has a command line and an API, so searches can run from scheduled tasks or scripts. Results can go out as formatted reports or exports instead of being copied from the window by hand. Admins who run the same audit searches every week use Pro for this more than anything else.

Regex filename examples that actually work

A lot of people land here searching for FileLocator Pro filename regex, so here are patterns we use. In the File name box, switch the expression type to Regular Expression. FileLocator uses a Perl-compatible regex engine (based on Boost), so lookaheads and inline flags work. The pattern is tested against the file name. For case-insensitive matching, add (?i) at the start or set the case option. We checked every pattern below against sample filenames.

All PDFs except the ones ending in "- OCR"

^(?!.*- OCR\.pdf$).*\.pdf$

This matches Invoice 1042.pdf but not Invoice 1042 - OCR.pdf. It's useful when a scanning workflow has already saved OCR'd copies and you only want the originals, or the reverse. How it works:

• ^ anchors to the start of the name.
• (?!.*- OCR\.pdf$) is a negative lookahead. It checks from the start whether the whole name ends in - OCR.pdf, and if it does, the match fails. It doesn't use up any characters.
• .*\.pdf$ then requires the name to end in .pdf. The dot is escaped so it matches a literal period.

Add (?i) at the front to also exclude - ocr.PDF. To find only the OCR'd copies, flip it to - OCR\.pdf$.

Date-prefixed documents (YYYY-MM-DD)

(?i)^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}.*\.(pdf|docx?)$

This matches 2026-09-01 board minutes.pdf and 2026-09-01.doc, but not 2026-9-1 notes.pdf. It's good for checking a naming convention.

Word files that aren't drafts or copies

(?i)^(?!.*(draft|copy)).*\.docx$

This skips Draft v2.docx and Report - Copy.docx. Same lookahead trick as above, applied to a list of words.

Windows duplicate-download names

\(\d+\)\.[^.]+$

This finds report (1).pdf, photo (12).jpg and similar, which are usually leftovers from downloading the same thing twice. Pair it with our duplicate files guide before deleting anything.

Camera photos by pattern

(?i)^IMG_\d{4}\.(jpe?g|heic)$

This matches IMG_1234.jpg, IMG_0001.HEIC and img_5678.jpeg, and nothing else.

Files with no extension

^[^.]+$

This finds names with no dot at all, like README, LICENSE and extension-less exports, which are easy to miss with wildcard masks.

For more patterns and the general syntax, see our regex file search guide. All of these filename patterns also work in the free Lite mode. Regex is not a Pro-only feature.

Performance and indexing notes

We ran FileLocator Pro against slices of our 1.2-million-file test library, the same one we used for the Agent Ransack review. Without an index it behaves just like the free mode. It's quick on scoped folders and on plain text, slower when it has to parse Office and PDF files, and an unrestricted scan of a whole large drive is still a wait. The multi-threaded engine keeps a modern multi-core machine busy, and cancelling returns partial results straight away.

Indexing is what changes things. After the index finished building over a large document share, repeat content searches went from a noticeable wait to near-instant, in the same class as dedicated indexed tools. Three practical tips from our testing:

• Index what you search repeatedly, not everything. A focused index builds faster and stays fresh.
• Scope OCR tightly. OCR is by far the slowest step. Run it on folders that actually hold scans.
• Keep the filename mask narrow. *.pdf;*.docx or a regex like the ones above still cuts search time a lot, indexed or not.

Pricing

At the time of writing, Mythicsoft lists these licences on its purchase page (check there for current prices):

• Standard: $79 per named user, for up to 3 Windows installations (e.g. work PC, home PC, laptop). Volume pricing drops per licence at 25, 100 and 500 seats.
• Technician: $142 per named user, for an unlimited number of Windows installations. Aimed at IT staff who work on many machines.
• Floating: $206 per concurrent user.

Licences are perpetual. Each purchase includes free major upgrades for one year, and minor updates are always free. Mythicsoft offers a discount on support and upgrade renewals, larger if you renew before the period runs out. There's a 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Older reviews and resellers quote lower prices from earlier years, so don't rely on those.

Alternatives worth considering

Start with the free Agent Ransack. It's the same program in Lite mode, and plenty of people never need more. For heavy indexed desktop search, including email, X1 Search is the enterprise-leaning option and Copernic is the consumer-friendly one. If you want an index without paying, DocFetcher is free and open source, though it has no OCR. See how everything ranks in our best file search software roundup.

FAQ

Final verdict

FileLocator Pro is the grown-up version of a free tool we already rate highly. Everything good about Agent Ransack is here: precise boolean and regex search, a hit-in-context preview, and no forced index. Pro adds the features that matter once searching is part of your job, namely an optional index, OCR, and email and archive search. It loses points for the dated interface, the Windows-only support and a price that has crept up. Our advice is to use the free Lite mode until you hit a wall, then turn on the 30-day trial and see whether Pro gets you past it. For heavy users it almost always does. 8.5/10.