dnGrep

Free plan Windows

What dnGrep is

dnGrep is a free graphical search utility for Windows computers. It searches local folders, network paths, and cloud-backed folders for plain text, regular expressions, XPath patterns, fuzzy matches, or byte sequences. Searches can cover ordinary text files, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents, plus files stored inside ZIP, 7z, RAR, and JAR archives. Results are highlighted and can be previewed with syntax highlighting, saved, moved, copied, or deleted. Undo is available for file actions and replacements. Replacement works in plain text files, but not in binary formats such as Office documents, PDFs, ebooks, archives, images, audio, or executables. The interface offers light and dark themes, translations, bookmarks, saved searches, and a regular-expression testing form. Optional connections support Notepad++, GVim, VS Code, WinMerge, Beyond Compare, and Everything. Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server are supported.

Who it suits

dnGrep suits Windows users who need content searches across documents, archives, local or network locations. It is also useful for people wanting configurable search modes and optional editor or diff-tool connections.

What it does well

Free plan with no trial requirement
Searches documents and archive contents
Supports regex, XPath, fuzzy, and byte searches
Preview, save, move, copy, and delete results
Light and dark themes with translations

What to know first

Replacement excludes binary formats
Windows 7 receives no further updates
Smart App Control may be incompatible
Solid archives can search much slower

Verdict

dnGrep combines broad file-format coverage with several search methods and result-management tools. Its Windows focus and binary-replacement limit are the main constraints to consider.

Facts from dnGrep's own pages

Archive performance: Solid 7z and RAR archives can be up to 1000 times slower to search than non-solid archives. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Code signing: dnGrep says its MSI installers and binary files are signed, while third-party libraries included in the install kit may not be signed. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Distribution: The site links to GitHub, Chocolatey, and WinGet for installation, and says releases include .NET 9. · dngrep.github.io, 10 Oct 2026
File actions: The application can move, copy, and delete result files, and includes undo functionality. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
File types: It searches text files, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and files inside archives such as ZIP, 7z, RAR, and JAR. · dngrep.github.io, 10 Oct 2026
Integrations: Optional integrations include Windows File Explorer, text editors such as Notepad++ and VS Code, diff tools such as WinMerge, and Everything. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Interface: Features include highlighted search results, preview with syntax highlighting, light and dark themes, bookmarks, and saved search results. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
License: The dnGrep source repository identifies the project as GPL-3.0 licensed. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Other actions: Search results can be previewed, moved, copied, deleted, and saved, and replace actions support undo. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Personalization: The interface offers light and dark themes, translations, bookmarks, and a form for testing regular expressions. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Privacy: The program says it does not transfer information to other networked systems unless specifically requested; its periodic GitHub version check transmits no user information and can be disabled. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Purpose: dnGrep is a graphical grep utility for Windows that searches files and displays matches in a results tree. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Replace limit: Replace works in plain text files but does not replace in binary formats such as Word, Excel, or PDF. · dngrep.github.io, 10 Oct 2026
Search methods: Search options include plain text, regular expressions, XPath, fuzzy search, and byte sequences. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Search modes: It supports plain text, regular expression, XPath, fuzzy, and byte sequence searches. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Security compatibility: The site warns that dnGrep may be incompatible with Windows Smart App Control on Windows 11. · dngrep.github.io, 9 Oct 2026
Windows 7: The site says Windows 7 users can still run version 3.2.330 on .NET Framework 4.8, but will receive no further updates. · dngrep.github.io, 9 Oct 2026
Windows compatibility: The website lists Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server as supported; it warns that Smart App Control may be incompatible. · dngrep.github.io, 10 Oct 2026
Windows support: The site says dnGrep runs on Windows 10, Windows 11, or Windows Server. · dngrep.github.io, 9 Oct 2026

Where dnGrep stands on Freedom251

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