Open Semantic Desktop Search is free, open-source software for searching and analyzing large document collections. Its desktop edition runs as a preconfigured virtual machine appliance that you import into VirtualBox and connect to documents through shared folders. Those folders are indexed automatically when the virtual machine starts. Search supports wildcards, Boolean AND/OR/NOT operators and fuzzy matching. Multilingual semantic search uses a thesaurus to find synonyms, narrower terms and aliases, with stemming to locate other word forms. Interactive facets group metadata such as authors, organizations, dates and document types; previews can display PDFs, extracted text, table rows and images. Analysis tools include date charts, word clouds, word lists, network graphs and maps. OCR searches text in images and scanned PDFs. Connectors cover files, feeds, websites, SQL databases, MediaWiki and IMAP email. The desktop image is for one user; a separate server installation is aimed at organizations and research teams. The multilingual image is a 4 GB download, and the German desktop virtual machine is listed as coming soon.
Who it is for
It suits individuals who want to search and analyze documents across local folders or file shares using a VirtualBox desktop appliance. Organizations and research teams can consider the separate server installation.
What is good
- Free plan for a single desktop virtual machine.
- Indexes configured shared folders automatically at startup.
- Search includes fuzzy matching and Boolean operators.
- OCR searches images and scanned PDFs.
- Facets, previews and analysis visualizations are included.
What to know first
- The desktop edition requires VirtualBox.
- The multilingual virtual machine image is a 4 GB download.
- The German desktop virtual machine is listed as coming soon.
- An unsecured web server can expose indexed content.
Verdict
Open Semantic Desktop Search combines full-text and semantic search with document analysis, OCR and metadata facets. The desktop version is designed for a single user and requires a VirtualBox appliance; the maker warns that an unsecured web server can expose the search engine and its indexed content.
Open Semantic Desktop Search plans and pricing
All plansCompared on desktop search software
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported platforms
- Web, Windows, macOS, Linux
- Index locations
- local folders, file servers, file shares
- Content search
- Yes
- Email search
- Yes
- OCR search
- Yes
