Cling

Cling is an instant fuzzy file finder designed for macOS, capable of locating any file in an instant and performing actions on it instantly.

Cling uses a custom binary indexing engine to efficiently index the entire file system, track file changes in real time through FSEvents, and achieve fuzzy search across millions of files, typically returning results within 100 milliseconds. Unlike Spotlight, Raycast, or Alfred, Cling can find system files, hidden files, dot files, app data, and other content not covered by the Spotlight index. Users can quickly find their target by simply entering some keywords or even misspelled queries, supporting extension-aware searches such as .png icon or .pdf invoice.

Cling has a minimalist interface and focuses on keyboard operations, press Right Command + / shortcut keys to show or hide windows, display recently modified files by default when starting, and support search history navigation through arrow keys and Tab completion. Users can perform instant actions such as opening, copying paths, bulk renaming, QuickLook, or drag-and-drop on selected files, exclude specific files or folders using gitignore mode via ~/.fsignore files, or disable entire index ranges such as system or library folders to optimize memory and speed. Cling is especially suitable for power users who want an efficient workflow, striving to be a tool for everything on macOS, supporting persistent indexing of external USB drives, hard drives, and network share volumes, and searching volumes even when they are not mounted.