Hi
I'm using Linux Mint 19 cinnamon.

Is there somehow I can include/enable file contents search when using the standard file browser?
Right now I use the native Nemo, but I will switch if I have to.

I installed CatFish, but I would really like to avoid using a separate program just for searching content, as it's something I usually do a lot when webcoding.
Thank you.

I use the command line, and I just looked, and pcmanfm has a file search build it, and I did not know that until just now.

Thanks

you will need a special program to search file contents.
grep can do it, read 'man grep', esp. the -r switch.
find finds files, and can be combined with grep via its -exec switch (man find).

Can't I just install and use an other file browser than Nemo?

yes.

Ok, do you know of one that has the ability to search for file contents then?

spacefm via plugin: https://github.com/IgnorantGuru/spac...ce-find-plugin

Hi there! .
I am a bit of a newbie (using Mint 18), but I have come across these issue of searching files by content and I had to thoroughly research that. Here is what I came up with, after posting questions on this forum and others:

Popular search options are no good for content search:
Searchmonkey - only searching by file name
FSearch - only searching by file name
Nemo has a good search by file name, but NOT content

Catfish - can search contents BUT only for plain text files, NOT for .odf or .doc

TO SEARCH TEXT FILES BY CONTENT REGARDLESS OF FILE TYPE: only two options exist: Docfetcher and Recoll (OR you can learn to do it in the command line)

Docfetcher - a little harder to install (need to install Java runtime); easier interface for newbie
Recoll - install in software centre, but must install helpers as well; more advanced interface

Recoll is for pros, if you are one - go for it, BUT you need to install "helpers" to search particular file types (see their documentation)

Docfetcher is my choice, absolutely love it.
Installation is a bit tedious, must install Runtime Java, then install from a .zip archive. It does not add itself to applications menu, you have to launch it from a .sh file (the "GTK2" file in the archive is what I used in Ubuntu 18 VM), and the help menu is hidden in the folder in the archive. But, once you sort it all out -
you don't have to worry about installing any "helpers" as with Recoll, it searches ALL formats
website: http://docfetcher.sourceforge.net/en/download.html
how to install java: https://www.pcsteps.com/5492-how-to-...x-mint-ubuntu/

Recoll (from software manager) - not newbie friendly, but can search contents of other formats
need to "index" (via menu) every time files change; by default searches only home directory, but can change in menu
once search the directory with particular format files, then look at "missing helpers" in the menu
to search odf, pdf and doc files:
sudo apt-get install python-libxslt1
sudo apt-get install antiword
to check if installed already: java -version

COMMMAND LINE - as an example, here is the way of searching many .odt files: (https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...39#post5916739)

Just a note that if you are using MATE as your desktop environment then MATE Search Tool, which comes for example as default with Mint MATE, allows you to search file contents (use the "Contains the text" field).

thanks! do you know if that would search text files other than plain text (e.g. pdf. doc, odf)?

long gone are the times i concerned myself so much with finding a GUI thingy for my needs.

find and/or grep joined in little ad-hoc scripts does the trick, every time.

Ah, no. It's limited in that regard - it merely searches the file's raw contents, so it's only really suitable for plain text files.

^ once again, grep can. or 'strings'.