Overview of the Main Window

The Copernic Desktop Search main window features a toolbar that provides access to specified search categories and commands. The left pane contains three sections: Search For, Refine Search (except for Web Search, Favorites/Bookmarks and History categories) and Details. The main section of the window displays the result list and document preview panes. For a comprehensive description of each search category's interface, use the above menu to browse to the appropriate help page.

There are several different ways to open the Copernic Desktop Search main window. You can: Start the software, whether from a desktop shortcut or the Window’s Program Files menu; Select a category in the deskbar menu (see Deskbar Overview); Double-click the Copernic Desktop Search tray icon () located in the Windows system tray or right-click it and then select Open Copernic Desktop Search in the right-click menu.

The Toolbar

The toolbar buttons provide access to search categories, options, commands and help contents.

The Web Search first button allows you to search the Web for news, products, sites, and so on, using predefined categories. The following eight buttons refer to the available desktop search categories. They require different interfaces as each desktop search category offers specific search and result viewing features.

The Options button lets you open the corresponding window where you can customize the software and manage index contents. The black arrow located at the right site of the Options button provides access to a drop-down menu including these commands:

Options: Opens the Options window. Indexing Status: Opens the Indexing Status window. Pause Indexing: Suspends the indexing process. If indexing is manually paused by the user, it has to be restarted manually. Update Index: Updates the entire index or a specific topic depending on your selection (Entire Index, Emails, Files, Music, Pictures, Videos, Contacts, Favorites/Bookmarks, History). Exit: Closes the software, including its tray icon on the Windows taskbar.

The Help button allows you to open the Copernic Desktop Search help topics. You can also click the black arrow located at the right site of the Help button to display the help menu and use one of the following commands:

Check for Software Updates: Verifies available software update and suggests installing a new version if this is the case. Help Contents: Displays the Copernic Desktop Search help topics. Online Support: Opens the Copernic support Web page on the Copernic site. Report a Problem...: Opens the Report a Problem form. Please send the report in order to help Copernic improve its software and fix the problem more quickly for the benefit of all users. Send Feedback...: Opens a form on the Copernic Web site to send ideas, comments, suggestions and even rants. Copernic Desktop Search Home Page: Opens the Copernic Desktop Search home page. About Copernic Desktop Search: Displays the About Copernic Desktop Search window that shows the software version and applicable copyrights.

The Copernic Desktop Search logo allows you to open the About Copernic Desktop Search window directly.

Search For Section

This section lets you detail a query in a search box. You can use various search operators, such as Boolean operators (AND/+, OR, NOT/-) and parentheses to refine your query. You can also use quotation marks for exact phrases or whole words.

You can click the search button (green arrow) or hit the Enter key to launch the query. This should not be required normally because results are displayed and filtered when you enter any letter in the search box ("search as you type") or select a criterion in a drop-down list of the Refine Search section.

Refine Search Section

This section allows you to refine a query with search fields offering criteria and/or search boxes to enter keywords, depending on the case. These search boxes also allow you to use various search operators, such as Boolean operators (AND/+, OR, NOT/-), parentheses and quotes (for exact phrases or whole words). For further information, refer to each appropriate search category’s help page (the Web Search, Favorites and History categories do not feature search fields).

Other Search Results Section

This section, located at the bottom left of the window, displays other matching desktop search categories and the number of additional results found for each of them. Just click on a category link to open the corresponding tab of the main window and examine its results. Please note that no other results will be reported for a search by fields because fields available in Refine Search sections may differ from one category to another.

Result Section

Copernic Desktop Search uses the upper-right pane of the main window to display the search results. The pane header varies depending on the search category and result contents.

The search results pane also features useful shortcuts to other applications related to the targeted search category. These shortcuts are available from the result list header when a result is selected, and from the result's right-click menu.

Preview Section

Available for each desktop search category, this section displays a software-based preview of the selected result. Previews are extremely convenient to examine contents without needing to open each result in its native application. Search terms will be highlighted in the result list of all search categories and the preview pane of the Emails, Files, Favorites/Bookmarks and History categories.

The Status Bar

The status bar indicates the current application status, such as the number of matching items and the index complete status: Indexing or Scanning (and folder's path), Idle, etc. The status bar also features a magnifying glass icon followed by a little black arrow and the index brief status - Idle or Updating. Clicking any of these items displays a quick menu window which featuring commands described previously: Options, Indexing Status, Pause Indexing, Update Index, and Exit.