File Lists

An Everything File List (EFU) is a text file containing a list of filenames, sizes, dates, attributes, and other properties.

EFU files are useful for cataloging offline media, backups, or storage locations that can sometimes be unavailable, such as CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, external hard drives, or network directories.

File lists can be opened directly in Everything or included in your Everything index.
Because the list stores the necessary file information, Everything can instantly search and sort the files even when the original files are disconnected or offline.

Create a file list
Open a file list in Everything
Add a file list to your Everything index
Edit a file list
EFU file association
Accessing files in a file list
Change the drive letter in a file list
EFU file format
Everything File List Editor
Open a file list in Excel
.metadata.efu
See also

Create a file list

There are multiple ways to create an EFU file list.

Everything File List Editor

To create a file list with the Everything File List Editor:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click File List Editor....
In the File List Editor, drag and drop files or folders into the list.
Alternatively, add files and folders from the Edit menu.
From the File menu, click Save to save the file list.

For more information, see the Everything File List Editor.

Export Everything results

To save the current Everything results or selection as an EFU file list:

In Everything, from the File menu, click Export....*Set Save as Type to EFU Everything File List (*.efu).
Optionally check Export selection only to export only the selected results.

Requires Everything 1.5

Choose a filename and click Save.

Filenames, sizes, dates modified, dates created, attributes, and other properties shown in the result list are exported.
Only information that Everything has indexed or gathered is exported.

To gather missing information before exporting:

In Everything, from the Edit menu, click Select All.
From the File menu, click Read Extended Information.

Gathering missing information can take a long time.

Export Everything results from the command line

To save Everything search results to an EFU file list from the command line:

Run ES with the -export-efu command line option.

For example, to export PDF files with invoice in the filename from the Downloads folder:

es \downloads invoice *.pdf -export-efu my-invoice-filelist.efu

Create a file list of a folder from the command line

To create a file list from the command line:

Call Everything.exe with the -create-file-list <output.efu> <path-to-folder> command line option.

Folders are scanned from disk, not from your Everything index.
Subfolders are included by default.

For example, to create an EFU file list of C:\Media:

Everything.exe -create-file-list "my-filelist.efu" "C:\Media"

For more information, see -create-file-list.

Open a file list in Everything

To open an EFU file list:

Double-click the EFU file to open it in Everything.

In Everything, from the File menu, click Open File List....
Select the EFU file list and click Open.

When a file list is open, Everything searches and displays the file list items instead of your normal Everything results.
The filename of the open file list is shown on the right side of the status bar.

To close the file list and return to your normal Everything results:

Double-click the file list name in the status bar.

From the File menu, click Close File List.

Other file list formats

Everything also supports plain text, CSV, and Everything database files as file lists.

Plain text file lists (.txt) contain one filename per line.

CSV files use the same format and rules as EFU files.

Everything database files (.db and .backup.db) can also be opened as file lists.
This can be useful for recovering filenames from a drive that is no longer available.

Requires Everything 1.5

Add a file list to your Everything index

To add an EFU file list to your Everything index:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options....
Click the File Lists tab on the left.
Click Add....
Select the EFU file list and click Open.
Click OK.

Everything automatically reloads modified file lists that are included in the Everything index.
To disable monitoring a file list for changes:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options....
Click the File Lists tab on the left.
Select the file list.
Uncheck Monitor changes.
Click OK.

Edit a file list

EFU file lists are text files and can be edited in any text editor.

To edit an EFU file list:

Right-click the EFU file and click Edit.

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click File List Editor....
In the File List Editor, from the File menu, click Open....
Select the EFU file list and click Open.

See also: EFU file association, Everything File List Editor

EFU file association

EFU files are associated with Everything by default.

To associate EFU files with Everything:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options....
Click the General tab on the left.
Check EFU File association.
Click OK.

Accessing files in a file list

Everything searches and sorts items in a file list without accessing the original files.

File and folder names, paths, sizes, dates, attributes, and any other properties are read from the file list.

By default, Everything accesses the original files only when required, such as when you:

Open a file or folder.
Right-click a file or folder.
Preview a file.

Disable context menu shell extensions for file list items

To use simple context menus for file list items without accessing the file or folder:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options....
Click the Advanced tab on the left.
To the right of Show settings containing, search for: filelist
Select filelist_context_menu.
Set the value to false.
Click OK.

Requires Everything 1.5

Alternatively, use the File menu in Everything to perform common file actions without accessing the file or folder.

Disable previews for file list items

To disable previews for file list items:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options....
Click the Advanced tab on the left.
To the right of Show settings containing, search for: filelist
Select filelist_preview.
Set the value to false.
Click OK.

Requires Everything 1.5

Enable icon shell extensions for file list items

To enable icon shell extensions for file list items:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options....
Click the Advanced tab on the left.
To the right of Show settings containing, search for: filelist
Select filelist_icons.
Set the value to true.
Click OK.

Requires Everything 1.5

Show thumbnails for file list items

To show thumbnails for file list items:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options....
Click the Advanced tab on the left.
To the right of Show settings containing, search for: filelist
Select filelist_thumbnails.
Set the value to true.
Click OK.

Requires Everything 1.5

Gather properties not included in the file list

To gather properties (such as SHA256 and Width) not included in the file list:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options....
Click the Advanced tab on the left.
To the right of Show settings containing, search for: filelist
Select filelist_properties.
Set the value to true.
Click OK.

Requires Everything 1.5

Change the drive letter in a file list

If a file list contains paths for a volume that has been assigned a different drive letter, update the drive letter in the file list.

For example, if the file list contains paths on D: and the volume is now assigned to E::

From the Start menu, search for: notepad
Click Notepad.
In Notepad, from the File menu, click Open....
Select the EFU file list and click Open.
From the Edit menu, click Replace....
Set Find what to the old drive letter: D:
Set Replace with to the new drive letter: E:
Click Replace All.
Save the file list.

EFU file format

EFU files are comma-separated values (CSV) files.

A header line is required as the first line of the file to define the column layout.
The Filename column is required.
All other columns are optional.

Example EFU file layout:

Filename,Size,Date Modified,Date Created,Attributes
"C:\Folder\File.txt",1024,132537600000000000,,32
"C:\Folder\Subfolder\",,,2026-09-23T21:31:00,16

Filename

The Filename column specifies the location and name of the file or folder.
Filenames can also be URLs.

Filenames can be absolute (e.g., C:\Folder\File.txt) or relative to the EFU file location (e.g., File.txt or subfolder\File.txt).
The . and .. references can also be used in filenames relative to the EFU file location.
A filename beginning with \ is relative to the root of the EFU file list.
Optionally use a trailing \ or / to indicate a folder.

Size, date and attributes

The Size, Date Modified, Date Created, and Attributes columns are optional.

File sizes are specified in bytes.

Dates can be specified as FILETIMEs (100-nanosecond intervals since January 1, 1601) or as ISO 8601 dates.

Attributes can contain zero or more Windows File Attributes, specified in decimal or hexadecimal with a 0x prefix.

Encoding

EFU files are encoded using UTF-8.

The UTF-8 Byte Order Mark (BOM) is supported, but not required.

CSV values

Values containing commas (,) or double quotes (") must be enclosed in double quotes (").
Within quoted values, double quotes (") are escaped using two double quotes ("").

If a column is specified more than once, the last occurrence is used.
If a filename is specified more than once, the last entry is used.

Everything File List Editor

The Everything File List Editor can create, open, edit, and update EFU file lists.

Open the Everything File List Editor

To open the Everything File List Editor:

In Everything, from the Tools menu, click File List Editor....

Create a new file list in the Everything File List Editor

Opening the File List Editor automatically creates a new file list.

To create a new EFU file list in the Everything File List Editor:

In the File List Editor, from the File menu, click New.

Open a file list in the Everything File List Editor

To open an EFU file list in the Everything File List Editor:

Right-click the EFU file and click Edit.

In the File List Editor, from the File menu, click Open....
Select the EFU file list and click Open.

Save changes to a file list

The Everything File List Editor prompts you to save when closing a file list with unsaved changes.

When a file list has unsaved changes, * is shown to the right of the filename in the window title bar.

To save changes to an EFU file list:

In the File List Editor, from the File menu, click Save.

The Everything File List Editor saves file lists as EFU files.
To save as another format, see Export items from a file list.

Merge file lists

To merge multiple file lists into one:

In the File List Editor, from the File menu, click Import....
Select an EFU file list and click Open.
Repeat for additional file lists.

Imported file lists are added to the current file list.

To remove duplicate entries:

In the File List Editor, from the Tools menu, click Remove Duplicates.

Export items from a file list

Export supports CSV, EFU, M3U, M3U8, TXT (Tab delimited), and TXT formats.

To export items from a file list:

In the File List Editor, from the File menu, click Export....
Select the desired Save as type.
Optionally check Export selection only to export only the selected items.
Choose a filename and click Save.

Update a file list

To update a file list with the current files and folders on disk:

In the File List Editor, open the file list to update.
From the Tools menu, click Update.

Everything rescans the folders in the file list and updates it with any new or changed files and folders.
Files and folders that are no longer found are removed from the file list.

Open a file list in Excel

To open an EFU file list in Excel:

In Excel, from the File menu, click Open.
Change the file type filter to All Files (*.*).
Select the EFU file and click Open.
Change File origin to 65001 : Unicode (UTF-8).
Check My data has headers.
Click Next.
Uncheck Tab.
Check Comma.
Click Next.
Click Finish.

.metadata.efu

A .metadata.efu file is a sidecar file list used to provide property values for files and folders.
It is a regular EFU file, but its purpose is to supply metadata rather than to represent a standalone file list.

For example:

Filename,Rating,Tags
"file.txt",75,"My Tags"

This assigns a rating and tag to file.txt when the .metadata.efu file is in the same location.

Requires Everything 1.5

Lookup behavior

Everything looks for .metadata.efu files starting in the target file or folder's directory and then moving upward toward the root.
It stops looking for a property once it finds a value for that property.

For example, for:

C:\folder\subfolder\file.txt

Everything checks:

C:\folder\subfolder\.metadata.efu
C:\folder\.metadata.efu
C:\.metadata.efu

Filename rules

Metadata filenames must be relative to the location of the .metadata.efu file.
Relative paths cannot use .. to move upward.

Supported properties

Supported properties that can be provided by .metadata.efu files include:

Rating
Tags
Comment
CRC32, CRC64, MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA384, SHA512
Audio, video, and image properties

Metadata values take priority over values gathered from the Windows Property System or built-in property handlers.

Updating metadata

Everything caches .metadata.efu information.
Changes made to a .metadata.efu file externally do not automatically update the property values in Everything.
Press F5 to refresh unindexed properties.
Press Ctrl+F5 to refresh indexed property values for the current selection.