Instant Answers & Keyword Shortcuts

Some results appear instantly as you type, without waiting for a file search — either always on, or gated behind a short keyword you type before your actual query (so a large feature like browser history search doesn't compete for attention on every unrelated keystroke). Most keyword-gated ones have their keyword configured in Settings → Plugins → Configure.

Always on

These need no keyword — they activate as soon as what you type matches their pattern.

Calculator

Type a math expression directly and the result appears live, with Enter copying it to the clipboard:

12 * (4 + 3)

Explicit base conversion is also supported:

255 to hex
0xFF to dec

Environment variables

• %NAME% expands a specific variable (including multi-path variables like %PATH%, split into one entry per path).
• %partial fuzzy-lists every variable whose name matches partial.

Run a command

• #<command> opens a Command Prompt window and runs <command> as Administrator.
• $<command> opens a Command Prompt window and runs <command> normally.

Bare URLs

Type or paste a http:///https:// address and SwiftList offers to open it directly.

Keyword-triggered (built-in, configurable prefix)

Type the keyword, a space, then your query. Each keyword defaults to a short prefix but can be changed independently in that plugin's own Configure dialog if it collides with something you type often.

Keyword (default)	Plugin	What it searches
ps	Process Manager	Running processes by name, PID, or window title (fuzzy/pinyin matches too) — select one to kill it.
win	Window Switcher	Currently open, switchable windows — the same set Alt+Tab shows — by title, process name, or PID. Select one to bring it to the foreground.
tr	Translation	Translates the typed text, auto-detecting source language and translating to/from your interface language.
bm	Browser Data	Bookmarks and history from Chrome/Chromium-family and Firefox-family browser profiles you've added under that plugin's own settings.
set	Core Extensions	Every setting in the app, fuzzy-matched by name — pick one to jump straight to it in Settings, highlighted. Type set with nothing after it to list every setting.

Window Switcher shows a live thumbnail of each window's actual content as its icon by default, captured in the background so it never slows down typing — a plain app icon shows immediately, and the thumbnail fades in once it's ready. Turn off Show Window Content as Icon in Settings → Plugins → Window Switcher → Configure to skip that capture entirely and always use the app icon. A window running as true exclusive fullscreen (most games default to borderless windowed instead, which this handles fine) can't be captured this way and always falls back to its app icon.

Browser Data indexes bookmarks and history independently — Index Bookmarks and Index History are separate toggles in Settings → Plugins → Browser Data → Configure, so you can turn history off (it tends to grow far larger than bookmarks) while still searching bookmarks, or vice versa.

Web search

Web Search ships with default keywords for several engines/sites — bd (Baidu), g (Google), bing (Bing), gh (GitHub), wiki (Wikipedia), yt (YouTube) — and lets you add, edit, or remove entries entirely, each with its own name, keyword, icon, and URL template, from Settings → Plugins → Web Search → Configure.

g swiftlist github

opens a Google search for "swiftlist github" in your browser.

File Filters

Index specific folders under their own rule, configured entirely under Settings → Plugins → File Filters → Configure. Each rule has its own Target Folders list (scanned recursively), an Extensions / Pattern field (e.g. *.exe;*.lnk — several patterns separated by ; or , are all matched; the default * matches every file), and an optional Filter Name shown in the result description. Subfolders are always included regardless of the pattern — only files are filtered by it.

Add a Shortcut Keyword to gate a rule's matches behind a prefix, the same as the built-in keywords above, instead of always mixing them into the general index.

Fully custom (you define the keyword)

Custom Commands

Define your own <keyword> <args> commands that launch an external program, configured entirely under Settings → Plugins → Custom Commands → Configure. The command's parameter template supports positional placeholders (%s1, %s2, ... for each space-separated argument) and a whole-remainder placeholder (%s for everything typed after the keyword).

Each command also has a Show in Quick Navigation checkbox (off by default) — turn it on to also list that command as its own entry at the root of the Quick Navigation menu, clickable without typing its keyword at all. The Quick Navigation Submenu field nests it under a named submenu instead of the root — use / to nest multiple levels deep (e.g. Tools/Network for a two-level submenu); leave it empty to keep the command at the top level. A command shown this way runs with its configured parameters as-is, since there's no typed argument text to substitute into %s1/%s here.

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None of the plugins on this page are required — each can be disabled independently under Settings → Plugins if you don't want it competing for keyboard space, and Search Syntax covers the separate, always-active fuzzy query language used for everything else (files, folders, applications).