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Liuer

FAQ

What is Liuer?

Section titled “What is Liuer?”

Liuer is a desktop search tool for macOS that lets you quickly find files and search inside their contents. It combines fast filename search with powerful content search capabilities.

How is Liuer different from Spotlight?

Section titled “How is Liuer different from Spotlight?”

Liuer offers advanced features beyond Spotlight:

  • Regular expression search
  • Boolean keyword conditions for filenames
  • Content search inside files (Pro)
  • Search inside compressed archives — gzip, bzip2, xz, zstd (Pro)
  • Search inside ZIP archives, PDFs, and DOCX files (Pro)
  • Open results at the matching line in your preferred code editor
  • Fine-grained filters (size, date, type, extension, file category)
  • Quick file type category filtering (video, audio, archive, document, image)

What is the difference between Free and Pro?

Section titled “What is the difference between Free and Pro?”

The Free version gives you full filename search — find any file by name with boolean queries, regex, and advanced filters. Pro unlocks content search: the ability to search text inside files, with match previews, editor integration, and document support.

Pro is available as a one-time purchase or subscription.

Does Liuer index my entire disk?

Section titled “Does Liuer index my entire disk?”

Liuer indexes your filesystem with sensible defaults — system paths are excluded by default. In the Mac App Store version, Liuer only indexes the index directory you choose on first launch. After the initial index, incremental updates via file system monitoring keep the index current.

Is my data private?

Section titled “Is my data private?”

Yes. All searching and indexing happens locally on your machine. No data is ever sent to external servers.

What file formats are supported for content search?

Section titled “What file formats are supported for content search?”

Liuer supports plain text files with automatic encoding detection (UTF-8, GBK, Shift-JIS, and more), plus compressed files (gzip, bzip2, xz, zstd), ZIP archives, PDF documents, and DOCX files. See Supported Formats for the full list.

How do I update Liuer?

Section titled “How do I update Liuer?”

Liuer updates are managed through the Mac App Store.

Can I index files on external drives?

Section titled “Can I index files on external drives?”

Yes. The standalone version indexes all mounted volumes by default. In the Mac App Store version, select the folder on the external drive as your index directory.

How do I restore my Pro purchase?

Section titled “How do I restore my Pro purchase?”

For the Mac App Store version, open Liuer, click the Pro button in the sidebar, then click “Restore Purchases” in the top-right corner of the upgrade dialog. Your purchase will be verified against the App Store.

For the standalone version, Pro is tied to a credential file. On your licensed machine, click Liuer → Export Credentials in the menu bar to save the file. Transfer it to another machine and click Liuer → Import Credentials to activate Pro.

Do I need Full Disk Access?

Section titled “Do I need Full Disk Access?”

No — not for the Mac App Store version. On first launch, you simply choose an index directory using the system file picker, and Liuer only indexes files under that directory, so Full Disk Access isn’t needed. To switch directories, click the index directory at the bottom-right of the status bar.

The standalone version requires Full Disk Access to be enabled in System Settings to build a complete search index.

What are the system requirements?

Section titled “What are the system requirements?”

macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later, Apple Silicon or Intel Mac. See Installation for details.

Contact Us

Section titled “Contact Us”