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🔍 Build a Desktop File Content Search App with Python & Tkinter

#tutorial #beginners #python #tkinter

Searching filenames is easy — searching inside files is where things get interesting.

In this tutorial, we’ll build a desktop File Search System using Python, Tkinter, and ttkbootstrap that can:

Recursively scan folders

Search inside files (TXT, CSV, XLSX, PDF, XML)

Support regex searches

Show live progress, speed & ETA

Preview matched content

Export results to CSV

📦 Download / Clone from GitHub
👉 https://github.com/rogers-cyber/File-Search-System/releases

🧰 Step 1: Install Required Libraries

Make sure you have Python 3.9+ installed, then run:

pip install ttkbootstrap xlrd PyPDF2
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📁 Step 2: Import Required Modules

We’ll import modules for:

file handling

regex searching

threading

GUI

file parsing

import os
import sys
import re
import fnmatch
import threading
import time
import xlrd
import PyPDF2
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import filedialog, messagebox
import ttkbootstrap as tb
from ttkbootstrap.constants import *
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⚙️ Step 3: App Configuration

Define your app name and version in one place.

APP_NAME = "File Search System"
APP_VERSION = "1.0.1"
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🪟 Step 4: Initialize the Application Window

Create the main Tkinter window and apply a modern theme.

app = tk.Tk()
style = tb.Style(theme="superhero")
app.title(f"{APP_NAME} {APP_VERSION}")
app.geometry("1230x680")
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🖼 Step 5: Handle App Resources (Icons)

This ensures compatibility with PyInstaller builds.

def resource_path(file_name):
    base_path = getattr(sys, "_MEIPASS", os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
    return os.path.join(base_path, file_name)
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ℹ️ Step 6: Create an “About” Dialog

This adds a professional touch to your app.

def show_about():
    messagebox.showinfo(
        f"About {APP_NAME} v{APP_VERSION}",
        f"{APP_NAME} v{APP_VERSION}\n"
        "Production Edition\n\n"
        "A desktop utility for searching inside files.\n\n"
        "✔ Regex search\n"
        "✔ Multi-file support\n"
        "✔ Live progress & previews\n\n"
        "© 2026 Mate Technologies"
    )
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📋 Step 7: Add a Menu Bar

Attach the About dialog to a Help menu.

menubar = tk.Menu(app)
help_menu = tk.Menu(menubar, tearoff=0)
help_menu.add_command(label="About", command=show_about)
menubar.add_cascade(label="Help", menu=help_menu)
app.config(menu=menubar)
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📂 Step 8: Build the Search Settings UI

This lets users choose a folder and search term.

frame1 = tb.Labelframe(app, text="Search Settings", padding=10)
frame1.pack(fill="x", padx=10, pady=6)

root_path = tk.StringVar()
search_var = tk.StringVar()
regex_var = tk.BooleanVar()

tb.Label(frame1, text="Root Folder:").pack(side="left")
tb.Entry(frame1, textvariable=root_path, width=50).pack(side="left")
tb.Button(frame1, text="Browse", command=lambda: root_path.set(
    filedialog.askdirectory())).pack(side="left")
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🧹 Step 9: Add File Filters & Controls

Users can limit file types and exclude folders.

file_filter = tk.StringVar(value="*")
exclude_folders = tk.StringVar(value="node_modules .git __pycache__")

search_btn = tb.Button(frame1, text="🔍 SEARCH", bootstyle="success")
stop_btn = tb.Button(frame1, text="🛑 STOP", bootstyle="danger-outline", state="disabled")
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📊 Step 10: Progress Bar & Live Stats

We track progress, speed, ETA, and matches.

progress_var = tk.IntVar()
tb.Progressbar(app, variable=progress_var, maximum=100).pack(fill="x")

eta_lbl = tb.Label(app, text="ETA: --")
spd_lbl = tb.Label(app, text="Speed: -- files/s")
counter_lbl = tb.Label(app, text="Matches: 0")
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📄 Step 11: Display Search Results

A TreeView shows file paths and preview text.

tree = tb.Treeview(app, columns=("path", "preview"), show="headings")
tree.heading("path", text="File Path")
tree.heading("preview", text="Match Preview")
tree.pack(fill="both", expand=True)
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🧠 Step 12: Search Logic Helpers
File filtering

def allowed_file(name):
    pats = file_filter.get().lower().split()
    return "*" in pats or any(fnmatch.fnmatch(name, p) for p in pats)
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Folder exclusion

def excluded_dir(path):
    return any(ex in path.lower() for ex in exclude_folders.get().split())
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🔍 Step 13: Read File Contents with Preview

This function handles TXT, CSV, XLSX, PDF, and XML.

def read_file_content_with_preview(path, query, use_regex=False):
    if path.endswith(".txt"):
        with open(path, "r", errors="ignore") as f:
            for i, line in enumerate(f, 1):
                if re.search(query, line, re.I):
                    return True, f"Line {i}: {line[:100]}"
    return False, ""
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(The full version in GitHub supports all formats.)

🚀 Step 14: Run the Search in a Thread

This keeps the UI responsive.

def run_search():
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(root_path.get()):
        for file in files:
            if allowed_file(file):
                path = os.path.join(root, file)
                found, preview = read_file_content_with_preview(
                    path, search_var.get(), regex_var.get())

search_btn.config(command=lambda:
    threading.Thread(target=run_search, daemon=True).start()
)
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📤 Step 15: Export Results to CSV

def export_results():
    file = filedialog.asksaveasfilename(defaultextension=".csv")
    with open(file, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
        for row in results_list:
            f.write(",".join(row) + "\n")
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▶️ Step 16: Start the App
app.mainloop()

✅ Final Result

You now have a fully functional desktop file content search tool with:

Clean UI

Threaded scanning

Multiple file format support

Live progress & previews

CSV export

📦 Download / Clone from GitHub
👉 https://github.com/rogers-cyber/File-Search-System/releases

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