Getting Started

Welcome to Lertaro! Lertaro is a file search launcher and productivity tool built for Windows. This guide walks you through installation options, core architecture, three distinct window modes, and essential search workflows.

1. Download & Installation

You can get the latest release from the official homepage. Each release provides installer and portable artifacts for native x64 and ARM64 application builds:

Installer (Lertaro-Setup.exe, Recommended)

• Automated Configuration: The setup wizard automatically installs the required .NET desktop runtime; on first launch, Lertaro itself registers the background indexing service and configures the startup entry.
• In-Place Upgrades: Supports background update checks and one-click in-place upgrades.

Portable Edition (Lertaro-Portable.zip)

• Extract and Run: Unzip to any folder and run immediately without installation.
• Runtime Dependency: If your system lacks the required .NET desktop runtime, run the bundled install-dotnet-runtime.bat script once.
• Self-Contained Data Storage: The portable edition saves machine-wide data to Data\Machine alongside the application, and user settings to Data\Users\<SID hash>. If the Data directory does not exist yet, it falls back to %ProgramData%\Lertaro and %LocalAppData%\Lertaro for compatibility; once created, it prioritizes local data as a fully self-contained instance.
• Locked When the Service Is Installed: Installing the background service (you approve one UAC prompt) locks the portable folder. Only administrators can change the application files, Data\Machine is written by the service alone, and each user's Data\Users\<SID hash> folder is private to that user. Updating or removing a portable copy therefore needs administrator rights; portable-cleanup.bat asks for them itself.
• Clean Removal: Before deleting the portable folder, run the bundled portable-cleanup.bat script. It stops and uninstalls the background service, and removes current-user lertaro:// URI registrations and startup entries.

TIP

If you are using a Windows on ARM device (such as Surface Pro X or Snapdragon laptops), download the native Lertaro-Setup-arm64.exe or Lertaro-Portable-arm64.zip for maximum performance and battery efficiency.

2. Architecture Overview

When running Lertaro for the first time, it installs and launches a dedicated Windows service (service name LertaroService, binary Lertaro.Service.exe). Understanding this separation helps you get the most out of the system:

• Foreground App (UI & Interaction): Renders search windows, floating panels, action menus, keyboard hooks, and interactive previews. The foreground process keeps a low memory footprint and instant responsiveness.
• Background Service (Indexing & Data): Runs with service privileges in the background, continuously monitoring NTFS / ReFS USN change journals, tracking filesystem events, managing network drives, and maintaining an in-memory index tree.
• Architectural Benefits: Restarting, updating, or closing the UI never loses the background index or triggers full rescans. Heavy indexing tasks never stutter your keystrokes. You can check service status and health at any time under Settings → Service Status.

3. Three Window Modes

Lertaro is not limited to a single search window. It adapts to different workflows with three purpose-built window modes:

Window Mode	Default Trigger	Key Features & Design Focus	Best Used For
Quick Window	Double-tap Ctrl (Customizable)	Compact centered floating bar with type-to-search, number key jumps, a type filter bar under the search box, and full keyboard navigation	Frequent app launching, quick calculations, translations, and fast file lookup
Full Window	Taskbar/Start shortcut, or Ctrl+F	Full-featured large window with tabular results, sidebar filter groups, column sorting, and built-in Space Analyzer	Deep file browsing, broad exploration, disk space cleaning, and batch management
Inline Window	Type a letter or digit inside a file dialog / file manager (or dock it in Explorer)	Embedded directly into standard Windows file dialogs or third-party file managers. The card never steals the keyboard: keep typing in the dialog's own field, and double-tap Ctrl (your configured summon hotkey) to move the caret into the card	Quick destination locating when opening or saving files in external software

All three window modes share the exact same underlying search engine, shortcut scheme, filter rules, and action menus.

4. First Search & Basic Navigation

Type to Search

Simply open the search window and start typing. Results appear in real time (sub-millisecond latency). Search matching uses fuzzy jump matching by default — characters do not need to be contiguous. For advanced syntax, operators, and modifiers, see Search Syntax.

Navigating & Opening Results

• Move Selection: Use arrow keys ↑ / ↓ (or configured navigation hotkeys Ctrl+P / Ctrl+N) to move selection up and down.
• Open Directly: Press Enter to open the highlighted file or launch the application.
• Reveal in Explorer: Press Ctrl+Enter to locate and select the item directly in Windows File Explorer.
• Run as Administrator: Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to launch the selected application with administrative privileges.
• Direct Number Jump: In the Quick Window, press Ctrl + 1–9 to jump directly to any of the first 9 results.

Action Menu & Context Actions

Press Ctrl+O or → on the highlighted item to expand the Action Menu, offering path copying, file operations, properties, and plugin extensions. Those two keys belong to the Quick Window (and to the inline card outside file dialogs); in the Full Window use right-click or the Apps key instead. Read Actions & Preview and Hotkeys for more tips.