In this tutorial, we'll build Mate Desktop Search Pro, a GUI app for searching files on your computer by name or content. We'll use Tkinter, TTKBootstrap, and PyPDF2 for PDF searching.
This guide breaks everything into small, digestible sections so beginners can follow along.
Step 1: Setup Your Project
First, make sure you have Python installed. We'll need a few libraries:
pip install ttkbootstrap pillow PyPDF2
ttkbootstrap: Modern themes for Tkinter
Pillow: Image handling
PyPDF2: Reading PDF content
Step 2: Import Required Libraries
We start by importing Python modules:
import sys
import os
import time
from pathlib import Path
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import filedialog, messagebox
import ttkbootstrap as tb
from PIL import Image, ImageTk
import subprocess
import PyPDF2
tkinter → GUI elements
ttkbootstrap → stylish themes
Pillow → image previews
PyPDF2 → search PDFs
subprocess → open files
Step 3: App Configuration
Let's define some basic app info and a helper function for resources:
APP_NAME = "Mate Desktop Search Pro"
APP_VERSION = "2.0.0"
APP_AUTHOR = "Mate Technologies"
def resource_path(name):
base = getattr(sys, "_MEIPASS", Path(__file__).parent)
return Path(base) / name
resource_path is helpful if you later package your app with PyInstaller.
Step 4: Initialize the Tkinter App
We create the main window and apply a theme:
app = tk.Tk()
style = tb.Style(theme="superhero") # You can change theme
app.title(f"{APP_NAME} {APP_VERSION}")
app.geometry("1200x650")
Style(theme="superhero") → applies a dark theme
geometry → sets window size
Step 5: Define Variables
We'll store indexed files, recent files, current folder, search query, etc.
indexed_files = []
recent_files = []
current_folder = tk.StringVar(value="")
search_query = tk.StringVar(value="")
status_text = tk.StringVar(value="Idle")
file_filter = tk.StringVar(value="All")
sort_mode = tk.StringVar(value="Name")
preview_img = None
FILTERS = {
"All": [],
"Images": [".png",".jpg",".jpeg",".gif"],
"Docs": [".txt",".pdf",".docx"],
"Videos": [".mp4",".mov",".avi"]
}
StringVar → binds variables to GUI elements
FILTERS → allows file type filtering
Step 6: Select and Index a Folder
We need a function for users to pick a folder and index all its files:
def select_folder():
folder = filedialog.askdirectory()
if folder:
current_folder.set(folder)
index_folder(folder)
def index_folder(folder):
indexed_files.clear()
for root, dirs, files in os.walk(folder):
for f in files:
indexed_files.append(os.path.join(root, f))
status_text.set(f"Indexed {len(indexed_files)} files")
update_results()
filedialog.askdirectory() → open folder picker
os.walk() → recursively find files
Step 7: Filtering Files
We'll only show files matching the selected filter:
def file_matches(path):
ext = Path(path).suffix.lower()
allowed = FILTERS[file_filter.get()]
return not allowed or ext in allowed
If the filter is "All", we allow all files.
Step 8: Searching File Content
We can search inside text and PDF files:
def search_content(path, query):
try:
if path.endswith(".txt"):
return query in open(path, errors="ignore").read().lower()
if path.endswith(".pdf"):
reader = PyPDF2.PdfReader(path)
for p in reader.pages[:3]:
if query in p.extract_text().lower():
return True
except:
pass
return False
Only searches the first 3 pages of PDFs for speed.
Handles errors gracefully with try/except.
Step 9: Update Search Results
This function updates the Listbox whenever the search query changes:
def update_results(*args):
q = search_query.get().lower()
results.delete(0, tk.END)
matches = []
for f in indexed_files:
if not file_matches(f):
continue
name_match = q in os.path.basename(f).lower()
content_match = q and search_content(f, q)
if not q or name_match or content_match:
matches.append(f)
if sort_mode.get() == "Size":
matches.sort(key=lambda x: os.path.getsize(x))
elif sort_mode.get() == "Date":
matches.sort(key=lambda x: os.path.getmtime(x))
else:
matches.sort()
for m in matches[:500]:
results.insert(tk.END, m)
status_text.set(f"{len(matches)} result(s)")
Supports sorting by Name, Size, or Date
Limits results to 500 files for performance
Step 10: Opening and Previewing Files
Double-click a file to open it and see a preview:
def open_selected(event=None):
sel = results.curselection()
if not sel: return
path = results.get(sel[0])
recent_files.append(path)
if len(recent_files) > 20:
recent_files.pop(0)
try:
if sys.platform.startswith("win"):
os.startfile(path)
elif sys.platform.startswith("darwin"):
subprocess.call(["open", path])
else:
subprocess.call(["xdg-open", path])
except Exception as e:
messagebox.showerror("Error", str(e))
def show_preview(event=None):
global preview_img
sel = results.curselection()
if not sel: return
path = results.get(sel[0])
ext = Path(path).suffix.lower()
preview.delete("all")
try:
if ext in [".png",".jpg",".jpeg",".gif"]:
img = Image.open(path)
img.thumbnail((250,250))
preview_img = ImageTk.PhotoImage(img)
preview.create_image(0,0,anchor="nw",image=preview_img)
elif ext==".txt":
txt = open(path, errors="ignore").read()[:1500]
preview.create_text(5,5,anchor="nw",fill="white",text=txt)
else:
info = f"{Path(path).name}\n\nSize: {os.path.getsize(path)//1024} KB\nModified: {time.ctime(os.path.getmtime(path))}"
preview.create_text(5,5,anchor="nw",fill="white",text=info)
except:
pass
Supports image preview, text preview, and basic info for other files
Step 11: Recent Files and About
Add buttons to see recent files or app info:
def show_recent():
results.delete(0, tk.END)
for f in reversed(recent_files):
results.insert(tk.END, f)
def show_about():
messagebox.showinfo(
APP_NAME,
f"{APP_NAME} {APP_VERSION}\n\n"
"Advanced desktop search engine.\n\n"
"• Content search TXT/PDF\n"
"• Filters\n"
"• Preview\n"
"• Sorting\n"
"• Recent files\n\n"
"Mate Technologies"
)
Step 12: Build the GUI Layout
We use Frames to divide the app into left (results) and right (controls) sections:
tb.Label(app, text=APP_NAME, font=("Segoe UI", 18, "bold")).pack(pady=5)
main = tb.Frame(app)
main.pack(fill="both", expand=True, padx=10, pady=10)
# Left - Results
left = tb.Frame(main)
left.pack(side="left", fill="both", expand=True)
results = tk.Listbox(left, bg="#222", fg="white")
results.pack(fill="both", expand=True)
results.bind("<Double-Button-1>", open_selected)
results.bind("<<ListboxSelect>>", show_preview)
# Right - Controls
right = tb.Frame(main, width=320)
right.pack(side="right", fill="y", padx=5)
tb.Entry(right, textvariable=current_folder).pack(fill="x")
tb.Button(right, text="Select Folder", bootstyle="primary", command=select_folder).pack(fill="x", pady=3)
tb.Entry(right, textvariable=search_query).pack(fill="x")
search_query.trace_add("write", update_results)
tb.Combobox(right, values=list(FILTERS.keys()), textvariable=file_filter).pack(fill="x", pady=2)
file_filter.trace_add("write", update_results)
tb.Combobox(right, values=["Name","Size","Date"], textvariable=sort_mode).pack(fill="x", pady=2)
sort_mode.trace_add("write", update_results)
tb.Button(right, text="Recent Files", bootstyle="info", command=show_recent).pack(fill="x", pady=3)
tb.Button(right, text="Open", bootstyle="success", command=open_selected).pack(fill="x", pady=3)
tb.Button(right, text="About", bootstyle="secondary", command=show_about).pack(fill="x", pady=3)
preview = tk.Canvas(right, width=250, height=250, bg="#333")
preview.pack(pady=5)
tb.Label(right, textvariable=status_text).pack()
Step 13: Run the App
Finally, start the Tkinter main loop:
app.mainloop()
✅ Now you have a fully functional desktop search app with:
Folder selection
File indexing
Name and content search
Filters and sorting
Image and text previews
Recent files list
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