# Your first search in 5 minutes

This tutorial takes you from a fresh install to your first successful search. By the end, you'll have SearchBox set up, your Documents folder indexed, and you'll have seen the two things that make SearchBox feel a little like magic: finding files by the words *inside* them, and finding them even when you misspell the search.

> 🔒 Everything in this tutorial happens on your own computer. SearchBox doesn't send your files, your searches, or anything else anywhere.

## Step 1: Install SearchBox

1. Install SearchBox and open it. The full walkthrough is in [Getting started](../getting-started.md) — on Windows it's a normal installer, and when it finishes SearchBox opens in its own window.

## Step 2: Create your account

The first time SearchBox opens, it asks you to create an account. This account exists only on your computer — it's how SearchBox protects your data from anyone else who uses the machine.

1. On the **Welcome to SearchBox** screen, type an email address in the **Email** box. (It's used as your login name — no email is ever sent to it.)
2. Optionally, type your name in the **Name (optional)** box.
3. Type a password in the **Password** box, and the same one again in **Confirm Password**.
4. Click **Create Account**.

![The Welcome to SearchBox setup screen with the account form](../img/setup-account.png)
<!-- SCREENSHOT NEEDED: Launch SearchBox on a machine with no existing account (fresh install or wiped data dir) so the /setup page appears. Capture the whole "Welcome to SearchBox" card showing the Email, Name (optional), Password, and Confirm Password fields and the green "Create Account" button. -->

## Step 3: Save your recovery key

Right after your account is created, SearchBox shows a window titled **Save Your Recovery Key**. This key is a long code that can reset your password if you ever forget it.

1. Click **Download Recovery Key** and let it save the file.
2. Move that file somewhere safe *outside* this computer if you can — a USB stick, a password manager, or a printed copy in a drawer.
3. Close the window.

> ⚠️ This is the only time SearchBox shows you this key, and it is the **only** way to reset a lost password. Without it, files stored in your encrypted vault cannot be recovered. Take the extra minute now.

![The Save Your Recovery Key window with the Download Recovery Key button](../img/recovery-key.png)
<!-- SCREENSHOT NEEDED: Immediately after completing setup, SearchBox lands on the Settings page with the "Save Your Recovery Key" modal open. Capture the modal showing the key (blur or replace the actual key value) and the "Download Recovery Key" button. -->

## Step 4: Go to the search page

After setup, you land on the Settings page.

1. Click **Back to Search** in the top-left corner. You'll see the SearchBox logo with a big search box under it.

## Step 5: Index your Documents folder

Right now SearchBox knows about none of your files. Let's introduce it to your Documents folder. "Indexing" means SearchBox reads each file once and builds a private catalog of the words inside — that catalog is what makes searches instant later.

1. Click the round upload button — the arrow pointing up in the corner of the screen. A window titled **Manage Documents** opens.
2. Click the **Index Folder** tab.
3. Click **Browse** and pick your Documents folder (usually `C:\Users\<your name>\Documents`). On Linux or Docker there's no Browse dialog — click into the path box and type the folder path instead.
4. Click the **Index Folder** button below the path.

![The Manage Documents window on the Index Folder tab with a folder path filled in](../img/index-folder.png)
<!-- SCREENSHOT NEEDED: On the main page, click the upload FAB (up-arrow), switch to the "Index Folder" tab, and use Browse to fill in C:\Users\<name>\Documents. Capture the whole "Manage Documents" modal before clicking the "Index Folder" button. -->

> 💡 **Tip:** Your files stay exactly where they are — indexing doesn't move, copy, or change anything. SearchBox only reads them.

## Step 6: Watch it work

1. Keep an eye on the status line under the button. It changes from **Scanning files...** to a running count like **Indexing: 34/120 files (28%)**, and finishes with **Done!** and a summary of how many files were indexed.
2. Notice the bell icon — it now shows a badge. Click it and you'll find a **Folder Indexed** notification confirming the job finished.
3. Close the **Manage Documents** window.

![The indexing progress line and the Folder Indexed notification](../img/indexing-progress.png)
<!-- SCREENSHOT NEEDED: While a folder with a few dozen files is being indexed, capture the Index Folder tab showing the progress status line ("Indexing: X/Y files (Z%)..."). If possible, capture a second state or a combined shot showing the notification panel open with the "Folder Indexed" success notification after completion. -->

A folder with a few hundred documents usually takes under a minute. Bigger folders take longer — you can close the window and keep using SearchBox while it works.

## Step 7: Search for a word inside a file

Here's the important part. Don't search for a file's *name* — search for a word you know is written *inside* one of your documents. A person's name in a letter, a project name in a report, a street address in a lease.

1. Click into the big search box (it says *Search your documents...*).
2. Type your word — for example, the name of someone you've written to.
3. Press **Enter** (or click **Search Documents**).

SearchBox lists every document containing that word, with a snippet of the surrounding text so you can tell which one you want.

![Search results showing documents that contain the search word, with text snippets](../img/first-results.png)
<!-- SCREENSHOT NEEDED: With the Documents folder indexed, type a word known to appear inside several files (not in any filename), press Enter, and capture the results list showing 3+ results with highlighted snippet text. -->

## Step 8: Open a result

1. Click any result. The document opens in SearchBox's built-in viewer, so you can read it right there — no hunting through folders.
2. Click the SearchBox logo at the top to go back to your results.

## Step 9: Misspell it on purpose

Now try to break it.

1. Search the same word again, but with a typo — swap two letters, like `invocie` instead of `invoice`.
2. Press **Enter**.

The same results come back. SearchBox's search engine is typo-tolerant, so close-enough spelling still finds the right documents. This matters more than it sounds: half of "lost" files are lost to a misremembered spelling.

![Search results appearing despite a misspelled search word](../img/tutorial-typo-search.png)
<!-- SCREENSHOT NEEDED: Search for the same word as Step 7 but with two letters swapped (e.g. "invocie"). Capture the search box showing the misspelled query together with the results list still showing the correct documents. -->

## Step 10: Try your first filter

One last trick. You can narrow a search to one kind of file by adding a filter after your word.

1. In the search box, type your word followed by `::pdf` — for example, `budget::pdf`.
2. Notice the search box border turn **green** — that's SearchBox telling you the filter is written correctly. (Orange means you're mid-way through typing a filter; red means there's a mistake in it.)
3. Press **Enter**. Now only PDF files show up.

![A search with the ::pdf filter and the green search box border](../img/tutorial-pdf-filter.png)
<!-- SCREENSHOT NEEDED: Type a query like "budget::pdf" into the main search box and capture the search box while the border glows green (valid syntax), ideally with PDF-only results visible below after pressing Enter. -->

There are filters for other file types too (`::docx`, `::txt`, `::md`, `::image`, and more), and ways to combine them — the full list is in [Searching](../searching.md).

## That's it

You've set up SearchBox, indexed a folder, and searched by content instead of filenames. From here you might want to:

- Index more folders — same steps, any folder you like.
- Learn the full search syntax in [Searching](../searching.md).
- Put sensitive files in the encrypted [vault](../vault.md).

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