Changelog

35 releases since July 2026  · RSS

BeaconFind updates often, and updates install quietly from inside the app. This is every release, newest first, drawn from the same record the updater uses.

v1.315 releases6 September to 9 October 2026Latest
v1.3.16

Clearer setup and updated local AI

Updated AI chat and summaries, cleaner account screens, and a smoother startup.

New

  • Third-party model licenses and notices are available in Settings > About.

Improved

  • Updated the Balanced AI model and background summaries, with safer recommendations for available memory.
  • Refined the account and folder-selection screens.

Fixed

  • Prevented an empty first-run Home screen from briefly appearing while existing settings load.
  • Hardened embedded content and link handling in document previews.
v1.3.15

No single file can stop BeaconFind

Some files, old Excel files among them, could make BeaconFind close while indexing, and again on every start. That is fixed, and a file that ever stops the app is now skipped instead.

New

  • Settings, Help & Support lists the files BeaconFind could not read and says why: a file that stopped the app, one that could not be opened or took too long, or one skipped for a limit or damage. Show it in its folder, try it again, or report one file or the whole list to us. Reports name each file and its type, never its folder.

Improved

  • If BeaconFind ever stops while reading a file, it skips that file from the next start and finds it by its name only, until the file changes or BeaconFind updates. This covers indexing, previews, thumbnails and text recognition in images. One file can no longer keep the app from starting.

Fixed

  • Some older Excel (.xls) files made BeaconFind close while indexing, and again on every start. They are read normally now.
  • Some damaged PDF files could make BeaconFind close while indexing. They are now found by their name.
  • Previewing some spreadsheets saved by LibreOffice, or very large Excel files, could use a great deal of memory or close the app. The preview now stays light.
  • Damaged or mislabelled .xls files are found by their name instead of failing.
v1.3.14

No more empty windows

Asking the AI could make the whole window go blank. That is fixed, and every window now recovers from an error instead of going empty.

New

  • If a window ever runs into an error, it shows a short message with Reload window and Send a report instead of going blank. The report removes file names and search terms before it is sent.
  • Windows: Settings, Advanced, Safe rendering draws BeaconFind without graphics acceleration, for remote desktops, virtual machines and troublesome graphics drivers. If the graphics driver keeps failing, BeaconFind switches it on by itself.

Improved

  • Windows: when a window's display process stops, BeaconFind reloads the window by itself.
  • An AI answer that cannot be formatted is shown as plain text instead of affecting the rest of the window.

Fixed

  • Asking a question could make the whole window turn black, white or grey, and it happened again every time Ask was opened. Answers that name a file display correctly again, including the ones already saved.
v1.3.13

Lighter on your machine

BeaconFind now needs much less memory on large libraries, runs one background job at a time, and puts limits on every kind of file, so one big or broken document can no longer slow down the whole computer.

New

  • The status bar says in one line what BeaconFind is doing right now, with the details one click away.

Improved

  • The search engine needs far less memory. On a test library of 100,000 files it dropped from 5.8 GB to 2.5 GB in normal use, with searches just as fast and the same results.
  • Background work runs one job at a time instead of all at once. Image descriptions are made only while you are away from the computer, unless you set indexing to Fast, and the larger AI models check that the graphics card has room before they load.
  • Search keeps answering from the current index while it refreshes in the background, instead of slowing down whenever a file changes.
  • The search index is saved every few minutes and when you quit, instead of being rewritten after every changed file.
  • Active hours now cover every kind of background work, not only indexing and summaries, and waiting work starts when the window opens.
  • Finding duplicates is much faster on large libraries, shows real progress, and keeps its result when you leave the page.
  • Folders that tools fill with their own cache files, such as .godot, .gradle, .idea and the Python caches, are no longer indexed.
  • Folders waiting in the queue say why they are waiting.

Fixed

  • A single very large or unusual file (a big PDF, spreadsheet, Office document, archive, email or image) could take gigabytes of memory or keep the computer busy for minutes. Every file type now has limits on how much it reads and how long it runs.
  • Performance and Gaming mode now also hold background work after a restart and after activating a licence. Before, it could start anyway.
  • An image that cannot be opened is no longer tried again every time the app starts.
  • Image descriptions no longer run at the same time as other graphics work, which could crash the app on cards with less memory.
v1.3.12

Typing on the Mac, lighter summaries

On macOS the search box now takes your typing no matter which app you came from, the app warns when another program already uses the search shortcut, background AI summaries cover documents only unless you widen them, and the setup wizard shows more of your folders at once.

New

  • Settings, AI & Models: choose whether background summaries cover documents only or every indexed file type. The wider choice is much slower and says so.
  • When another app already answers the search shortcut, the setup wizard and Settings say which one, and a new Mac starts on a shortcut that is free.

Improved

  • Background AI summaries now cover documents (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, text and notes), newest first, and skip tiny files and folders such as node_modules, so a large library finishes in hours instead of days. Every other file is still summarised the moment you open it.
  • On macOS the search overlay closes when you switch to another app or desktop, the way Spotlight does, instead of disappearing and coming back.
  • The setup wizard shows up to six of your picked folders at once instead of one and a half.
  • Menus in Settings, on the Index page and on Home now use the same dropdown as the rest of the app.
  • After an update on Windows, the What's new window lists what changed instead of a generic line.

Fixed

  • On macOS, opening the search overlay while another app was in front showed the box without giving it the keyboard, so nothing could be typed. It now takes the keyboard every time.
v1.3.11

A smoother first run, steadier search

The setup wizard is clearer and fits the window, activation says what went wrong in plain words, the app now opens on Home and you can choose which page it opens on, search ranks the right file first more often on computers with less memory, and AI answers no longer add a currency your document does not state.

New

  • While the first index is still getting ready, your files can already be found by name, and their contents become searchable as the index fills in rather than only at the end.
  • BeaconFind opens on Home, and you can choose which page it opens on under Settings, General.

Improved

  • The setup wizard was rebuilt: every page fits without scrolling, the choices of what to index are on the page instead of behind a toggle, file types are shown with icons, and the first search now previews the file it found beside the results.
  • Activation now explains failures in plain words. Losing your connection says so instead of showing an internal error message.
  • On macOS the Full Disk Access notice has its own place with a button that opens the right settings pane, and the recheck button now tells you the result.
  • The setup wizard starts with the folders you choose, and every step can be retried or skipped if something goes wrong.
  • On computers with 8 or 12 GB of memory, or without a graphics card, search ranks the right file first more often when its name only partly matches what you typed.
  • AI answers on those computers now read the most relevant passages first.
  • A search typed with an umlaut, such as Müller, now also finds files named with the plain spelling, such as Mueller.
  • Searching for a shortcut by name, for example Verknüpfung, now shows the shortcut instead of hiding it.

Fixed

  • Pausing indexing and then switching to Performance mode and back no longer restarts it on its own.
  • The tray no longer offers Resume while indexing is waiting for its active hours.
  • A search that could not finish now says so and lets you try again, instead of asking you to press Enter.
  • An AI answer could add a currency, such as $ or EUR, to an amount whose document names none. It now says the currency is not stated.
  • A search for a document revision letter, such as Revision C, now shows that letter in the result preview.
v1.3.10

Faster indexing, sharper search

Large documents index far faster, searching a big library is quicker and uses less memory, and a batch of search problems found in an outside review are fixed.

Improved

  • Long documents index much faster. Working out the page numbers of a 5,000 page PDF used to take almost a minute on its own and is now effectively instant.
  • Searching a large library is quicker. On a 100,000 file index the typical search dropped from about 0.75 seconds to about 0.60.
  • Saving the search index uses roughly half the memory it did, which matters most on Macs with 8 GB.
  • AI answers now read whole passages from your files instead of short previews, so they quote the right figures far more often.
  • After this update BeaconFind re-reads your PDF and Office files once, in the background, so the improvements below apply to files you already indexed.

Fixed

  • A misspelled word could return nothing at all. It now finds the word you meant.
  • A single letter or revision code in a query, such as Revision D, could return the document for a different revision.
  • A scanned page inside a document that also has typed pages was never read. Those pages are now read and searchable.
  • Filenames with German or Turkish characters could interrupt a search.
  • Ordinary filenames containing the word at were grouped together, so some of them were missing from results.
  • Keyword results could be listed in the wrong order.
  • One document with many similar passages could crowd every other file out of the AI results.
v1.3.9

Search stays responsive while your files change

A watched folder that changed often made BeaconFind rebuild its whole search index over and over, which could freeze the window.

Fixed

  • BeaconFind rebuilt its entire search index every time a watched file changed. On a busy folder, a shared network drive or a whole-PC index that ran continuously and made the window stop responding. Rebuilds are now grouped and run at most once every ten seconds, while a file you save yourself is still picked up straight away.
  • Automatic crash and error reports are sent silently, without a notification for something you already agreed to. A report you send yourself still confirms with its number.
  • A model download cut off by the connection is now reported as a download problem you can retry. It used to be blamed on the graphics card, and the AI then ran on the processor for the rest of the session even though the card was fine.
  • Renaming or deleting a folder in Explorer left every file inside it in the index, so search returned results that no longer exist and could not find them at their new location. Both halves now settle in about two seconds.
  • An image captioned by the add-AI-captions action can now be found by what its caption says. The caption was shown in the preview but never added to the search index, so those pictures were findable only by their filename.
  • Searching with different capitalisation gives the same ranking. Three parts of the scoring read the exact case you typed.
v1.3.8

Indexing and AI summaries are much faster

A first index on a PC without a dedicated graphics card now finishes in about a quarter of the time, and AI summaries no longer crawl.

Improved

  • On a PC without a dedicated graphics card, a first index finishes in about a quarter of the time. The model that reads your files was replaced with a build that runs several times faster on a normal processor, and its first-run download is smaller too.
  • AI summaries no longer crawl. Three hundred of them took over forty minutes while you worked in another window and now take about twenty, or about seven if you step away. The summaries themselves are unchanged.
  • Large PDFs are written to the index far faster.
  • On the Index page, folders run in the order you see. Drag one by its handle to change it, each card shows its position, and the order survives a restart.

Fixed

  • On macOS, previews of files in Desktop, Documents, Downloads and iCloud Drive failed to load. They now open normally.
  • A PDF that BeaconFind could not parse was skipped entirely. It is now read with text recognition instead.
  • Stopping an index no longer leaves work running in the background.
  • Searching for a word like video, audio or photo no longer hides every result that is not that kind of file.
  • The app no longer sends you automatic error reports for problems it had already handled.
v1.3.6

Searches that never get stuck, and whole-PC indexing from the Index page

A search takes priority over background indexing and always finishes; machines with 8 GB run lighter; whole-PC and home-folder indexing are on the Index page; the setup wizard opens once more after the update.

New

  • Index your whole PC or your home folders from the Index page, next to Add folder, without re-running the setup wizard.
  • The setup wizard opens once more after this update so you can switch to whole-PC indexing. Your index stays put; close it if nothing needs changing.

Improved

  • Lighter on machines with 8 GB: the result reranker stays off and the summary model no longer loads by itself when a result is selected; a Summarize button does it on request.

Fixed

  • A search could sit on "Searching" for as long as the background index pass was busy, half an hour on an 8 GB Mac. The query now takes priority over that pass, gives up on the semantic part after a couple of seconds if it must, and every search has a hard time limit.
v1.3.5

Redaction, cloud placeholders and resumable downloads

Bug-report diagnostics redact every path shape; cloud-only files are never opened by the background image pass; model downloads resume after a broken connection; searches on PCs without a GPU no longer wait behind the background index pass.

Improved

  • Model downloads resume on a bad connection: a transfer that breaks midway picks up where it stopped instead of waiting for the next click.
  • Faster searches on PCs without a GPU while the semantic index fills in: the background pass takes smaller steps, so a search no longer waits several seconds behind it.

Fixed

  • Bug-report diagnostics: a file path with several spaces or brackets in its name could reach the report partly redacted. Every path is now replaced down to its extension.
  • Cloud placeholder files (OneDrive online-only files, for example) under a whole-PC or home-folder index are never opened; the background image-understanding pass had been trying to.
v1.3.4

Search never waits on the AI reranker

The result reranker only runs when a GPU can carry it, warms up in the background and works inside a time budget; the NVIDIA GPU is used the moment its runtime is installed; and PCs without a GPU no longer start the summary model by themselves.

Improved

  • Search never waits on the AI reranker. On a PC without a usable GPU the Balanced and Max tiers ran it on the CPU, about two gigabytes to load on the first search and a second per candidate after. It now runs only with a GPU, warms up in the background instead of holding a search, and re-scores the top results inside a fixed time budget.
  • Your NVIDIA GPU is used the moment it is ready: after the automatic CUDA download, search and indexing switch to the GPU in the same session.
  • PCs without a GPU no longer start the summary model when a result is selected; the preview offers a Summarize button instead.
v1.3.3

A quieter search window, and your NVIDIA GPU used automatically

The search window loses its hint banner, shortcut footer and second pill row; a fresh install downloads the CUDA runtime itself and raises an app-picked AI tier to what the hardware supports; the setup wizard reliably appears on the first start; and Windows PCs without transparency effects no longer get a gray wall behind the search window.

Improved

  • A quieter search window: the hint banner, the keyboard-shortcut footer and the second row of pills are gone. One row remains under the search box, the type tabs and a single Filters button that opens scope, sort, date and size. Indexing status is a line of text, AI summaries in the preview lost their frame, and result rows no longer carry a content / filename / semantic tag. Show advanced options in Settings brings every pill back.
  • Your NVIDIA GPU is used automatically. BeaconFind downloads the CUDA runtime itself on the first start (about 700 MB, in the background), and an AI tier the app picked for you is raised to what your hardware supports once the GPU is usable. A tier you chose yourself is never changed.

Fixed

  • A PC with an RTX card was silently put on the Lite tier: the runtime download sat in the Advanced tab, which is hidden for new installs.
  • The setup wizard could be skipped for good when one read during startup failed. It now retries, and the app re-announces a pending setup once it is fully started.
  • Windows: a flat gray backdrop behind the search window on PCs where transparency effects are off (the setting, Battery Saver, high contrast or a remote session). The desktop is dimmed instead.
v1.3.1

Whole-PC indexing finds your own files again

Two fixes for the first index of a whole PC: a user folder whose name differs from the account name was skipped, and choosing My whole PC from the setup wizard opened in Settings did nothing.

Improved

  • If no drive can be added, the app says so instead of staying silent, and the log records what the whole-PC step did.

Fixed

  • Your own user folder was skipped when its folder name differs from your account name (Windows appends a digit when a folder with the same name already existed). The whole-PC index then finished within seconds with almost nothing in it.
  • "My whole PC" chosen in the setup wizard opened from Settings did nothing and the wizard went back to Settings. It now adds your drives, starts indexing and takes you to Home, where the progress shows.
v1.3.0

A simpler first run, calmer indexing, and search that finds codes

Setup is five steps and indexes your everyday documents across the whole PC in minutes, search works while it runs, the app stays quiet while it indexes, and serial numbers, error codes and dates now match however they are written. Crash reports can be sent automatically once you say yes.

New

  • Setup in five steps. Pick "My whole PC" and BeaconFind indexes your everyday documents, photos and mail from every drive, skipping system and program folders. Search works within seconds of starting; the rest fills in while you keep working. "My home folders" and "Folders I pick" are there for people who want less, and a machine with little memory starts on home folders.
  • One switch in Settings, "Show advanced options", hides the power-user controls. Nothing is removed; everything comes back when you flip it. The search shortcut sits in the title bar so it is never forgotten.
  • Report a problem from inside the app, under Settings, Help & Support: a short description, an optional email, and, if you tick it, the app's own log with file names and search text removed. A crash shows a one-line card on the next start.
  • Automatic crash and error reports, if you say yes once. From then on a crash report goes out on the next start and an error report at most once a day, always with file names and searches removed. Turn it off any time under Help & Support.
  • Word 97-2003 documents, PowerPoint 97-2003 decks and Outlook .msg files are read by content, not just by name.

Improved

  • Serial numbers, error codes, product codes and dates match whether they are written with dashes, dots or spaces, and a code broken across two lines in a PDF is found as one.
  • Chunks follow the paragraphs of your documents instead of cutting through them, so answers and previews land on the right passage.
  • Indexing no longer stutters the machine: the index is written to disk every few minutes instead of every few seconds, and reading your files runs at background priority so your other programs get the disk first.
  • Mac: indexing uses far less memory. A 3,000-file test folder used to push an 8 GB MacBook Air into heavy swapping; it now stays well inside memory.
  • Image results show small thumbnails made by the app instead of loading the full-size photos, so a page of photo results is light on memory on every machine.
  • The help button lives in the search bar next to Ask, on both the search window and the in-app search.
  • A calmer Home page with one progress card and one time estimate, an "index now or schedule" choice when you add a folder, a Quiet, Balanced or Fast control for how hard indexing works while you are at the machine, and a lighter glass behind the search window.

Fixed

  • Mac: opening the search window repeatedly made the Mac slower each time; a blur layer was added on every open and never removed.
  • Mac: image previews and thumbnails could freeze the app on an SVG file in search results.
  • The Home page and the file-types tab no longer flash for a moment when they open.
  • Several dozen smaller fixes to modals, keyboard focus and contrast.
v1.25 releases9 August to 1 September 2026
v1.2.4

Freezes fixed

Three ways BeaconFind could lock up are gone: activating your licence no longer overloads the machine, an SVG file can no longer freeze the app, and the Mac search overlay opens properly.

Fixed

  • Activating your licence could bring the whole computer to a halt for a couple of minutes. Everything BeaconFind had been holding back was starting at the same instant; the AI models now load one after another instead of all at once, and background summaries wait until the app has settled.
  • A single SVG file in one of your folders could freeze the app. Previews and thumbnails no longer hand SVG files to the browser engine to draw.
  • Mac: the search overlay could open showing only its blurred backdrop, with the search box missing.
  • Mac: the menu-bar popup now closes when you click the icon again.
  • The status bar could show "Finishing search index" indefinitely when nothing was running.
v1.2.3

Trackpad gestures, and two fixes

Pinch to zoom and two-finger pan now work in previews, the status bar stops claiming work that is not happening, and the menu-bar popup closes when you click it again.

New

  • Pinch to zoom in file previews, on both a Mac trackpad and a Windows precision touchpad. PDFs re-render as you zoom so they stay sharp, and images zoom around your pointer.

Fixed

  • Two-finger scrolling on an image preview now pans it instead of zooming.
  • The status bar could show "Finishing search index" indefinitely when nothing was running. It now only appears while the index is genuinely being built.
  • The menu-bar popup can be closed by clicking the icon again. It could previously get stuck open.
v1.2.2

Works on many more graphics cards

BeaconFind now uses the GPU on far more NVIDIA cards, and tells you exactly what to do when a driver is holding it back.

Improved

  • GPU acceleration now works on NVIDIA cards going back to the GTX 16 and RTX 20 series. Older cards were quietly falling back to the CPU, which made everything slower.
  • If your graphics driver is too old for AI chat, Settings now says so plainly, names your driver version, and links straight to the update instead of showing an error code.

Fixed

  • AI chat and summaries no longer fail outright when the GPU refuses them. They fall back to the CPU so the feature still works while you update.
v1.2.1

Mac search overlay fixes

Two fixes for the Ctrl+K overlay on Mac: it now follows your license straight away, and it no longer appears on its own.

Fixed

  • Mac: the search overlay could keep asking you to activate after you had already activated. It now updates the moment your license changes.
  • Mac: making a window fullscreen could make the search overlay appear by itself.
  • The overlay now picks up theme, AI tier, app mode and filter changes from the main window every time it opens, instead of only after it regained focus.
v1.2.0

Ask your files

Grounded answers over your own documents, with the source file cited for every answer, and a full in-app Search view alongside Ctrl+K.

New

  • Ask your files: answers drawn from your documents, each citing the file it came from.
  • An in-app Search view with the same filters, previews and actions as Ctrl+K.

Improved

  • Previews for large spreadsheets and documents are far faster, with no more freezing.
  • Better filtering throughout.

Fixed

  • Stopping an index run now says Stopping while it finishes the current batch, instead of claiming it already stopped.
v1.17 releases23 July to 1 August 2026
v1.1.6

Good on machines without a GPU

Makes BeaconFind work well on PCs without a compatible NVIDIA GPU.

Improved

  • Heavy AI work no longer runs during indexing on the CPU, so indexing stays fast and the app stays responsive.
  • The installer no longer downloads anything during setup, so it installs without a connection.
  • Settings now names the specific CUDA runtime to install if you have an NVIDIA GPU.
v1.1.5Important update

Runs on PCs without CUDA

Fixes a bug where BeaconFind showed a permanent Model Error and never finished loading on PCs without the NVIDIA CUDA runtime, which is most computers.

Fixed

  • BeaconFind now detects this and runs on your CPU automatically, so search and indexing work everywhere.
  • If you do have an NVIDIA GPU, Settings shows how to turn on GPU acceleration.
v1.1.4

Ask and walk away

Chat now runs in the background. Ask a question, close the search bar, and keep working. Windows tells you when the answer is ready, and it is waiting when you reopen.

New

  • Answers survive an app restart.

Improved

  • Chat and search read tables and invoices by their real layout, so a label and its number stay together instead of drifting apart.
  • Stronger cross-language search: search in one language, find files in another.
  • The finished answer appears at once with a smooth reveal, and a live status shows whether BeaconFind is searching, reading or writing.

Fixed

  • File type filters no longer return the wrong file types.
v1.1.3

Summaries run to completion

The AI summary queue now runs steadily at a gentle pace while you use your PC, instead of waiting until you step away. Pausing or stopping it frees its memory right away.

v1.1.2

Hands memory back to Windows

BeaconFind returns idle memory to Windows when it stops working, after a background task finishes, on a switch to Performance or Gaming mode, or when minimised to the tray. It warms back up instantly on your next search.

v1.1.1

A lighter footprint

Your index, settings and licence carry over automatically.

Improved

  • Much lower GPU memory when idle. The image and language models are freed when unused and reload instantly on demand.
  • AI summaries run on a lighter model in the background, so they no longer peg the GPU while you work.
  • A smoother interface while indexing.
v1.1.0

Your PC stays responsive

BeaconFind now notices when you are at the machine and eases off background work by itself. Indexing runs at full speed while you are away and gets out of the way the moment you come back.

New

  • A resource governor that yields to you. Games, video and fullscreen presentations take priority, and it backs off on battery.
  • Repair Image Search in Settings, Advanced, to re-run photo understanding on a library indexed before this release.
  • A Stop button while an answer is streaming.

Improved

  • Photos and screenshots now reliably get their visual description and image embedding while indexing, so searching by what a picture shows works properly.
  • When a search finds nothing, BeaconFind explains why instead of suggesting different keywords when nothing is indexed yet.
  • The first-run model download keeps retrying instead of giving up, and reports honestly while it works.
  • The application itself is now code signed, not just the installer.

Fixed

  • Closing the chat or the search window actually stops the answer being generated, instead of leaving it running.
  • Your settings are protected if a start-up read is slow. Your hotkey, start-with-Windows setting and excluded file types can no longer be reset.
v1.08 releases9 July to 14 July 2026
v1.0.7

Code-signed installers

Windows now shows a verified publisher instead of an unknown-publisher warning when you install or update. No functional changes.

v1.0.6

Previews restored

Preview rendering and the AI summary queue both behave again.

Fixed

  • PDFs, video and audio render again in the preview panel.
  • The AI summaries card could freeze near the end of a folder. It now finishes and hides.
  • The Index page no longer briefly shows no folders while the index is still loading.
v1.0.5Important update

Image search model loading

Everything from 1.0.4, plus a fix for the image model getting stuck during indexing.

Fixed

  • The image search model could stay on Loading after startup while files were indexing. Model downloads now share one connection and load reliably.
v1.0.4Important update

Important reliability update

Recommended for everyone. A startup race could leave the AI models stuck loading and index your files without semantic understanding, so searches only matched exact words.

New

  • Automatic index repair: any files indexed while the AI was not ready are detected and re-processed in the background. No manual re-index needed.

Fixed

  • Indexing now always waits for the AI models to be ready.
  • Launching the app manually keeps the window open instead of minimising to the tray. Autostart still begins quietly in the tray.
  • Library statistics could show zero files while indexing was running.
v1.0.3

Silent updates and a more native feel

Updates stop interrupting you, and the app stops behaving like a web page.

Improved

  • Updates install silently in the background, with no installer window.
  • A dismissed update stays available in Settings, Updates, with an Install button.
  • A cleaner update notification design.

Fixed

  • Right-clicking no longer shows a browser menu. Copy still works everywhere, including in text fields.
  • Browser shortcuts such as reload, print and the find bar no longer interfere with the app.
v1.0.2

Setup and preview fixes

A round of fixes to first-run setup and the preview panel.

Fixed

  • The sidebar and About page now show the real version instead of an outdated number after an update.
  • The main window stays visible on launch until first-time setup is done, so the wizard cannot end up hidden in the tray.
  • The AI summary banner no longer flickers while your files are being indexed.
  • The indexing notice in the search overlay no longer blinks between stages.
  • The preview details strip no longer jumps around as information loads.
v1.0.1

Reliability and a big AI chat pass

The first update after launch: steadier behaviour throughout, and a substantial rework of how chat finds and reads the right documents.

Improved

  • Chat grounds its answers in the right documents far more often, and straightforward questions start answering in about 1.5 seconds.
  • Duplicate copies of a file no longer crowd the real answer out of the context.
  • Modified images fully re-index again: description, text recognition and visual search all refresh.
  • A fresh look for the installer.

Fixed

  • Command windows no longer flash on screen during background work.
  • Launching BeaconFind again focuses the existing window instead of starting a second, conflicting copy.
  • Answers no longer cut off mid-sentence.
  • The search overlay no longer flashes on screen for a moment at startup.
  • The preview panel no longer pushes its buttons off screen on long PDFs.
v1.0.0

First public release

Private, on-device AI file search for Windows. Press Ctrl+K and find anything by meaning, across 70+ file types and 50+ languages. Your files, their contents and your searches stay on your machine.

Get the latest build. Free for 14 days, no card.

Download BeaconFind