Hawkeye Search 2022

Instant search across your solution's files — plus Word, Excel, and other repositories — without leaving Visual Studio.

Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022 (17.0 or later)
• Hawkeye backend application (free download, separate from this extension — see Getting Started below)

What It Does

Hawkeye Search links Visual Studio to the Hawkeye desktop search/file engine, so you can find and jump to results across large projects — code, docs, and other file types — with instant feedback as you type.

Key Features

Search & results

• Instant search across files loaded into Hawkeye, with tabs to track multiple searches at once
• Filter results inline — exclude terms with -term, limit to a file type with .cs, exclude a type with -.cs
• Click or arrow-key to a result to jump straight to the file and line in the editor

Find Files

• Dedicated Find Files dialog showing total files/matches loaded
• Filter by extension or keyword before opening file

Right-click commands

• Search For / Search For in New Tab (with optional keyboard shortcut)
• Focus On Hawkeye, Open Linked File (e.g. jump between .h and .cpp)
• Open in external Hawkeye window for a full database view
• Up to 4 fully custom dynamic commands — e.g. open a terminal at the project path, run a Perforce checkout, open the file in another editor

Customization

• Automatic dark/light theme matching your Visual Studio theme
• Configurable result limits, search delay, and keyboard shortcuts under Tools > Options

Getting Started

1. Install this extension from the Marketplace.
2. Download and install the free - Hawkeye backend application
3. In Visual Studio, open View > Other Windows > Hawkeye and click Connect to Hawkeye, then generate search groups from your solution.

For the full walkthrough with screenshots, watch:

• Installing the Visual Studio Add-in
• Shorter - Using the Hawkeye backend - Basics
• Longer - Using the Hawkeye backend - Going through MechCommander 2.

Pricing

Free 30-day trial. A license is required to continue after the trial — visit zaragsoft.se for licensing details.

Support & Feedback

Questions, feature requests, or issues? Reach us at zaragsoft.se. If Hawkeye Search helps your workflow, a rating below goes a long way.

What's New

2026-07-20 Added more options to the right-click menu on groups. Its now similar to the find files dialog.

2026-01-19 Added more options to the right-click menu inside the result list.

2025-12-19 Added Visual Studio options for initial result limits, search delay, and shortcuts. Fixed vertical sizing on the Find Files group quick bar. Updated toolbar icons. Added "check only this / all but this" in the file dialog. Fixed an issue with "show more results" not appearing.