{"id":481710,"date":"2022-08-06T09:02:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-06T06:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/whats-the-best-grep-alternative-on-windows\/"},"modified":"2022-08-06T09:02:52","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T06:02:52","slug":"whats-the-best-grep-alternative-on-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/whats-the-best-grep-alternative-on-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"#What\u2019s the Best grep Alternative on Windows?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28362a8e1b0\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28362a8e1b0\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/whats-the-best-grep-alternative-on-windows\/#%E2%80%9CWhats_the_Best_grep_Alternative_on_Windows%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;What\u2019s the Best grep Alternative on Windows?&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/whats-the-best-grep-alternative-on-windows\/#dnGrep\" >dnGrep<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/whats-the-best-grep-alternative-on-windows\/#Using_Actual_grep_From_WSL_or_Git_Bash\" >Using Actual grep From WSL or Git Bash<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/whats-the-best-grep-alternative-on-windows\/#Using_FindStr\" >Using FindStr<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWhats_the_Best_grep_Alternative_on_Windows%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;What\u2019s the Best grep Alternative on Windows?&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/csit\/2019\/12\/ae8a5e94.png?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Linux\u2019s <code>grep<\/code>\u00a0utility is a favorite among many sysadmins for its simple searching ability and familiar syntax. It\u2019s not available on Windows however, so you\u2019ll have to either use alternatives, or install third-party <code>grep<\/code>\u00a0tools to emulate it.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"dnGrep\"><\/span>dnGrep<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><code>grep<\/code>\u00a0has many third-party implementations for Windows, and while it\u2019s not exactly Linux <code>grep<\/code>, it will function largely the same. If you want a native Windows solution using CMD and Powershell, you can use other tools like <code>FindStr<\/code>, covered down below.<\/p>\n<p>One of the best implementations is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dngrep.github.io\/\">dnGrep<\/a>, which also features a rich GUI if you\u2019d like to use it outside the command line.\u00a0You can install it from WinGet, Window\u2019s new built-in package manager, or <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dngrep.github.io\/\">install it from Github<\/a>.<\/p>\n<pre>winget install -e --id dnGrep.dnGrep<\/pre>\n<p>This will prompt you for the installation, click allow and it should install fairly quickly.<\/p>\n<p>You can open the dnGrep interface from the start menu search, but one of the nice features is the addition to the right click menu, which can be started from file explorer:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-802417\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screenshot_203.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"377\" height=\"204\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll see an interface with options for every <code>grep<\/code>\u00a0feature, including regular expressions, find and replace, and most common flags. You can also configure the \u201cSearch In\u201d settings to filter which files are picked up by the search.<\/p>\n<p>Once you hit search, all the search results will be listed in the GUI panel below. You can open up each file to inspect it in the sidebar.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-802418\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screenshot_204.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"883\" height=\"428\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This is a great experience, but if you\u2019d like to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/dnGrep\/dnGrep\/wiki\/Command-Line\">use it from the command line, that is also possible.<\/a>\u00a0Because it\u2019s a Windows <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> though, the CLI isn\u2019t the same as Linux <code>grep<\/code>, so you may have to adjust your scripts.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Using_Actual_grep_From_WSL_or_Git_Bash\"><\/span>Using Actual grep From WSL or Git Bash<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-802419\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screenshot_205.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"469\" height=\"267\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Of course, if you have Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) installed, you have access to a pure Linux terminal. This will likely include <code>grep<\/code>\u00a0and similar tools. WSL has full interop with Windows, though does have some performance implications that come with being virtualized.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019d like to install WSL, you can read our guide to setting it up to learn more. Alternatively, you can use <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/git-scm.com\/downloads\">Git Bash<\/a>, which is an emulation layer for a better CLI experience, and includes a <code>grep<\/code>\u00a0implementation, albeit with limited functionality.<\/p>\n<p>Once installed, you can use <code>grep<\/code>\u00a0exactly like you would on a normal system, though keep in mind your Windows files may be in a place like <code>\/mnt\/c\/Users\/<\/code>.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Using_FindStr\"><\/span>Using FindStr<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you need a quick <code>grep<\/code>\u00a0alternative that works out of the box, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows-server\/administration\/windows-commands\/findstr\">PowerShell\u2019s <code>FindStr<\/code>\u00a0command<\/a> will work. It works from both CMD and PowerShell scripts, and doesn\u2019t require anything to be installed.<\/p>\n<pre>findstr foo *<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-802420\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screenshot_206.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"566\" height=\"187\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>You can also use it with basic regular expressions by using the <code>\/r<\/code>\u00a0flag:<\/p>\n<pre>findstr \/r \"b.*\" *<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-802421\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screenshot_207.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"203\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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It\u2019s not available on Windows however, so you\u2019ll have to either use alternatives, or install third-party grep\u00a0tools to emulate it. dnGrep grep\u00a0has many third-party implementations for Windows, and while it\u2019s not exactly&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":481711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/csit\/2019\/12\/ae8a5e94.png?width=1198&trim=1,1&bg-color=000&pad=1,1?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-481710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}