Frequently asked questions

Licensing & Evaluation

Is it a subscription?

No. GrimDex is a one-time purchase. Founding pricing is $39 for Personal and $100 for Lifetime Updates during the first 30 calendar days after public checkout opens; afterward pricing is $49 and $160. Every version of the app covered by your license remains fully functional and usable permanently.

How does the evaluation period work?

We use the Sublime Text / WinRAR model. You can evaluate GrimDex fully for 14 days without an account, credit card, or obligation. After 14 days, the software remains fully functional with no features locked and no work blocked, but it will present a friendly reminder on startup prompting you to purchase a license if you continue using it.

What is the difference between Personal and Lifetime Updates?

• Personal ($39): Includes a perpetual license to run any version released within 1 year of purchase. If your update window lapses, your installed app keeps working forever; you just do not get later feature updates unless you renew (renewals are optional and priced at $19/year or $49/3-years).
• Lifetime Updates ($100): Includes a perpetual license to run any version of GrimDex ever released, including all future major upgrades.

Do you offer team licenses?

Team licenses are not available through self-service checkout yet. Email support@grimdex.dev to discuss a pilot; we will publish team pricing only after multi-seat delivery and reassignment have been tested end to end.

What do founders get?

Founding customers get the same shipping product and license terms at a lower price during the first 30 calendar days after public checkout opens. There is no separate personalized build to maintain. The exact UTC deadline appears on the pricing page when checkout opens.

Privacy & Security

Does GrimDex collect telemetry or "phone home"?

No. GrimDex has zero telemetry, no user tracking, and no background reporting services. Even your license activation is one-time only: the app does not require a persistent connection or active account to validate your key, and works completely locally.

Where is my search index stored?

Everything is local. The NTFS index, file previews, search caches, and configurations are stored purely on your physical drive. No files, filenames, or directory paths are ever uploaded to the cloud.

Indexing & Technical Questions

Why does indexing prompt for UAC (Admin Elevation)?

GrimDex runs by default as a standard, non-elevated user process. However, Windows restricts direct read access to the NTFS Master File Table (MFT) to Administrator accounts. To build the instant whole-disk index, GrimDex briefly spawns a privileged helper process to read the MFT and index filenames. Once completed, the index runs locally and un-elevated. If you decline the UAC prompt, GrimDex falls back to standard Windows directory APIs.

How is this different from voidtools' Everything?

Everything is an excellent utility focused purely on search output. GrimDex is a complete file manager that integrates instant, indexed whole-disk search into a dual-pane, tabbed workspace with rich file previews, shell operations, Git integration, and keyboard navigation.

Which file systems are supported?

Direct MFT indexed-search is supported on NTFS volumes. Non-NTFS drives (like FAT32, exFAT, or network shares) remain fully browseable using standard folder indexing.

Which Windows versions are supported?

The current GrimDex build supports 64-bit Windows 10 or newer.

Support & Troubleshooting

What if my license key is lost or fails to activate?

Use license recovery with your purchase email. If it matches a paid order, the current license is sent only to that same address. Recovery is limited to once every 24 hours and shows the same response whether or not an order exists. If GrimDex changes signing keys, the recovered license keeps the original owner, edition, purchase date, and update entitlement under the current signer. If activation still fails, copy the key exactly and confirm that your system clock is current.

Does a license cover multiple machines?

Yes. A Personal license is a named-user license. You may use it on the physical or virtual machines you personally control and operate, but you may not share the key with another person.