Your searches never leave this PC

A file search tool is the program that sees the most on any PC — contracts, payroll, personal photos all pass through it. So this one was built to send none of it out. The only outbound request is a version check, and it can be turned off.

The only thing that leaves is an update check

Your search terms, file names, document contents and usage statistics are never sent anywhere. The only outbound traffic is one request a day asking whether a newer version exists, and even that sends nothing — it only receives a version number. You can turn it off under ⋮ More, and with it off there is genuinely no traffic at all. The interface is bound to 127.0.0.1, so no other PC on your network can open it. The one exception is “Search from your phone” (off by default): when on, only phones you paired yourself on the same Wi‑Fi can search this PC, with sealed requests — still not through the internet or our servers.

The index lives in your own profile

Index, learning and settings sit in one place: %LOCALAPPDATA%\chatda. No administrator rights are needed; in the registry it writes only, under your account (HKCU), its uninstall record and the File Explorer right-click entry (which you can turn off).

Uninstalling removes it with the program

Removing the program deletes the index and the query history with it, because the index holds document extracts and the history holds what you searched for. Nothing is left when the PC changes hands.

From one PC in daily use

Copied from the maker's work PC on 9 September 2026.

105,630: files indexed
74,157: documents read inside
102.5 MB: index size
10 ms: to find 200+ results

Measured on one machine; your numbers depend on your PC and files. The index never leaves your computer.

Download CHATDA — free

Frequently asked questions

Can I install it on a work PC?

It needs no administrator rights and installs only into your own profile. Company policy still varies, so it is worth checking.

Can I verify that it really does not talk to anyone?

Block the program in your firewall and keep using it. Search behaves exactly the same — the only thing that stops is the update check. Every request and every reply is written down, line by line.