Everything Quick Search adds to the editor: how to open it, the popup's controls and keys, the full search syntax, what each kind of result opens, the actions menu, every setting with its default, and the messages you may see.
At a glance#
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Plugin type | Editor only. Nothing ships in a packaged game. |
| Editor platform | Windows |
| Engine versions | UE 5.5–5.8 |
| Dependencies | The engine editor plugins it needs are enabled automatically. |
| Blueprint nodes | None |
| Shared with your team | Project Settings → Plugins → Quick Search → Excluded Paths |
| Personal | Everything under Editor Preferences → Plugins → Quick Search, including the switches in the popup's filter menu |
| Search data | Kept per machine in the project's Saved folder, which is not meant for source control |
Opening Quick Search#
| Entry point | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Quick Search | Ctrl+T | Opens the popup. Press it again to close. |
| Quick Search: Members | Alt+Shift+T | Opens the popup scoped with @ to the asset you are editing. Press it again to close. |
| Tools menu, Search section | Both commands, showing their current shortcuts. | |
| Toolbar button | Quick Search on the Level Editor toolbar and the Blueprint editor toolbar. Show Toolbar Button hides it. |
Change the shortcuts under Editor Preferences → General → Keyboard Shortcuts → Quick Search. The shortcuts work anywhere in the editor, including floating windows, except in modal dialogs, while a progress dialog is open, and in panels on the Shortcut Deny List, which by default contains Sequencer and the Physics Asset Editor because they use Ctrl+T themselves.
@ refers to the asset editor whose tab was active when you opened the popup. From the Level Editor, the Content Browser, or other panels, it refers to the open level.
The popup opens near the top of the screen under the mouse pointer. Clicking anywhere else closes it. With Restore Last Query on, it reopens with your last query selected, so typing replaces it.
The popup#
| Part | Details |
|---|---|
| Search field | Type names, words, or the search syntax. |
| Filter button | In the search field. Search In switches Project Content (always on), Project Plugin Content, Engine Content, and Engine Plugin Content. Index → Rebuild Index reads every Blueprint again in the background; navigation history is kept. Changes apply as you type. |
| Chips | All, Assets, Functions, Variables, Comments, Actors, Tags, and C++. Clicking one replaces the leading result-type prefix and keeps the rest of your text. |
| Result list | Each row has a colored stripe, an icon, the name with matched letters highlighted, a signature or type, the location, and a kind label such as FUNCTION, VARIABLE, or the asset type. |
| Details line | Under the list: where the selected result lives, how many assets reference an asset, and a Blueprint's parent. It also says when results come from a corrected spelling or another keyboard layout. |
| Footer | Key hints and a status, such as the number of results or search preparation progress. |
An empty search lists up to 20 recent destinations: your own first, then assets the editor opened recently. Results refresh while search data updates, without moving your selection.
A drill-in list, such as References to a result, replaces the chips with its title. Backspace in the empty field goes back.
Keys#
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Up, Down | Move the selection. It wraps at the ends. |
| Page Up, Page Down | Move ten rows. |
| Enter | Open the selected result. |
| Ctrl+Enter | Reveal the result, usually in the Content Browser. See Result kinds. |
| Alt+Enter | Open the actions menu. |
| Shift+F12 | Find references, where available. |
| Tab, Shift+Tab | Move between chips. Not available in drill-in lists. |
| Backspace in an empty field | Leave a drill-in list. |
| Escape | Clear the text, then leave a drill-in list, then close. |
| Double-click | Open a result. A single click selects it. |
Search syntax#
Filters go at the start of the search, in any order. The first word that is not a filter starts the search text, so health f: does not filter.
| Type this | Effect |
|---|---|
a: |
Assets. |
f: |
Functions, events, macros, graphs, and C++ functions. |
v: |
Variables, local variables, components, struct members, enum entries, and C++ properties. |
c: |
Comments, tooltips, and descriptions. |
l: |
Actors in the open level. |
g: |
Gameplay tags. |
n: |
The project's C++ types, functions, and properties. |
t:mi |
Assets of a type, matched by class or display name: t:mi finds Material Instances. |
/Game/Characters |
Results inside that folder. Matches by the start of the path. |
player.health |
A member named like health on an owner named like player. Owners are Blueprints, levels, structs, enums, and C++ types. |
@ |
Members of the asset you are editing. On its own, it lists them all, up to 500. |
- Several prefixes widen the search:
f: v: healthfinds both functions and variables. - Every word must match, in any order:
player character. - Initials work too:
pcmcan find PlayerCharacterMovement. - Comments match whole words and word starts, not fragments inside words.
- Correct Typos re-runs a search that finds almost nothing with each word corrected to a name used in your project. Corrected results come after the real ones.
- Retry Other Keyboard Layouts re-reads a search that finds nothing as if typed on your other installed layouts.
- Neither retry runs for
@searches.
Result kinds#
| Kind | Includes | Enter opens | Ctrl+Enter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Any asset except redirectors and excluded folders | The asset's editor, or the level for a map | Selects it in the Content Browser |
| Function | Blueprint functions, including interface implementations | That graph | Selects the owning asset |
| Graph | Event graphs, Construction Script, animation graphs, collapsed graphs, state machines, states, and transition rules | That graph | Selects the owning asset |
| Event | Custom events, overridden events, input events, and bound component and actor events | The event node | Selects the owning asset |
| Macro | Macro graphs | The macro | Selects the owning asset |
| Variable | Member variables | The Blueprint, with the variable selected | Selects the owning asset |
| Local | Local variables of functions | The function, with the variable selected | Selects the owning asset |
| Component | Components added in the Blueprint's own Components panel | The Components panel, with it selected | Selects the owning asset |
| Member | Fields of user-defined structs | The struct editor | Selects the struct |
| Enum | Entries of user-defined enums | The enum editor | Selects the enum |
| Comment | Comment boxes, node comments, tooltips, and descriptions, up to their first 200 characters | What the comment belongs to | Selects the owning asset |
| Actor | Actors in the open level, including hidden sublevels and unloaded World Partition actors, matched by label or tag | Selects the actor and moves the viewports to it, loading it first if needed | Selects the actor's Blueprint class |
| Tag | Every gameplay tag, including parent tags | The Gameplay Tag Manager, with the tag highlighted | Selects the Data Table that defines it |
| C++ | Reflected types, functions, and properties from the project's own modules | Your source code editor | Same as Enter |
Inherited components and components created in C++ are not listed. Actors are only found in the level that is open.
Actions menu#
Press Alt+Enter on a result.
| Action | Available for | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Open | All except C++ | Same as Enter. |
| Show in Content Browser | Asset-owned results, tags, and actors with a Blueprint class | Same as Ctrl+Enter. |
| Find References | Assets, tags, and Blueprint and C++ members | Assets and tags: a drill-in list of referencing assets. Members: Find in Blueprints with the search filled in. |
| Reference Viewer, Size Map, Copy Reference | Assets | Opens that tool, or copies the reference as the Content Browser does. |
| Copy Path | All | Copies the asset path, the tag name, or the C++ path. For an actor, the level's path. |
| Go to Parent, Show Children | Blueprints | Opens the parent Blueprint or C++ class, or lists every child Blueprint. |
| Show Implementations | Blueprint interfaces | Lists the Blueprints that implement it. |
| Go to Base, Show Overrides | Blueprint functions and events | Opens the parent declaration, or lists child Blueprints that override it. |
| Open in IDE | C++ | Opens the declaration. |
| Open in Tag Manager | Tags | Opens the Gameplay Tag Manager. |
| Select and Frame in Viewport | Actors | Same as Enter. |
C++ results#
- Covers reflected C++ types, their functions, and their properties from the modules in your project file and from plugins in the project's Plugins folder. Engine C++ is not included.
- Plain C++ that is not exposed to Unreal's reflection is not searched.
- Updated at every editor start and after Live Coding or a hot reload.
- Opening a result uses your configured source code editor. Functions need the project's source and debug symbols, and the editor shows Reading C++ Symbols the first time.
You do not need C++ to use Quick Search.
When results update#
| Content | Searchable |
|---|---|
| Assets | As soon as they are created, renamed, or deleted, once the editor has finished discovering assets at startup. |
| Blueprint members | After you compile the Blueprint, even before saving, and after saving, renaming, deleting, or a change on disk such as a source-control sync. |
| Struct fields and enum entries | After the asset is saved. They are read in the background after other search preparation. |
| Actors and gameplay tags | Captured when the popup opens; changes show next time. |
| New levels | Once they are saved. |
At each start the whole project is checked, and the footer briefly shows progress. Preparation pauses during Play In Editor, while saving, and while progress dialogs are open. After an update that needs it, search data is rebuilt once automatically.
Blueprints saved by a very old or newer engine can lack searchable data; resave them in your current supported editor. QuickSearch.Status reports how many there are.
Settings#
Editor Preferences#
Editor Preferences → Plugins → Quick Search. Personal preferences.
| Category | Setting | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indexing | Index Comments | On | Search comment boxes, node comments, tooltips, and descriptions. |
| Indexing | Index Batch Size | 64 | How much background work is done per step, from 1 to 512. |
| Indexing | Excluded Paths | /Engine/Transient, /Game/Developers | Folders to leave out, matched by the start of the path. Combined with the team list. |
| Search | Include Engine Content | Off | Also search engine assets. |
| Search | Include Engine Plugin Content | Off | Also search assets from engine and Fab plugins. |
| Search | Include Project Plugin Content | On | Search content and C++ in the project's own plugins. |
| Search | Max Results | 50 | Results shown, from 5 to 500. |
| Search | Debounce Milliseconds | 60 | Wait after a keystroke before searching, from 0 to 500. The first keystroke after a pause searches at once. |
| Search | Correct Typos | On | Retry nearly empty searches with corrected spelling. |
| Search | Retry Other Keyboard Layouts | On | Retry empty searches as typed on your other layouts. |
| Interface | Restore Last Query | On | Reopen the popup with the last search. Lasts for the editor session. |
| Interface | Show Toolbar Button | On | Show the toolbar buttons. |
| Ranking | Kind Weights | Empty | Raise or lower the priority of result kinds, such as Asset or Function. |
| Ranking | Recently Used Bonus | 80 | How strongly recently opened results rank higher, from 0 to 400. |
| Shortcut | Shortcut Deny List | Sequencer, PhysicsAssetEditor | Panels where the Quick Search shortcuts stand down. |
Level actors, gameplay tags, and C++ results are not affected by the content switches or excluded paths.
Project Settings#
Project Settings → Plugins → Quick Search → Excluded Paths lists folders to leave out for the whole team. It is empty by default.
Console commands#
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
QuickSearch.Status |
Prints the state of the search data, including Blueprints that need resaving. |
QuickSearch.Rebuild |
Rebuilds the search data in the background, the same as Rebuild Index. |
Messages#
| Where | Message |
|---|---|
| Footer | assets only: another editor has the index open when a second editor has the same project open. Only assets, actors, and tags can be searched there. |
| Footer | indexing X of Y while search preparation runs. |
| Empty list | Start typing to search the project, Searching…, No results, Nothing to list, or Nothing in this list matches. |
| Output Log | An actor that belongs to a level other than the open one. |
| Output Log | Could not load an asset to navigate to it. |
| Output Log | A level with more than 100,000 actors: only the first 100,000 are searchable. |
The Output Log category is LogQuickSearch.
Limits#
- Windows editor only.
- One editor at a time can use the full search data for a project.
/Game/Developersis excluded by default.- Node titles and pin values are not searched. Use Find References to hand a member search to Find in Blueprints.
- Without a filter, each result kind is limited to a share of the list, so raising Max Results alone may not show more of one kind. Use a prefix or chip to see all results of a kind.
- The toolbar button appears on the Level Editor and Blueprint editor toolbars.