Fluent Search Window

Screen Search is one of Fluent Search's most unique features. It lets you navigate and interact with anything visible on your screen using only the keyboard — similar to the Vimium browser extension, but working across your entire computer.

When you activate Screen Search, character labels appear over all clickable and interactive elements on your screen. Type the label characters to click, double-click, right-click, or interact with that element — no mouse needed.

Action Default Shortcut
Screen Search (focused window only) Ctrl + M
Screen Search (entire screen) (configurable in Settings → Screen)

Upon activation, Fluent Search analyzes the screen and overlays character labels on every detected interactive element.

Basic usage

  1. Press the Screen Search hotkey (default: Ctrl + M for focused window)
  2. Character labels appear over clickable elements on your screen
  3. Type the label characters to perform an action on that element
  4. The action is performed and Screen Search closes

By default, typing a label performs a single click. You can change the click type by pressing a number key first (see Advanced usage).

Screen Search engines

Fluent Search uses two complementary detection engines to identify interactive elements on screen:

Image Recognition

  • Captures a screenshot and analyzes it to detect interactive components (buttons, links, icons, etc.)
  • Works with any application, including those that don't expose accessibility data
  • Best for visual elements, custom-drawn UIs, and non-standard controls

In-Window Content (UI Automation)

  • Uses Windows' built-in UI Automation framework to identify clickable elements
  • More accurate for standard Windows applications
  • Can detect tabs, buttons, list items, hyperlinks, and more

Auto mode (default)

Fluent Search intelligently selects the most appropriate engine based on the context. You can override this and force a specific engine if needed.

Configuration

  1. Open Fluent Search (Ctrl + Alt) → type settings → press Enter
  2. Navigate to Screen → Screen Search

Available settings:

Setting Description Default
Screen search engine Choose between Auto, Image Recognition, or In-Window Content Auto
Search using OCR Enable Optical Character Recognition for text detection Off
Process in background Continuously analyze the screen for faster activation Off

For detailed configuration of label appearance, see Customization.

For OCR text recognition, see OCR.

Tips

  • Screen Search works across all your monitors — use Shift keys to switch between screens (see Advanced usage)
  • Combine Screen Search with the Screen search tag in regular search to find on-screen text
  • If some elements aren't detected, try switching engines with Tab while Screen Search is active
  • For background processing mode, Screen Search pre-analyzes your screen so labels appear faster when activated

For click types, multi-monitor navigation, engine switching, and label positioning, see Advanced usage.

For a visual guide, visit the official Fluent Search website.