What is AWS Resource Explorer?
AWS Resource Explorer is a resource search and discovery service for your AWS account. You can find Amazon EC2 instances, Amazon Kinesis streams, Amazon DynamoDB tables, and resources from hundreds of other AWS services through a search experience similar to an internet search engine.
Search works on metadata such as names, tags, and IDs. Resource Explorer also displays additional resource details from other AWS services, such as AWS Config and AWS Cloud Control. It works across AWS Regions in your account, which simplifies cross-Region workloads.
Core Features
- Search available immediately: Since October 6, 2025, Resource Explorer is enabled by default; what you can see depends on your IAM permissions
- Indexes: Resource Explorer-owned indexes provide immediate partial results, user-owned indexes provide a complete inventory with automatic updates
- Cross-Region search: Optional, via a selected aggregator Region
- Multi-account search: Through the AWS Organizations integration
- Views: Administrators define which resources appear in search results for which user groups
- Unified Search: Search directly from the AWS Management Console search bar
- Quick actions: Manage tags and add resources to new or existing applications
- Access via CLI, SDK, and API: Usable for automation as well as from the console
Typical Use Cases
Find the resources of an application: Use application names and tags to identify related resources across Regions.
Operations and incident response: When an alert fires, locate the affected resource quickly and jump straight into the owning service’s console.
Tagging hygiene: Named operators help you find untagged or incorrectly tagged resources organization-wide, as a basis for cost allocation and governance.
Onboarding and inventory: New team members get an overview of grown account landscapes without building a custom search infrastructure.
Benefits
- Search, views, and setup at no additional cost
- No custom search infrastructure required
- Results across Regions and — with AWS Organizations — across accounts
- Access through the console, Unified Search, CLI, SDK, and API
- Fine-grained control of visibility through IAM permissions and views
- Available in several EU regions
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS Reseller, innFactory supports you with AWS Resource Explorer: setting up the aggregator Region and multi-account search through AWS Organizations, designing views for different teams, building a robust tagging strategy, and connecting search into your operations and governance processes.
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AWS Resource Explorer?
According to the documentation, AWS Resource Explorer is a resource search and discovery service. You explore your AWS resources — such as Amazon EC2 instances, Amazon Kinesis streams, or Amazon DynamoDB tables — using an internet search engine-like experience, filtering by metadata such as names, tags, and IDs.
Does Resource Explorer require setup?
According to the documentation, Resource Explorer has been enabled by default in AWS accounts since October 6, 2025, with no setup steps required to begin searching. What you can see depends on your IAM permissions. Manual configuration is only needed to add missing permissions or to use enhanced features such as cross-Region or multi-account search.
How does search across Regions and accounts work?
For cross-Region search you select an aggregator Region with a single click or API call. For multi-account search, organizations enable trusted access in AWS Organizations and roll out the configuration using AWS CloudFormation.
What are views in Resource Explorer?
Views are an optional feature that administrators use to define which resources appear in search results, so different user groups can be given different views based on their needs.
What does AWS Resource Explorer cost?
According to the documentation, automatic setup and basic search functionality are available at no additional cost, including creating views and completing setup in additional Regions. While building your resource inventory, Resource Explorer calls APIs on your behalf that may result in charges. Charges can also arise if you explicitly enable additional data sources such as AWS Config, or when you interact with the resources you find.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of AWS (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by AWS.