Comparison of file managers

Last updated

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable file managers .

Contents

General information

NameDeveloperInitial releasePlatformLatest release License Cost
VersionDateVersionDate
Altap Salamander Altap1997-08-15Windows4.0 [1] [2]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2019-06-11 Proprietary No cost
Commander One Eltima Software2015-08-04macOS3.7.3831 [3]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2023-08-25 Proprietary US$29.95 [lower-alpha 1]
Directory Opus Jonathan Potter
GPSoftware
11990-01-03AmigaOS4.16 [4] 2001-07-04 GPL-2.0 No cost
AmigaOS5.91 [5] 2015-08-30 APL
AROS
MorphOS
62001-06-18Windows12.27 [6] 2022-03-21 Proprietary A$49 Lite
A$89 Pro
Dired Integral part of Emacs.
Part of the GNU project.
~1976 [7] 7.17  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2009-07-30 GPL-3.0-or-later No cost
Dolphin KDE 0.52006-06-07BSD24.05.1 [8]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-06-10 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost
Linux
macOS
Unix
Windows
DOS Navigator Ritlabs 0.901991DOS1.51 [9]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 1999-04-19 BSD-3-Clause No cost
OS/2
Windows
DOS Shell Microsoft / IBM 1988DOS1998 Proprietary Bundled [lower-alpha 2]
Double Commander Alexander Koblov [lower-alpha 3] 2007BSD1.1.9 [10]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-01-14 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost
Linux
macOS
Unix
Windows
emelFM2 tooar2003-09-06BSD GPL-3.0-or-later No cost
Linux
Unix
Explorer++ David Ercig2008-01-08Windows1.4.0 [11] 2024-01-28 GPL-3.0-only No cost
Far Manager Eugene Roshal
Far Group
1996Windows (Linux, Mac, BSD via far2l)3.0.6226  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2023-12-14 BSD-3-Clause No cost
File Explorer [lower-alpha 4] Microsoft 1995-08-24Windows2015-07-29 Proprietary Bundled [lower-alpha 5]
File Manager Microsoft
Ian Ellison-Taylor
1990Windows10.3.0.0 [12]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-03-25 MIT [13] Bundled [lower-alpha 5]
Files (Apple) Apple Inc. 2017-09-19macOS Proprietary Bundled [lower-alpha 6]
Files by Google Google LLC 2017-12-05Android1.2263.598736326.1 [14] 2024-01-21 Proprietary No cost
GeoManager Berkeley Softworks [lower-alpha 7]
Breadbox Ensemble [lower-alpha 8]
1990GEOS2009 Proprietary Bundled [lower-alpha 9]
Finder Apple Inc. 1984-01macOS10.10.52015-08-13 Proprietary Bundled [lower-alpha 10]
ForkLift BinaryNights2007-06-01macOS4.0.7 [15]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-01-30 Proprietary US$29.95 [lower-alpha 1]
gentoo Emil Brink ? GPL-2.0-only No cost
GNOME Commander GNOME Commander2001-091.14.3 [16]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2022-06-18 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost
GNOME Files [lower-alpha 11] Eazel 2001-04-1147.0 [17]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-09-15 GPL-3.0-or-later No cost
Konqueror KDE2000-10R14.1.2 [18]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-04-19 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost
Krusader Krusader Krew2000-07-11R14.1.1 [19]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2023-10-20 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost
Midnight Commander [lower-alpha 12] Miguel de Icaza
GNU
1994-05 [lower-alpha 13] 4.8.32 [20]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-08-23 GPL-3.0-or-later No cost
muCommander Maxence Bernard2002-02-171.4.0 [21]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-05-02 GPL-3.0-or-later No cost
Nemo Linux Mint 1.0.02012-076.2.8 [22]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-08-08 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost [lower-alpha 14]
nnn Arun Prakash Jana2017-04-135.0 [23]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-08-26 BSD-2-Clause No cost
Nomad.NET Eugene Sichkar2.2.0.537 beta2008-08-143.2.0.28902016-06-13 Proprietary No cost
Norton Commander Peter Norton Computing
Symantec corporation
1986DOS5.511998-07-01 Proprietary ?
Windows2.011999-02-01
Path Finder [lower-alpha 15] Cocoatech2001-04macOS9.12020-03-24 Proprietary US$36.00
PathMinder Albert Nurick
Brittain Fraley
1984DOS4.111988 Proprietary US$39.95
PCManFM Hong Jen Yee2006-01-091.3.22021-02-05 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost
PC Shell Central Point Software 1986 Proprietary ? [lower-alpha 16]
ranger Roman Zimbelmann2010-06-09BSD1.9.3 [24]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2019-12-31 GPL-3.0-or-later No cost
Linux
macOS
ROX-Filer Thomas Leonard et al.2000-03-10 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost
SpaceFM IgnorantGuru0.5.02012-01-131.0.6 [25]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2018-03-04 GPL-3.0-or-later No cost
STDU Explorer STDUtility2009-03-23Windows1.0.4652012-05-24 Proprietary No cost
Tabbles Yellow blue soft UAB2009-08-01Windows3.1.292016-08-12 Proprietary US$29.95 [lower-alpha 1]
Thunar Xfce 2006-01-224.18.8 [26]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2023-10-24 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost
Total Commander [lower-alpha 17] Christian Ghisler1.02012-05-18Android3.50 [27]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-03-27 Proprietary No cost
1.00d1993-09-25Windows11.03 [28]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-02-21 CHF40, €37, US$42 [lower-alpha 1]
ViewMAX Digital Research / Novell 1.01990DR-DOS3.01993 GPL-2.0-only [lower-alpha 18] Bundled [lower-alpha 19]
Volkov Commander Vsevolod Volkov1992DOS4.05 [29]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2000-06-16 Proprietary Depends [lower-alpha 20]
WinSCP WinSCP 2000-09-30Windows6.3.5 [30]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-09-10 GPL-3.0-only No cost
worker Ralf Hoffmann1.0.01999-03-06Unix4.12.12023-03-05 GPL-2.0-only No cost
Xandros File Manager Xandros Corporation  ?4.22007-07-26 Proprietary Bundled [lower-alpha 21]
Xfe Roland Baudin20021.45 [31]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2022-12-30 GPL No cost
Xfile Rixstep2003-03-02macOS2.1.0.102010-02-14 Proprietary US$79.00 [lower-alpha 22]
Xfm Simon Marlow
Albert Gräf
Till Straumann
Robert Vogelgesang
Juan D. Martin
19921.4.3 [32] [33]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2001-09-03 GPL-2.0-or-later No cost
xplorer² Nikos Bozinis2004-06-10Windows5.4.0.22023-06-14 Proprietary US$29.95 - 49.95 [lower-alpha 23]
XTree Jeffery C. Johnson1985-04-01DOS1992 Proprietary US$39.95
1992Windows1992
XYplorer Donald Lessau1997Windows20.80.01002020-02-13 Proprietary US$39.95 - 79.95 [lower-alpha 24]
ZTreeWin Kim Henkel1996Windows2.2.192011-05-27 Proprietary US$29.95 (1-4)
NameDeveloperInitial releasePlatformLatest release License Cost
VersionDateVersionDate
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Demo, trial or lite version available at no cost.
  2. Part of MS-DOS/PC DOS.
  3. Alexander Koblov also known as alexx2000.
  4. File Explorer previously known as Windows Explorer.
  5. 1 2 Part of Microsoft Windows.
  6. Part of iOS.
  7. Berkeley Softworks later renamed to GeoWorks Corporation.
  8. Breadbox Ensemble founded as Breadbox Computer Company.
  9. Part of PC/GEOS
  10. Part of macOS
  11. GNOME Files formerly known as Nautilus.
  12. Midnight Commander also known as mc.
  13. The exact history is unknown. This date comes from changelog entries in the src/TODO file in the Git repository (SHA1: eb6b3842a). But it is probably earlier than that. Dec 1997 was release v4.1 already.
  14. Nemo is part of the Cinnamon (Desktop Environment).
  15. Path Finder originally known as SNAX.
  16. Part of PC Tools for DOS.
  17. Total Commander originally known as Windows Commander.
  18. ViewMAX was originally proprietary.
  19. Part of DR-DOS
  20. Shareware / Freeware
  21. Part of Xandros Desktop
  22. With 80+ other applications.
  23. US$29.95 Pro, US$49.95 Ultimate. [lower-alpha 1]
  24. US$39.95 Standard License Pro, US$79.95 Lifetime License Pro. [lower-alpha 1] [34]

Operating system support

Cross-platform file managers

This table shows the operating systems that the file managers can run on, without emulation.

File manager DOS OS/2 & eCS Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD Unix AmigaOS OpenVMS
Directory Opus NoNoYesNoNoNoNoYes [35] No
Dired Yes [36] Yes [37] Yes [38] Yes [39] YesYesYesYes [40] Yes [41]
Dolphin NoNoNeeds KDE [42] Yes [43] YesYesYesNoNo
Double Commander NoNoYesYesYesYesYesNoNo
DOS Navigator YesYesYesNoNoNoNoNoNo
emelFM2 NoNoNoNoYesYesYesNoNo
GNOME Commander NoNoNoYesYesYesYesNoNo
Konqueror NoNoNeeds KDE [42] Yes [43] YesYesYesNoNo
Krusader NoNoNoNeeds X YesYesYesNoNo
Midnight Commander YesNoYes [44] Yes [45] YesYesYesYesNo
muCommander NoNoYesYesYesYesYes ?Yes
nnn NoNoNoYesYesYesYesNoNo
GNOME Files (Nautilus) NoNoNoNoYesYesYesNoNo
Nemo NoNoNoNoYesYesYesNoNo
PathMinder YesNoYesNoNoNoNoNoNo
PCManFM NoNeeds POSIX-compliant platformNeeds POSIX-compliant platformNeeds POSIX-compliant platformYesYesYesNoYes
Ranger NoNoNoYesYesYesYesNoNo
ROX-Filer NoNoYesYesYesNoNo
Thunar NoNoNoNoYesYesYesNoNo
Total Commander NoNoYesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Volkov Commander YesYesYesNoNoNoNoNoNo
worker NoNoNoNoYesYesYesNoNo
Xandros File Manager NoNoNoNoYes ? ?NoNo
Xfe NoNeeds X Needs X Needs X YesYesYesNeeds X [46] Yes
Xfm NoNeeds X Needs X Needs X YesYesYesNoYes
Far Manager Needs HX DOS Extender NoYesYes (far2l)Yes (far2l)Yes (far2l) ?NoNo
ZTreeWin NoYesYesNoNoNoNoNoNo
File manager DOS OS/2 & eCS Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD Unix AmigaOS OpenVMS

Mac-only file managers

*nix-only file managers

Windows-only file managers

iOS-only file managers

Android-only file managers

Manager views

Konqueror large.png
Icon views represent files and folders as large icons.
Details&thumbs.jpg
Details + thumbnails views and favs-panel (bottom left)

Information about what common file manager views are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons).

Note that the "Column View" does not refer to the Miller Columns browsing / visualization technique that can be applied to tree structures / folders.

File managerFamily UI Icon viewList viewColumn viewThumbnailsDetails + ThumbsGroupingContent dependent [m 1] Twin panelFavorites / BookmarkPanel tabs
Altap Salamander Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYesNoNoNoYesPartialNo
Commander One Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYes ? ?No ?YesYes
Demos Commander Orthodox Text  ?Yes ? ? ? ? ?Yes ? ?
Directory Opus Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Dired Directory editor Text Yes, on GUI [49] Yes ?Yes, on GUI [49] Yes, on GUI [49] YesYesYes, one or morePartial (bookmarks)Yes (optional tab bar) [50]
Dolphin Navigational GUI YesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYes
Double Commander Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
DOS Navigator Orthodox Text  ?Yes ? ? ? ? ?Yes ? ?
emelFM2 Orthodox GUI NoYesNoYes [m 2]  ?NoNoYes ?No
FAR Manager Orthodox Text [m 3] Partial [m 4] YesYesYes [51] Partial [m 4] YesYesYesYesPartial [m 5]
File Manager (Windows) Orthodox GUI YesYesNo ? ? ? ?Yes[ citation needed ]NoNo
Files (Apple) GUI YesYesYes
Files by Google GUI
Finder Spatial / Miller Columns GUI YesYesYesYesYes, with Cover Flow YesNoNoYesYes
ForkLift Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYesPartialYesNoYesYesYes
gentoo Orthodox GUI  ?Yes ? ? ? ? ?Yes ? ?
GNOME Commander Orthodox GUI NoYesNoNo ?NoNoYes ?Yes
Konqueror Navigational / Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Krusader Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYes ?NoYesYesYesYes
Midnight Commander Orthodox Text NoYesYes ? ? ?YesYesYes ?
GNOME Files (Nautilus) Navigational / Spatial GUI YesNoYesYesYesNoNoNoYesYes
Nemo Navigational / Spatial GUI YesYesYesYesYesNoNoYes,press[F3]YesYes
Nomad.NET Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYes ?YesPartial, ManualYesYesYes, Shared
Path Finder Navigational GUI YesYesYesYesNoYesNoYesYesYes
PCManFM Navigational GUI YesYesYesYesYes ?NoYesYesYes
ROX-Filer Spatial GUI YesYesNoYesYesNoNoNoYesNo
STDU Explorer Navigational GUI YesYesYesYesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Total Commander Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYesYesYesYes In viewingYesYesYes
Thunar Navigational GUI YesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYes
Volkov Commander Orthodox Text  ?Yes ? ? ? ? ?Yes ? ?
Windows Explorer Navigational / Spatial GUI YesYesYes [m 6] YesPartial [m 7] YesYesNoYesNo
worker Orthodox GUI NoYesNoNoNoNoNoYesYesYes
Xandros File Manager Navigational GUI Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Xfe Hybrid Navigational GUI YesYesYesYesYesNoNoYesYesNo
Xfm Spatial GUI YesNoNoNoNo ? ?No ?No
xplorer² Hybrid Navigational / Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYesYes [m 8] YesYesYesYesYes
XYplorer Hybrid Navigational / Orthodox GUI YesYesYesYesYesNoNoYesYesYes
ZTreeWin Orthodox Text NoYesYesNoPartialYesNoYesYesNo
File managerFamily UI Icon viewList viewColumn viewThumbnailsDetails + ThumbsGroupingContent dependentTwin panelFavorites / BookmarkPanel tabs
  1. Content Dependent (System) refers to a system which attempts to detect the dominant type of files in that folder and then select the most appropriate view mode for you automatically.
  2. Optional image thumbnailer plugin since v0.3.4 (24/5/2007)
  3. The text interface, which can be partially graphical with some plugins, such as embedded image/video viewers, for example. But the text interface is only emulated with the ConEmu mod - it is graphical and TrueColor in reality.
  4. 1 2 With the ConEmu mod or plugins.
  5. Via multi-panel plugins or the ConEmu mod.
  6. Column view is called Details view in Windows Explorer
  7. Windows 7 introduces a Content view which shows details as well as thumbnails
  8. Via "Mirrored Browsing" feature.

Twin-panel file managers have obligatory connected panels where action in one panel results in reaction in the second. Konqueror supports multiple panels divided horizontally, vertically or both, but these panels do not act as twin panels by default (the user has to mark the panels he wants to act as twin-panels).

Network protocols

Information on what networking protocols the file managers support. Note that many of these protocols might be supported, in part or in whole, by software layers below the file manager, rather than by the file manager itself; for example, the macOS Finder doesn't implement those protocols, and the Windows Explorer doesn't implement most of them, they just make ordinary file system calls to access remote files, and Konqueror either uses ordinary file system calls or KIO slave calls to access remote files. Some functions, such as browsing for servers or shares, might be implemented in the file manager even if most functions are implemented below the file manager.

File manager SMB/CIFS WebDAV NFS AFP FTP FISH/SSH
Altap Salamander YesNoYesNoYesYes
Commander One Yes [n 1] YesYes [n 1] Yes [n 1] YesYes
Directory Opus YesYesYesNoYesYes (SFTP & SSL [n 2] )
Dired Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1] NoYesYes [n 1]
Dolphin YesYesYes ?YesYes
Double Commander Yes ? ? ?Yes ?
emelFM2  ? ? ? ?No ?
Far Manager YesPartial [n 3] Partial [n 4] NoYesYes [n 5]
File Manager  ? ? ? ? ? ?
Files (Apple)
Files by Google
Finder Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1] Partial [n 1] No
ForkLift YesYesYesYesYesYes
GNOME Commander YesYesYesNoYesYes
Konqueror YesYesYesYesYesYes
Krusader YesYesYesNoYesYes
muCommander Yes ?Yes ?YesYes
Midnight Commander Yes [n 6] NoYesNoYesYes
GNOME Files (Nautilus) YesYesYesYesYesYes
Nemo Yes ? ? ?YesYes
Nomad.NET YesNoNoNoYesNo
Path Finder YesYesYesYesYes (Read Access)No
PCManFM Yes [n 7]  ? ? ? ? ?
ROX-Filer Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1] Yes [n 1]
Total Commander YesYes [n 5] Partial [n 4] NoYesYes
Thunar Yes [n 7] Yes [n 7] Yes [n 7] NoYes [n 7] Yes [n 7]
worker  ? ? ? ?Yes [n 8]  ?
Windows Explorer YesYesYes [n 9] NoYesNo
Xandros File Manager  ? ? ? ? ? ?
Xfe  ? ? ? ? ? ?
Xfm  ? ? ? ? ? ?
xplorer² YesYes [n 10] Partial [n 4] NoYesNo
XYplorer YesYesYes [n 9] NoYesNo
ZTreeWin YesPartial [n 11] Partial [n 4] NoPartial [n 11] Partial [n 12]
File manager SMB/CIFS WebDAV NFS AFP FTP FISH/SSH
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Support is provided by the underlying operating system.
  2. Requires an additional licence (purchased separately)
  3. WebDAV support in these file managers requires the installation of NetDrive or WebDrive.
  4. 1 2 3 4 NFS support in these file managers requires the installation of Services for UNIX.
  5. 1 2 Support is provided via a free third-party plugin.
  6. From version 4.8.28 support for Samba will be removed. "Coming soon: 4.8.28; what's new".
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Support is provided by GVfs
  8. Support is provided by AVfs
  9. 1 2 NFS support requires either the freely downloadable Windows Services for UNIX or is built-in starting with Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions as Subsystem for Unix-based applications (SUA).
  10. WebDAV is supported via Microsoft Windows' built-in Network Places/Mapped Drive functionality.
  11. 1 2 FTP support in these file managers requires the installation of NetDrive or WebDrive.
  12. SSH support in these file managers requires the installation of SftpDrive or WebDrive.

File features

Information on what basic file features the file managers support.

File ManagerUndo/redo file operationFile compressionFile encryptionRename busy filesFile previewFile coloring filter [52] File selection filterPaste clipboard as fileFile and folder reportsACL (Access control list)Mass rename [53] Run executable files
Altap Salamander  ?YesYes ?YesYesYes, multiple [54]  ?YesYes [55] YesYes
Commander One  ?YesYesYesYesYesYes ?No ? ? ?
Directory Opus YesYesPartialPartialYesYesYesYesYes ?Yes ?
Dired Partial [56] YesYesYesYesYesYesYes ?YesYesYes
Dolphin YesYesYesYesYes ? ?Yes ?YesYesYes
Double Commander NoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes ?Yes ?
emelFM2  ?YesYesYesNo ?YesNo ?Yes ? ?
FAR Manager  ?YesYesYesYesYesYesPartial [57] YesPluginPlugin ?
File Manager  ?Yes ? ?NoYesYesNo ?YesYesYes
Files (Apple) YesYes
Files by Google
Finder YesYesYesYesYesYes ?No ?YesYesYes
ForkLift YesYesNoNoYesYesYesNoNoYesYes ?
GNOME Commander  ?Yes ? ?YesYes ? ? ?NoYes ?
Konqueror Partial [58] YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes [59] Yes
Krusader  ?YesYesYesYesNoYesYes ?YesYes [59] Yes
Midnight Commander  ?Yes ? ? ?YesYesPartial [60]  ? ?YesYes
GNOME Files (Nautilus) YesYesNoYesYesNoNoPartial [61] NoYesNoNo [62]
Nemo YesYesYes ?YesYes ?Yes ? ?NoYes
Nomad.NET  ?YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesPartial ?
Path Finder  ?YesNo [63] NoYesNoYesNoYesNoNo ?
PCManFM NoYes ?YesNo ? ? ? ? ? ?Yes
ROX-Filer  ?With helper applicationsYesYesNoYesNoNoNoYes ?
STDU Explorer  ?NoNoNoYesNoNoNoNoNoNo ?
Thunar YesYes (via plugin)Yes (via plugin) ?YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Total Commander  ?YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesLog fileYesYes
Windows Explorer YesYesPartial [64] NoYesNoNoPartial [65] NoYes [66] PartialYes
worker  ?YesYes ?YesYesYesNo ?Yes ?Yes
Xandros File Manager  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Xfe YesYesNoYesNo ?YesNo ?YesNo ?
Xfm  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
xplorer² NoYesPartial [64] PartialYesYesYesYesYesYes [67] YesYes
XYplorer YesYesPartial [64] YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes ?
ZTreeWin  ?YesPartial [68] YesYesYesYesNoYesNoYes ?
File ManagerUndo/redo file operationFile compressionFile encryptionRename busy filesFile previewFile coloring filterFile selection filterPaste clipboard as fileFile and folder reportsACL (Access control list)Mass renameRun executable files

Browsing features

File manager Symbolic links Windows long path supportBrowse compressed foldersSlideshowsShows combined size of selected directoriesBranch sizesDirectory compareSynchronizer Find as you type (Type-ahead find) Embedded/integrated terminalFor directories, size column shows:
Altap Salamander  ? ?YesNoYes ?YesPartial (for remote folders)YesYesDIR
Commander One Yes ?YesNoYes ?NoNoYesYes, in the PRO Pack [69] DIR and total size including subdirectories
Directory Opus YesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYesYesDIR and total size including subdirectories
Dired Yes ?YesYes [70] No ?YesYesYesYes [71] Literal [browse 1]
DOS Navigator No ?YesNoYes ?Yes ?Yes [72] YesTotal size including subdirectories
Dolphin Yes ?YesNoYesNoNoNoYesYesNumber of entries
Double Commander YesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesDIR
emelFM2  ? ? ?NoYes ?Yes ?YesYesLiteral [browse 1]
FAR Manager Yes ?YesPartial [n 1] YesYesYesPartial [73] YesYes ?
Files (Apple)  ?
Files by Google  ?
Finder  ? ?NoYesYes ?NoNoYesNoYes
ForkLift Yes ?YesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesDIR and total size including subdirectories
GNOME Commander  ? ?NoNoYesYesYesYesYesYes ?
Konqueror Yes ?YesYesYes (with konq-plugin)YesYes (with kdiff3 plugin)Yes (with kdiff3 plugin)YesYesFolder only size (default) selectable to file count/total size
Krusader  ? ?YesNoYesYesYesYesYesYes ?
Midnight Commander Yes ?Yes [74]  ?Yes ?YesYes [75] YesYes ?
muCommander No [76]  ? ? ? ? ? ?Yes ?Partial, command execution only ?
GNOME Files (Nautilus)  ? ?NoNoYesNoNoNoYesYes, With Plugin [77] [78] Number of entries
Nemo  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Yes, with nemo-terminal extension
Nomad.NET Yes ?YesNoYesYesYesNoYesYes, via PluginDIR and total size including subdirectories
Path Finder  ? ?NoYesPartial ?NoNoYesYes [79] Yes
PCManFM  ? ?YesNoYesYesNo ?YesNo, but there is a fork attempt [80] Nothing
ROX-Filer  ? ?NoNoYes ?No ?Yes, and browsing with tab completionNoNothing
Thunar Yes ?NoNoYes ?NoNoYesNoConfigurable
Total Commander Yes [81]  ?YesYes In pluginYesYesYesYesYesYesDIR and total size including subdirectories
Windows Explorer Partial [82] PartialYesYesYes (in folder tooltips)PartialNoYesYesNo ?
worker Yes ?YesNoYes ?Yes ? ?No
Xandros File Manager  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?No ?
Xfe Yes ?NoNoYes ?Yes ?NoNo ?
Xfile  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?No [83]  ?
Xfm  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?No ?
xplorer² YesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYes [84]  ?
XYplorer YesYesYesYes [85] YesYesYesPartialYesYes [86] Contents including subs
ZTreeWin  ? ?YesNoYesYesYesNoYes ?Selectable: number of entries or size (optional: including subs)
File manager Symbolic links Windows long path supportBrowse compressed foldersSlideshowsShows combined size of selected directoriesBranch sizesDirectory compareSynchronizer Find as you type (Type-ahead find) Embedded/integrated terminalFor directories, size column shows:
  1. 1 2 Literal - meaning the size of the directory file itself, not the number or sizes of the files it points to (commonly called its "contents"). Typically a few kilobytes.
  1. Support is provided via a free third-party plugin.

Search features

Information on what file searching features the file managers support. RegExp include the possibilities of nested Boolean searches, thus implicitly all file managers supporting RegExp search support also Boolean searches.

File managerFile name [D 1] File contents [D 2] Basic metadata search [D 3] All metadata search [D 4] RegExp for contentsBoolean (nesting levels) Fuzzy logic [D 5] Save searches [D 6] Refined searches [D 7]
Altap Salamander Yes ?Yes ?Yes [s 1] Yes ?YesYes
Commander One YesYesYes [s 2] Yes [s 2] YesYes ?NoNo
Directory Opus YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Dired YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes [87] Yes
Dolphin Yes ?YesYesYesYes ? ?Yes
Double Commander YesYesYesYesYesYes ? ? ?
emelFM2 Yes ?YesYes ? ? ?Partial ?
FAR Manager Yes ?YesYesYes [s 3] Yes [s 3] Yes [s 3] YesYes
Files (Apple)
Files by Google
Finder Yes ?YesYesNo ? ?Yes ?
ForkLift YesPartialYesYesYesYes ?NoNo
Konqueror YesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYes
Krusader Yes ?YesYesYes [88] NoNoYesYes
GNOME Files (Nautilus) Yes ?Partial [s 4] Partial [s 4]  ? ? ?Yes ?
Nemo Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Nomad.NET YesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYes
Path Finder Yes ?YesYesNoNo ?NoNo
PCManFM Yes ?YesNoYesNoNoNoNo
ROX-Filer Yes ?YesYesYesYes ?No ?
Total Commander YesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesPartial [s 5]
Windows Explorer YesNoYesNoNo ? ?YesYes
worker YesYesYes ?Yes ? ? ? ?
Xandros File Manager  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Xfe YesYes [s 6] YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Xfile YesNoYesNoYesYesNoYesYes
Xfm  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
xplorer² YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
XYplorer YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes [s 7]
ZTreeWin YesYesYesPartialPartial [s 8] YesYesYesYes
File managerFile name [D 1] File contents [D 2] Basic metadata search [D 3] All metadata search [D 4] RegExp for contentsBoolean (nesting levels)Fuzzy logic [D 5] Save searches [D 6] Refined searches [D 7]

Column Definitions (D)

  1. 1 2 using wildcards, subfolders
  2. 1 2 using wildcards, case match, whole word match
  3. 1 2 size, date, time, attributes (read only, hidden, archivable, etc.
  4. 1 2 [ clarification needed ] what/where is additional metadata?
  5. 1 2 [ clarification needed ] what is fuzzy logic and how is it useful?
  6. 1 2 Ability to save templates containing all search settings (file filter, metadata requirements etc.). Results of saves searches are always live, so not the results but the search conditions are saved.
  7. 1 2 Also known as iterative searches. For example the ability to finish one search and then perform a new search a) only within these results (intersect the two result sets / the requirements of both searches have to be met), 2) adding to these results (combine both result sets to a bigger set) or 3) subtract from those results (original result set reduced by intersection of result sets).

Entry Notes (s)

  1. Altap Salamander Search offers RegExp for defining the file content.
  2. 1 2 Support is provided by the underlying operating system.
  3. 1 2 3 Support is provided via a free third-party plugin.
  4. 1 2 Can integrate with Beagle to provide more searching functionality.
  5. Search intersection
  6. One can search for file contents using the Text Contains field in the search window.
  7. After searching results, user can apply advanced visual filters to narrow down results.
  8. ZTreeWin provides several context specific search syntaxes that are not pure regex

Extensibility

Information on which parts of the application can be extended by plugins.

File managerFilesystem supportAttribute columnsFile previewsMetadata indexingUnicode supportVisual themes
Altap Salamander YesYesYes ?PartialNo
Commander One YesYesYes ?YesYes
Directory Opus YesYesYesPartialYesYes
Dired YesYesYesYesYesYes
Dolphin YesNoYesYesYesYes
Double Commander YesYesYesNoYes [e 1] Partial [e 2]
emelFM2  ? ? ? ? ?
Far Manager YesYesYesPartialYes [e 3] No
Files (Apple) YesYes
Files by Google
Finder YesNoYesYesYes [e 4] Partial [e 5]
ForkLift YesYesYesNoYesYes
Konqueror YesNoYesYesYesYes
Krusader YesNoYesPartialYes
Midnight Commander YesNoNoNoYesNo
GNOME Files (Nautilus) Yes ?Yes ?YesYes
Nemo Yes ?YesYesYesYes
Nomad.NET YesYesYes ?YesYes
Path Finder  ? ? ? ? ?
PCManFM YesYesYesNoYesNo
ROX-Filer NoYesNo ?
Total Commander YesYesYesYes In search toolYes [e 1] Yes [e 6]
Windows Explorer YesYesYesYes [89] YesPartial [e 5]
worker YesNoYesNoYes ?
Xandros File Manager  ? ? ? ? ? ?
Xfe NoPartialNoNoPartialPartial [e 7]
Xfile  ? ? ? ? ? ?
Xfm  ? ? ? ? ? ?
xplorer² YesYesYes ?YesYes
XYplorer YesYesYes ?YesYes
ZTreeWin YesYesYes ?YesNo
File managerFilesystem supportAttribute columnsFile previewsMetadata indexingUnicode supportVisual themes
  1. 1 2 Main change in Total Commander 7.50
  2. User can change toolbar icons
  3. In Far 2.0 & Far 3.0+
  4. Unicode support depends on Mac OS version. Mac OS X's Finder includes full Unicode support, while Mac OS 8 and earlier does not. May be supported in >=8.1 and <=9.2 if using Unicode filesystems.
  5. 1 2 File and folder icons customizable on OS level and via folder properties
  6. User can manually change icon themes including toolbar, file and folder icons. User can also change the color scheme to a pre-defined one or manually pick a color for each element in preferences.
  7. User can change icon themes in preferences, which change the toolbar, file and folder icons. User can also change the color scheme to a pre-defined one or manually pick a color for each element (in preferences).

Notes

  1. https://www.altap.cz/salamander/changelogs/40/.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. https://www.altap.cz/salamander/changelogs/.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "Commander One from the Electronic Team website :".
  4. "Directory Opus 4 Research Project".
  5. "Dopus5".
  6. "Release History". gpsoft.com.au. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  7. Thomas E. Dickey. "Dating Dired". Adoption by emacs. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  8. "v24.05.1" . Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  9. "Dos Navigator".
  10. "Double Commander 1.1.9 beta released". 14 January 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  11. "Release Explorer++ 1.4.0 · derceg/explorerplusplus". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  12. "Release 10.3.0.0". 25 March 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  13. Original Windows File Manager (winfile) with enhancements: Microsoft/winfile, Microsoft, 2019-02-21, retrieved 2019-02-21
  14. "Files by Google - Apps on Google Play" . Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  15. "ForkLift 4.0.7 is available". 30 January 2024.
  16. "New Release: v1.14.3". 18 June 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  17. "47.0". 15 September 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  18. "Official Trinity Desktop Environment R14.1.2 release" . Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  19. "R14.1.1" . Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  20. Yury V. Zaytsev (23 August 2024). "[mc] Midnight Commander 4.8.32 released" . Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  21. "Release Notes".
  22. "Release 6.2.8". 8 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  23. "Release 5.0". 26 August 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  24. "Release 1.9.3". 31 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  25. "Release 1.0.6". 4 March 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  26. "thunar-4.18.8 · Tags · Xfce / thunar · GitLab".
  27. "history2.txt" . Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  28. "Total Commander 11.03 is available now!" . Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  29. "News". 16 June 2000. Archived from the original on 19 July 2007.
  30. "6.3.5". 10 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  31. "XFE Homepage". 30 December 2022. News. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  32. "Xfm - The X File Manager". Archived from the original on 5 May 2018.
  33. "Changelog". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  34. "XYplorer Purchase". XYplorer Purchase. Retrieved 14 February 2020.}}
  35. 1 2 Directory Opus 5.82 Magellan II is the last commercial version available for Amiga. Full and registered version has been released for free with the AmiKit distribution. Directory Opus 4 is maintained separately under an open source license.
  36. "Info Node: (emacs)Dired". cmu.edu.
  37. "Emacs 20.6 under OS/2". Home.snafu.de. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
  38. "Emacs FAQ for MS Windows". Free Software Foundation. 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
  39. "Carbon Emacs Package". Archived from the original on 2006-01-25. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  40. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2009-04-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  41. AaronHawley (2010-05-28). "Emacs On VMS". EmacsWiki. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
  42. 1 2 "Projects/KDE on Windows/Installation - KDE TechBase". Techbase.kde.org. 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
  43. 1 2 "The MacPorts Project - Available Ports". MacPorts . Retrieved 2013-12-30.
  44. Cygwin or Win32 Native
  45. Runs in text mode inside Terminal window
  46. "Der Schwan-Clan".
  47. Windows 95 and later
  48. Windows Mobile
  49. 1 2 3 Activating Image-Dired command in the graphical interface.
  50. Tab-bar mode can be activated to show the tab-bar (else it will be hidden).
  51. With ConEmu Far Manager plugin conemu-maximus5
  52. Files matching certain user defined criteria (e.g. name pattern, attributes) are displayed in another color. Example: Since Windows 2000, the UI guide requires NTFS compressed files and folders displayed in blue, whereas uncompressed ones are black.
  53. Mass Rename is a feature to rename large number of files in a convenient way and including a preview, see the screenshot for an example. Common options are subdirectory inclusion, wildcards, manual mode (offering to edit names as text files in editors), counters, time related fields (e.g. "date created"), path related fields (e.g. "parent directory name"), regular expressions, etc. See also: Batch renaming.
  54. Altap Salamander offers to show only selected files and hide unselected ones, also in picture viewer, etc. For selection, the usual wildcards and add/subtract/intersect with 1...N stored selections are offered.
  55. ACL is dependent on the type and version of file- and operating system. Altap Salamander offers quick access to owner, auditing and permission settings in WinXP with NTFS 5.
  56. Only actions operating on filesystem data (filename, path, timestamps, acls, etc.); file contents have separate and independent per-file undo/redo. Filesystem actions that modify file contents (deleting, overwriting, truncating, &c.) can be undone/redone with optional integrated use of automatic trash/backup/auto-save/version-control features.
  57. With plug-ins, or this can be implemented as a macros
  58. Konqueror can undo, not redo.
  59. 1 2 Needs KRename, an application that integrates into Konqueror and Krusader.
  60. Create new file with desired name, then paste contents.
  61. Only text which is dragged from another program and dropped into a folder in GNOME Files (Nautilus) can be pasted as a new file.
  62. Removed in version 3.29.
  63. Path Finder apparently integrates with Knox Archived 2011-06-19 at the Library of Congress Web Archives, an encryption utility.
  64. 1 2 3 The encryption feature in Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Server 2003 is in fact a user-transparent filesystem-level encryption feature for NTFS. The file manager merely enables or disables it.
  65. Supported up to Windows XP only. Document scraps are not supported in Windows Vista and later.
  66. Via system File Properties dialog, NTFS-only. Must be enabled manually Archived 2007-05-28 at the Wayback Machine in Windows versions prior to Server 2003.
  67. Via system File Properties dialog, NTFS-only.
  68. Encryption is supported for Zip and Rar, other formats depend on the editable ARCHIVER.BB2 file
  69. "Dual-pane file manager for Mac - Commander One". mac.eltima.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  70. via image-mode, GUI only
  71. "Shell Commands in Dired". www.gnu.org. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  72. Press and release Alt
  73. Via plugins, or manual with helping of the embedded Advanced Compare.
  74. Extensible via compression plugins, supported formats list depends on distribution package maintainer
  75. Can be done in two steps
  76. "Two-pane file manager for Windows with symlink and large file support". stackexchange.com.
  77. "Flogisoft - Nautilus Terminal" . Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  78. "Launchpad - Nautilus Terminal". 7 September 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  79. "Path Finder 7 by Cocoatech". www.cocoatech.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  80. "LXDE.org Forum - Try PCManFM with a tabbed terminal included". forum.lxde.org. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  81. "Two-pane file manager for Windows with symlink and large file support". stackexchange.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  82. Copying directory junctions across drives creates an empty directory in the target
  83. "Xfile: The Standard Setter - Features". rixstep.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  84. "xplorer² tour#6: external command console". zabkat.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  85. via XYplorer script- SlideShow
  86. "XYplorer - 9.90 Released". www.xyplorer.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  87. Part of Emacs.
  88. "Krusader - Twin panel file management for your desktop". krusader.org. Archived from the original on 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  89. IFilters

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