Comparison of file managers

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

General information

Name	Developer	Initial release		Platform	Latest release		License	Cost
		Version	Date		Version	Date
Altap Salamander	Altap		1997-08-15	Windows	4.0 [1] [2]	2019-06-11	Proprietary	No cost
Commander One	Eltima Software		2015-08-04	macOS	3.7.3831 [3]	2023-08-25	Proprietary	US$29.95 [lower-alpha 1]
Directory Opus	Jonathan Potter GPSoftware	1	1990-01-03	AmigaOS	4.16 [4]	2001-07-04	GPL-2.0	No cost
				AmigaOS	5.91 [5]	2015-08-30	APL
				AROS
				MorphOS
		6	2001-06-18	Windows	12.27 [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	2009-07-30	GPL-3.0-or-later	No cost
Dolphin	KDE	0.5	2006-06-07	BSD	R14.1.1 [8]	2023-10-20	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
				Linux
				macOS
				Unix
				Windows
DOS Navigator	Ritlabs	0.90	1991	DOS	1.51 [9]	1999-04-19	BSD-3-Clause	No cost
				OS/2
				Windows
DOS Shell	Microsoft / IBM		1988	DOS		1998	Proprietary	Bundled [lower-alpha 2]
Double Commander	Alexander Koblov [lower-alpha 3]		2007	BSD	1.1.9 [10]	2024-01-14	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
				Linux
				macOS
				Unix
				Windows
emelFM2	tooar		2003-09-06	BSD			GPL-3.0-or-later	No cost
				Linux
				Unix
Explorer++	David Ercig		2008-01-08	Windows	1.4.0 [11]	2024-01-28	GPL-3.0-only	No cost
Far Manager	Eugene Roshal Far Group		1996	Windows (Linux, Mac, BSD via far2l)	3.0.6226	2023-12-14	BSD-3-Clause	No cost
OS/2
Windows	2.40 [12] [13]	2011-03-03
File Explorer [lower-alpha 4]	Microsoft		1995-08-24	Windows		2015-07-29	Proprietary	Bundled [lower-alpha 5]
File Manager	Microsoft Ian Ellison-Taylor		1990	Windows			MIT [14]	Bundled [lower-alpha 5]
Files (Apple)	Apple Inc.		2017-09-19	macOS			Proprietary	Bundled [lower-alpha 6]
Files by Google	Google LLC		2017-12-05	Android	1.2263.598736326.1 [15]	2024-01-21	Proprietary	No cost
GeoManager	Berkeley Softworks [lower-alpha 7] Breadbox Ensemble [lower-alpha 8]		1990	GEOS		2009	Proprietary	Bundled [lower-alpha 9]
Finder	Apple Inc.		1984-01	macOS	10.10.5	2015-08-13	Proprietary	Bundled [lower-alpha 10]
ForkLift	BinaryNights		2007-06-01	macOS	4.0.7 [16]	2024-01-30	Proprietary	US$29.95 [lower-alpha 1]
gentoo	Emil Brink		?				GPL-2.0-only	No cost
GNOME Commander	GNOME Commander		2001-09		1.14.3 [17]	2022-06-18	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
GNOME Files [lower-alpha 11]	Eazel		2001-04-11		46.0 [18]	2024-03-18	GPL-3.0-or-later	No cost
Konqueror	KDE		2000-10		23.08.3 [19]	2023-11-09	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
Krusader	Krusader Krew		2000-07-11		R14.1.1 [20]	2023-10-20	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
Midnight Commander [lower-alpha 12]	Miguel de Icaza GNU		1994-05 [lower-alpha 13]		4.8.31 [21]	2024-01-27	GPL-3.0-or-later	No cost
muCommander	Maxence Bernard		2002-02-17		1.3.0 [22]	2023-07-08	GPL-3.0-or-later	No cost
Nemo	Linux Mint	1.0.0	2012-07		6.0.2 [23]	2023-12-28	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost [lower-alpha 14]
nnn	Arun Prakash Jana		2017-04-13		4.9 [24]	2023-08-27	BSD-2-Clause	No cost
Nomad.NET	Eugene Sichkar	2.2.0.537 beta	2008-08-14		3.2.0.2890	2016-06-13	Proprietary	No cost
Norton Commander	Peter Norton Computing Symantec corporation		1986	DOS	5.51	1998-07-01	Proprietary	?
				Windows	2.01	1999-02-01
Path Finder [lower-alpha 15]	Cocoatech		2001-04	macOS	9.1	2020-03-24	Proprietary	US$36.00
PathMinder	Albert Nurick Brittain Fraley		1984	DOS	4.11	1988	Proprietary	US$39.95
PCManFM	Hong Jen Yee		2006-01-09		1.3.2	2021-02-05	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
PC Shell	Central Point Software		1986				Proprietary	? [lower-alpha 16]
ranger	Roman Zimbelmann		2010-06-09	BSD	1.9.3 [25]	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	IgnorantGuru	0.5.0	2012-01-13		1.0.6 [26]	2018-03-04	GPL-3.0-or-later	No cost
STDU Explorer	STDUtility		2009-03-23	Windows	1.0.465	2012-05-24	Proprietary	No cost
Tabbles	Yellow blue soft UAB		2009-08-01	Windows	3.1.29	2016-08-12	Proprietary	US$29.95 [lower-alpha 1]
Thunar	Xfce		2006-01-22		4.18.8 [27]	2023-10-24	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
Total Commander [lower-alpha 17]	Christian Ghisler	1.0	2012-05-18	Android	3.42 [28]	2023-05-29	Proprietary	No cost
		1.00d	1993-09-25	Windows	11.03 [29]	2024-02-21		CHF40, €37, US$42 [lower-alpha 1]
ViewMAX	Digital Research / Novell	1.0	1990	DR-DOS	3.0	1993	GPL-2.0-only [lower-alpha 18]	Bundled [lower-alpha 19]
Volkov Commander	Vsevolod Volkov		1992	DOS	4.05 [30]	2000-06-16	Proprietary	Depends [lower-alpha 20]
WinSCP	WinSCP		2000-09-30	Windows	6.3 [31]	2024-02-14	GPL-3.0-only	No cost
worker	Ralf Hoffmann	1.0.0	1999-03-06	Unix	4.12.1	2023-03-05	GPL-2.0-only	No cost
Xandros File Manager	Xandros Corporation		?		4.2	2007-07-26	Proprietary	Bundled [lower-alpha 21]
Xfe	Roland Baudin		2002		1.45 [32]	2022-12-30	GPL	No cost
Xfile	Rixstep		2003-03-02	macOS	2.1.0.10	2010-02-14	Proprietary	US$79.00 [lower-alpha 22]
Xfm	Simon Marlow Albert Gräf Till Straumann Robert Vogelgesang Juan D. Martin		1992		1.4.3 [33] [34]	2001-09-03	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost
xplorer²	Nikos Bozinis		2004-06-10	Windows	5.4.0.2	2023-06-14	Proprietary	US$29.95 - 49.95 [lower-alpha 23]
XTree	Jeffery C. Johnson		1985-04-01	DOS		1992	Proprietary	US$39.95
			1992	Windows		1992
XYplorer	Donald Lessau		1997	Windows	20.80.0100	2020-02-13	Proprietary	US$39.95 - 79.95 [lower-alpha 24]
ZTreeWin	Kim Henkel		1996	Windows	2.2.19	2011-05-27	Proprietary	US$29.95 (1-4)
Name	Developer	Initial release		Platform	Latest release		License	Cost
		Version	Date		Version	Date

1. 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. 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] [35]}

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	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes [36]	No
Dired	Yes [37]	Yes [38]	Yes [39]	Yes [40]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [41]	Yes [42]
Dolphin	No	No	Needs KDE [43]	Yes [44]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Double Commander	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
DOS Navigator	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
emelFM2	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
GNOME Commander	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Konqueror	No	No	Needs KDE [43]	Yes [44]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Krusader	No	No	No	Needs X	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Midnight Commander	Yes	No	Yes [45]	Yes [46]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
muCommander	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
nnn	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
GNOME Files (Nautilus)	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Nemo	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
PathMinder	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
PCManFM	No	Needs POSIX-compliant platform	Needs POSIX-compliant platform	Needs POSIX-compliant platform	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Ranger	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
ROX-Filer	No	No			Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Thunar	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Total Commander	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Volkov Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
worker	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Xandros File Manager	No	No	No	No	Yes	?	?	No	No
Xfe	No	Needs X	Needs X	Needs X	Yes	Yes	Yes	Needs X [47]	Yes
Xfm	No	Needs X	Needs X	Needs X	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Far Manager	Needs HX DOS Extender	No	Yes	Yes (far2l)	Yes (far2l)	Yes (far2l)	?	No	No
ZTreeWin	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
File manager	DOS	OS/2 & eCS	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	AmigaOS	OpenVMS

Mac-only file managers

• Finder
• ForkLift
• Path Finder
• Xfile
• Commander One

*nix-only file managers

• Demos Commander
• emelFM2
• Gentoo file manager
• Konqueror
• Krusader
• nnn
• Nautilus
• Nemo
• PCMan File Manager
• Ranger
• ROX-Filer
• Thunar
• SpaceFM
• worker

Windows-only file managers

• Altap Salamander
• Directory Opus ^[36]
• Explorer++
• File Manager (Windows)
• Nomad.NET
• SE-Explorer
• STDU Explorer
• Total Commander ^{[48] [49]}
• File Explorer
• xplorer²
• XYplorer
• ZTreeWin

iOS-only file managers

• Files (Apple)

Android-only file managers

• Files by Google
• Ghost Commander

Manager views

Icon views represent files and folders as large icons.

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 manager	Family	UI	Icon view	List view	Column view	Thumbnails	Details + Thumbs	Grouping	Content dependent [m 1]	Twin panel	Favorites / Bookmark	Panel tabs
Altap Salamander	Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	No
Commander One	Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	?	Yes	Yes
Demos Commander	Orthodox	Text	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Directory Opus	Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dired	Directory editor	Text	Yes, on GUI [50]	Yes	?	Yes, on GUI [50]	Yes, on GUI [50]	Yes	Yes	Yes, one or more	Partial (bookmarks)	Yes (optional tab bar) [51]
Dolphin	Navigational	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Double Commander	Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DOS Navigator	Orthodox	Text	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
emelFM2	Orthodox	GUI	No	Yes	No	Yes [m 2]	?	No	No	Yes	?	No
FAR Manager	Orthodox	Text [m 3]	Partial [m 4]	Yes	Yes	Yes [52]	Partial [m 4]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial [m 5]
File Manager (Windows)	Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	Yes[ citation needed ]	No	No
Files (Apple)		GUI	Yes			Yes	Yes
Files by Google		GUI
Finder	Spatial / Miller Columns	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, with Cover Flow	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
ForkLift	Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
gentoo	Orthodox	GUI	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
GNOME Commander	Orthodox	GUI	No	Yes	No	No	?	No	No	Yes	?	Yes
Konqueror	Navigational / Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Krusader	Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Midnight Commander	Orthodox	Text	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
GNOME Files (Nautilus)	Navigational / Spatial	GUI	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Nemo	Navigational / Spatial	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes,press[F3]	Yes	Yes
Nomad.NET	Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Partial, Manual	Yes	Yes	Yes, Shared
Path Finder	Navigational	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
PCManFM	Navigational	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
ROX-Filer	Spatial	GUI	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
STDU Explorer	Navigational	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Total Commander	Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes In viewing	Yes	Yes	Yes
Thunar	Navigational	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Volkov Commander	Orthodox	Text	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Windows Explorer	Navigational / Spatial	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes [m 6]	Yes	Partial [m 7]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
worker	Orthodox	GUI	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Xandros File Manager	Navigational	GUI	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Xfe	Hybrid Navigational	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Xfm	Spatial	GUI	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?	No	?	No
xplorer²	Hybrid Navigational / Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [m 8]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XYplorer	Hybrid Navigational / Orthodox	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
ZTreeWin	Orthodox	Text	No	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
File manager	Family	UI	Icon view	List view	Column view	Thumbnails	Details + Thumbs	Grouping	Content dependent	Twin panel	Favorites / Bookmark	Panel 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. 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	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Commander One	Yes [n 1]	Yes	Yes [n 1]	Yes [n 1]	Yes	Yes
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes (SFTP & SSL [n 2] )
Dired	Yes [n 1]	Yes [n 1]	Yes [n 1]	No	Yes	Yes [n 1]
Dolphin	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
Double Commander	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?
emelFM2	?	?	?	?	No	?
Far Manager	Yes	Partial [n 3]	Partial [n 4]	No	Yes	Yes [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	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
GNOME Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Konqueror	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Krusader	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
muCommander	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
Midnight Commander	Yes [n 6]	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
GNOME Files (Nautilus)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nemo	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
Nomad.NET	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Path Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (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	Yes	Yes [n 5]	Partial [n 4]	No	Yes	Yes
Thunar	Yes [n 7]	Yes [n 7]	Yes [n 7]	No	Yes [n 7]	Yes [n 7]
worker	?	?	?	?	Yes [n 8]	?
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	Yes [n 9]	No	Yes	No
Xandros File Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?
Xfe	?	?	?	?	?	?
Xfm	?	?	?	?	?	?
xplorer²	Yes	Yes [n 10]	Partial [n 4]	No	Yes	No
XYplorer	Yes	Yes	Yes [n 9]	No	Yes	No
ZTreeWin	Yes	Partial [n 11]	Partial [n 4]	No	Partial [n 11]	Partial [n 12]
File manager	SMB/CIFS	WebDAV	NFS	AFP	FTP	FISH/SSH

1. 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. NFS support in these file managers requires the installation of Services for UNIX.
5. 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. Support is provided by GVfs
8. Support is provided by AVfs
9. 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. 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 Manager	Undo/redo file operation	File compression	File encryption	Rename busy files	File preview	File coloring filter [53]	File selection filter	Paste clipboard as file	File and folder reports	ACL (Access control list)	Mass rename [54]	Run executable files
Altap Salamander	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes, multiple [55]	?	Yes	Yes [56]	Yes	Yes
Commander One	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	?	?	?
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?
Dired	Partial [57]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dolphin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Double Commander	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?
emelFM2	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	No	?	Yes	?	?
FAR Manager	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial [58]	Yes	Plugin	Plugin	?
File Manager	?	Yes	?	?	No	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Files (Apple)		Yes			Yes
Files by Google
Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
ForkLift	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	?
GNOME Commander	?	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	No	Yes	?
Konqueror	Partial [59]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [60]	Yes
Krusader	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes [60]	Yes
Midnight Commander	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	Partial [61]	?	?	Yes	Yes
GNOME Files (Nautilus)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Partial [62]	No	Yes	No	No [63]
Nemo	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	No	Yes
Nomad.NET	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	?
Path Finder	?	Yes	No [64]	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	?
PCManFM	No	Yes	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes
ROX-Filer	?	With helper applications		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?
STDU Explorer	?	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
Thunar	Yes	Yes (via plugin)	Yes (via plugin)	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total Commander	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Log file	Yes	Yes
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	Partial [65]	No	Yes	No	No	Partial [66]	No	Yes [67]	Partial	Yes
worker	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	?	Yes
Xandros File Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Xfe	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	Yes	No	?	Yes	No	?
Xfm	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
xplorer²	No	Yes	Partial [65]	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [68]	Yes	Yes
XYplorer	Yes	Yes	Partial [65]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
ZTreeWin	?	Yes	Partial [69]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	?
File Manager	Undo/redo file operation	File compression	File encryption	Rename busy files	File preview	File coloring filter	File selection filter	Paste clipboard as file	File and folder reports	ACL (Access control list)	Mass rename	Run executable files

Browsing features

File manager	Symbolic links	Windows long path support	Browse compressed folders	Slideshows	Shows combined size of selected directories	Branch sizes	Directory compare	Synchronizer	Find as you type (Type-ahead find)	Embedded/integrated terminal	For directories, size column shows:
Altap Salamander	?	?	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	Partial (for remote folders)	Yes	Yes	DIR
Commander One	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	?	No	No	Yes	Yes, in the PRO Pack [70]	DIR and total size including subdirectories
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	DIR and total size including subdirectories
Dired	Yes	?	Yes	Yes [71]	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [72]	Literal [browse 1]
DOS Navigator	No	?	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes [73]	Yes	Total size including subdirectories
Dolphin	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Number of entries
Double Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	DIR
emelFM2	?	?	?	No	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Literal [browse 1]
FAR Manager	Yes	?	Yes	Partial [n 1]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial [74]	Yes	Yes	?
Files (Apple)		?
Files by Google		?
Finder	?	?	No	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
ForkLift	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	DIR and total size including subdirectories
GNOME Commander	?	?	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Konqueror	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes (with konq-plugin)	Yes	Yes (with kdiff3 plugin)	Yes (with kdiff3 plugin)	Yes	Yes	Folder only size (default) selectable to file count/total size
Krusader	?	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Midnight Commander	Yes	?	Yes [75]	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes [76]	Yes	Yes	?
muCommander	No [77]	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	Partial, command execution only	?
GNOME Files (Nautilus)	?	?	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes, With Plugin [78] [79]	Number of entries
Nemo	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes, with nemo-terminal extension
Nomad.NET	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes, via Plugin	DIR and total size including subdirectories
Path Finder	?	?	No	Yes	Partial	?	No	No	Yes	Yes [80]	Yes
PCManFM	?	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	No, but there is a fork attempt [81]	Nothing
ROX-Filer	?	?	No	No	Yes	?	No	?	Yes, and browsing with tab completion	No	Nothing
Thunar	Yes	?	No	No	Yes	?	No	No	Yes	No	Configurable
Total Commander	Yes [82]	?	Yes	Yes In plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	DIR and total size including subdirectories
Windows Explorer	Partial [83]	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes (in folder tooltips)	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	No	?
worker	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	No
Xandros File Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	No	?
Xfe	Yes	?	No	No	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	No	?
Xfile	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	No [84]	?
Xfm	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	No	?
xplorer²	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [85]	?
XYplorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [86]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes [87]	Contents including subs
ZTreeWin	?	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Selectable: number of entries or size (optional: including subs)
File manager	Symbolic links	Windows long path support	Browse compressed folders	Slideshows	Shows combined size of selected directories	Branch sizes	Directory compare	Synchronizer	Find as you type (Type-ahead find)	Embedded/integrated terminal	For directories, size column shows:

1. 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 manager	File name [D 1]	File contents [D 2]	Basic metadata search [D 3]	All metadata search [D 4]	RegExp for contents	Boolean (nesting levels)	Fuzzy logic [D 5]	Save searches [D 6]	Refined searches [D 7]
Altap Salamander	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes [s 1]	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
Commander One	Yes	Yes	Yes [s 2]	Yes [s 2]	Yes	Yes	?	No	No
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dired	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [88]	Yes
Dolphin	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
Double Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
emelFM2	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Partial	?
FAR Manager	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes [s 3]	Yes [s 3]	Yes [s 3]	Yes	Yes
Files (Apple)
Files by Google
Finder	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	Yes	?
ForkLift	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	No
Konqueror	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Krusader	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes [89]	No	No	Yes	Yes
GNOME Files (Nautilus)	Yes	?	Partial [s 4]	Partial [s 4]	?	?	?	Yes	?
Nemo	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Nomad.NET	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Path Finder	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	No	No
PCManFM	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
ROX-Filer	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	?
Total Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Partial [s 5]
Windows Explorer	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	?	?	Yes	Yes
worker	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	?
Xandros File Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Xfe	Yes	Yes [s 6]	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Xfile	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Xfm	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
xplorer²	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XYplorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [s 7]
ZTreeWin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial [s 8]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
File manager	File name [D 1]	File contents [D 2]	Basic metadata search [D 3]	All metadata search [D 4]	RegExp for contents	Boolean (nesting levels)	Fuzzy logic [D 5]	Save searches [D 6]	Refined searches [D 7]

Column Definitions (D)

1. using wildcards, subfolders
2. using wildcards, case match, whole word match
3. size, date, time, attributes (read only, hidden, archivable, etc.
4. ^{[ clarification needed ]} what/where is additional metadata?
5. ^{[ clarification needed ]} what is fuzzy logic and how is it useful?
6. 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. 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. Support is provided by the underlying operating system.
3. Support is provided via a free third-party plugin.
4. 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 manager	Filesystem support	Attribute columns	File previews	Metadata indexing	Unicode support	Visual themes
Altap Salamander	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Partial	No
Commander One	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes
Dired	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dolphin	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Double Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes [e 1]	Partial [e 2]
emelFM2	?	?	?	?		?
Far Manager	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes [e 3]	No
Files (Apple)			Yes		Yes
Files by Google
Finder	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes [e 4]	Partial [e 5]
ForkLift	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Konqueror	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Krusader	Yes	No	Yes	Partial		Yes
Midnight Commander	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
GNOME Files (Nautilus)	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
Nemo	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nomad.NET	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
Path Finder	?	?	?	?		?
PCManFM	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
ROX-Filer		No	Yes	No		?
Total Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes In search tool	Yes [e 1]	Yes [e 6]
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [90]	Yes	Partial [e 5]
worker	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	?
Xandros File Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?
Xfe	No	Partial	No	No	Partial	Partial [e 7]
Xfile	?	?	?	?	?	?
Xfm	?	?	?	?	?	?
xplorer²	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
XYplorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
ZTreeWin	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No
File manager	Filesystem support	Attribute columns	File previews	Metadata indexing	Unicode support	Visual themes

1. 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. 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. Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
2. Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
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. "r14.1.1 dolphin-r14.1.1.tar.gz dolphin-r14.1.1.zip". 20 October 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
9. Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
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. Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
13. Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
14. Original Windows File Manager (winfile) with enhancements: Microsoft/winfile, Microsoft, 2019-02-21, retrieved 2019-02-21
15. "Files by Google - Apps on Google Play" . Retrieved January 25, 2024.
16. "ForkLift 4.0.7 is available". 30 January 2024.
17. "New Release: v1.14.3". 18 June 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
18. Ondřej Holý (18 March 2024). "46.0" . Retrieved 19 March 2024.
19. "Konqueror - KDE Applications".
20. "R14.1.1" . Retrieved 6 January 2024.
21. Yury V. Zaytsev (27 January 2024). "[mc] Midnight Commander 4.8.31 released" . Retrieved 27 January 2024.
22. Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
23. "Release 6.0.2". 28 December 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
24. "Release 4.9". 27 August 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
25. "Release 1.9.3". 31 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
26. "Release 1.0.6". 4 March 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
27. "thunar-4.18.8 · Tags · Xfce / thunar · GitLab".
28. "Total Commander 3.42 final for Android available" . Retrieved 8 June 2023.
29. "Total Commander 11.03 is available now!" . Retrieved 21 February 2024.
30. "News". 16 June 2000. Archived from the original on 19 July 2007.
31. "6.3". 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
32. "XFE Homepage". 30 December 2022. News. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
33. "Xfm - The X File Manager". Archived from the original on 5 May 2018.
34. "Changelog". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
35. "XYplorer Purchase". XYplorer Purchase. Retrieved 14 February 2020.}}
36. 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.
37. "Info Node: (emacs)Dired". cmu.edu.
38. "Emacs 20.6 under OS/2". Home.snafu.de. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
39. "Emacs FAQ for MS Windows". Free Software Foundation. 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
40. "Carbon Emacs Package". Archived from the original on 2006-01-25. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
41. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
42. AaronHawley (2010-05-28). "Emacs On VMS". EmacsWiki. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
43. "Projects/KDE on Windows/Installation - KDE TechBase". Techbase.kde.org. 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
44. "The MacPorts Project - Available Ports". MacPorts . Retrieved 2013-12-30.
45. Cygwin or Win32 Native
46. Runs in text mode inside Terminal window
47. "Der Schwan-Clan".
48. Windows 95 and later
49. Windows Mobile
50. Activating Image-Dired command in the graphical interface.
51. Tab-bar mode can be activated to show the tab-bar (else it will be hidden).
52. With ConEmu Far Manager plugin conemu-maximus5
53. 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.
54. 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.
55. 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.
56. 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.
57. 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.
58. With plug-ins, or this can be implemented as a macros
59. Konqueror can undo, not redo.
60. Needs KRename, an application that integrates into Konqueror and Krusader.
61. Create new file with desired name, then paste contents.
62. Only text which is dragged from another program and dropped into a folder in GNOME Files (Nautilus) can be pasted as a new file.
63. Removed in version 3.29.
64. Path Finder apparently integrates with Knox Archived 2011-06-19 at the Library of Congress Web Archives, an encryption utility.
65. 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.
66. Supported up to Windows XP only. Document scraps are not supported in Windows Vista and later.
67. 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.
68. Via system File Properties dialog, NTFS-only.
69. Encryption is supported for Zip and Rar, other formats depend on the editable ARCHIVER.BB2 file
70. "Dual-pane file manager for Mac - Commander One". mac.eltima.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
71. via image-mode, GUI only
72. "Shell Commands in Dired". www.gnu.org. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
73. Press and release Alt
74. Via plugins, or manual with helping of the embedded Advanced Compare.
75. Extensible via compression plugins, supported formats list depends on distribution package maintainer
76. Can be done in two steps
77. "Two-pane file manager for Windows with symlink and large file support". stackexchange.com.
78. "Flogisoft - Nautilus Terminal" . Retrieved 12 May 2016.
79. "Launchpad - Nautilus Terminal". 7 September 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
80. "Path Finder 7 by Cocoatech". www.cocoatech.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
81. "LXDE.org Forum - Try PCManFM with a tabbed terminal included". forum.lxde.org. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
82. "Two-pane file manager for Windows with symlink and large file support". stackexchange.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
83. Copying directory junctions across drives creates an empty directory in the target
84. "Xfile: The Standard Setter - Features". rixstep.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
85. "xplorer² tour#6: external command console". zabkat.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
86. via XYplorer script- SlideShow
87. "XYplorer - 9.90 Released". www.xyplorer.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
88. Part of Emacs.
89. "Krusader - Twin panel file management for your desktop". krusader.org. Archived from the original on 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
90. IFilters

External links

• What's the best file manager for Ubuntu Gnome 14.04 Trusty? by Rich Lott, May 2014
• Softpanorama Orthodox File Managers page (Home of the OFM standard)
• Comparison of some "light" File Managers in GNU/Linux (in spanish)