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Comparison of file managers

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Summary

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

General information

NameDeveloperInitial releasePlatformLatest releaseLicenseCostVersionDateVersionDateCommander OneDirectory OpusDiredDolphinDOS NavigatorDOS ShellDouble CommanderemelFM2Explorer++Far ManagerFile ExplorerFile ManagerFiles (Apple)Files by GoogleGeoManagerFinderForkLiftgentooGNOME CommanderGNOME FilesKonquerorKrusaderMidnight CommandermuCommanderNemonnnNomad.NETNorton CommanderPath FinderPathMinderPCManFMPC ShellrangerROX-FilerSamsung My FilesSpaceFMTabblesTotal CommanderViewMAXVolkov CommanderWinSCPWorkerXandros File ManagerXfeXfileXfmxplorer²XTreeXYplorerZTreeWinNameDeveloperInitial releasePlatformLatest releaseLicenseCostVersionDateVersionDate
Altap SalamanderAltap1997-08-15Windows
Eltima Software2015-08-04macOS
Jonathan Potter
GPSoftware11990-01-03AmigaOS4.162001-07-04No cost}}
AmigaOS5.912015-08-30APL}}
AROS
MorphOS
62001-06-18Windows12.272022-03-21
Integral part of Emacs.
Part of the GNU project.~1976
KDE0.52006-06-07BSDGPL-2.0-or-later}}No cost}}
Linux
macOS
Unix
Windows
Ritlabs0.901991DOSBSD-3-Clause}}No cost}}
OS/2
Windows
Microsoft / IBM1988DOS1998
Doszip Commandernidud2.532014DOSv2.662024GPL}}No cost}}
Win32v3.902025
Win64v3.91
Alexander Koblov2007BSDGPL-2.0-or-later}}No cost}}
Linux
macOS
Unix
Windows
tooar2003-09-06BSDGPL-3.0-or-later}}No cost}}
Linux
Unix
David Ercig2008-01-08Windows1.4.02024-01-28
Eugene Roshal
Far Group1996Windows (Linux, Mac, BSD via far2l)
Microsoft1995-08-24Windows2015-07-29
Microsoft
Ian Ellison-Taylor1990Windows
Apple Inc.2017-09-19macOS
Google LLC2017-12-05Android1.2263.598736326.12025-10-28
Berkeley Softworks
Breadbox Ensemble1990GEOS2009
Apple Inc.1984-01macOS10.10.52015-08-13
BinaryNights2007-06-01macOS
Emil Brink
GNOME Commander2001-09
Eazel2001-04-11
KDE2000-10
Krusader Krew2000-07-11
Miguel de Icaza
GNU1994-05
Maxence Bernard2002-02-17Windows, Linux, macOS
Linux Mint1.0.02012-07
Arun Prakash Jana2017-04-13
Eugene Sichkar2.2.0.537 beta2008-08-143.2.0.28902016-06-13
Peter Norton Computing
Symantec corporation1986DOS5.511998-07-01rowspan="2"?}}
Windows2.011999-02-01
Cocoatech2001-04macOS9.12020-03-24
Albert Nurick
Brittain Fraley1984DOS4.111988
Hong Jen Yee2006-01-091.3.22021-02-05
Central Point Software1986
Roman Zimbelmann2010-06-09BSDGPL-3.0-or-later}}No cost}}
Linux
macOS
Thomas Leonard et al.2000-03-10
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.2010Android15.2.04.22025-09-21
IgnorantGuru0.5.02012-01-13
STDU ExplorerSTDUtility2009-03-23Windows1.0.4652012-05-24
Yellow blue soft UAB2009-08-01Windows3.1.292016-08-12
ThunarXfce2006-01-22
Christian Ghisler1.02012-05-18Androidrowspan="2"
1.00d1993-09-25Windows
Digital Research / Novell1.01990DR-DOS3.01993
Vsevolod Volkov1992DOS
WinSCP2000-09-30Windows
Ralf Hoffmann1.0.01999-03-06Unix
Xandros Corporation4.22007-07-26
Roland Baudin2002
Rixstep2003-03-02macOS2.1.0.102010-02-14
Simon Marlow
Albert Gräf
Till Straumann
Robert Vogelgesang
Juan D. Martin1992
Nikos Bozinis2004-06-10Windows5.4.0.22023-06-14
Jeffery C. Johnson1985-04-01DOS1992rowspan="2"US$39.95}}
1992Windows1992
Donald Lessau1997Windows20.80.01002020-02-13{{nonfreeUS$39.95 - 79.95
Kim Henkel1996Windows2.4.2172023-11-23

Operating system support

Cross-platform file managers

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

File managerDOSOS/2 & eCSWindowsMac OS XLinuxBSDUnixAmigaOSOpenVMSDirectory OpusDiredDolphinDouble CommanderDOS NavigatoremelFM2GNOME CommanderKonquerorKrusaderMidnight CommandermuCommandernnnGNOME Files (Nautilus)NemoPathMinderPCManFMRangerROX-FilerThunarTotal CommanderVolkov CommanderWorkerXandros File ManagerXfeXfmZTreeWinFile managerDOSOS/2 & eCSWindowsMac OS XLinuxBSDUnixAmigaOSOpenVMS
url=http://www.macports.org/ports.php?by=category&substr=kde4title=The MacPorts Project - Available Portspublisher=MacPortsaccess-date=2013-12-30}}
Far Manager(far2l)(far2l)(far2l)

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
  • Explorer++
  • File Manager (Windows)
  • Nomad.NET
  • STDU Explorer
  • Total Commander
  • File Explorer
  • xplorer²
  • XYplorer
  • ZTreeWin

iOS-only file managers

  • Files (Apple)

Android-only file managers

  • Files by Google
  • Ghost Commander

Manager views

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 managerFamilyUIIcon viewList viewColumn viewThumbnailsDetails + ThumbsGroupingContent dependentTwin panelFavorites / BookmarkPanel tabsAltap SalamanderCommander OneDemos CommanderDirectory OpusDiredDolphinDouble CommanderDOS NavigatoremelFM2FAR ManagerFile Manager (Windows)Files (Apple)Files by GoogleFinderForkLiftgentooGNOME CommanderKonquerorKrusaderMidnight CommanderGNOME Files (Nautilus)NemoNomad.NETPath FinderPCManFMROX-FilerVolkov CommanderWindows ExplorerWorkerXandros File ManagerXfeXfmxplorer²XYplorerZTreeWinFile managerFamilyUIIcon viewList viewColumn viewThumbnailsDetails + ThumbsGroupingContent dependentTwin panelFavorites / BookmarkPanel tabs
OrthodoxGUI
OrthodoxGUI
OrthodoxText
OrthodoxGUI
Directory editorText, on GUI, on GUI, on GUI, one or more(bookmarks)(optional tab bar)
NavigationalGUI
OrthodoxGUI
OrthodoxText
OrthodoxGUI
OrthodoxText
OrthodoxGUI
GUI
GUI
GUI, with Cover Flow
OrthodoxGUI
OrthodoxGUI
OrthodoxGUI
GUI
OrthodoxGUI
OrthodoxText
GUI
GUI,press[F3]
OrthodoxGUI, Manual, Shared
NavigationalGUI
NavigationalGUI
SpatialGUI
STDU ExplorerNavigationalGUI
Total CommanderOrthodoxGUIIn viewing
ThunarNavigationalGUI
OrthodoxText
GUI
OrthodoxGUI
NavigationalGUI
Hybrid NavigationalGUI
SpatialGUI
Hybrid Navigational / OrthodoxGUI
Hybrid Navigational / OrthodoxGUI
OrthodoxText

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 managerSMB/CIFSWebDAVNFSAFPFTPFISH/SSHAltap SalamanderCommander OneDirectory OpusDiredDolphinDouble CommanderemelFM2Far ManagerFile ManagerFiles (Apple)Files by GoogleFinderForkLiftKonquerormuCommanderMidnight CommanderGNOME Files (Nautilus)NemoNomad.NETPath FinderPCManFMROX-FilerWorkerWindows ExplorerXandros File ManagerXfeXfmxplorer²XYplorerZTreeWinFile managerSMB/CIFSWebDAVNFSAFPFTPFISH/SSH
(SFTP & SSL)
GNOME Commander
Krusader
???
(Read Access)
Total Commander
Thunar

File features

Information on what basic file features the file managers support.

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 filesAltap SalamanderCommander OneDirectory OpusDiredDolphinDouble CommanderemelFM2FAR ManagerFile ManagerFiles (Apple)Files by GoogleFinderForkLiftGNOME CommanderKonquerorKrusaderMidnight CommanderGNOME Files (Nautilus)NemoNomad.NETPath FinderPCManFMROX-FilerWindows ExplorerWorkerXandros File ManagerXfeXfmxplorer²XYplorerZTreeWinFile 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
, multiple
????
With helper applications
STDU Explorer
Thunar(via plugin)(via plugin)
Total Commander

Browsing features

File managerSymbolic linksSlideshowsShows combined size of selected directoriesBranch sizesDirectory compareSynchronizerFind as you type (Type-ahead find)Embedded/integrated terminalFor directories, size column shows:Altap SalamanderCommander OneDirectory OpusDiredDOS NavigatorDolphinDouble CommanderemelFM2FAR ManagerFiles (Apple)Files by GoogleFinderForkLiftGNOME CommanderKonquerorKrusaderMidnight CommandermuCommanderGNOME Files (Nautilus)NemoNomad.NETPath FinderPCManFMROX-FilerThunarTotal CommanderWindows ExplorerWorkerXandros File ManagerXfeXfileXfmxplorer²XYplorerZTreeWinFile managerSymbolic linksSlideshowsShows combined size of selected directoriesBranch sizesDirectory compareSynchronizerFind as you type (Type-ahead find)Embedded/integrated terminalFor directories, size column shows:
(for remote folders)DIR
, in the PRO PackDIR and total size including subdirectories
DIR and total size including subdirectories
Literal
Total size including subdirectories
Number of entries
DIR
Literal
DIR and total size including subdirectories
(with konq-plugin)(with kdiff3 plugin)(with kdiff3 plugin)Folder only size (default) selectable to file count/total size
, command execution only
, With PluginNumber of entries
????????, with nemo-terminal extension
, via PluginDIR and total size including subdirectories
, but there is a fork attemptNothing
, and browsing with tab completionNothing
Configurable
In pluginDIR and total size including subdirectories
(in folder tooltips)
Contents including subs
Selectable: number of entries or size (optional: including subs)

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 nameFile contentsBasic metadata searchAll metadata searchRegExp for contentsBoolean (nesting levels)Fuzzy logicSave searchesRefined searchesAltap SalamanderCommander OneDirectory OpusDiredDolphinDouble CommanderemelFM2FAR ManagerFiles (Apple)Files by GoogleFinderForkLiftKonquerorKrusaderGNOME Files (Nautilus)NemoNomad.NETPath FinderPCManFMROX-FilerTotal CommanderWindows ExplorerWorkerXandros File ManagerXfeXfileXfmxplorer²XYplorerZTreeWinFile managerFile nameFile contentsBasic metadata searchAll metadata searchRegExp for contentsBoolean (nesting levels)Fuzzy logicSave searchesRefined searches
Altap Salamander Search offers RegExp for defining the file content.
????????
After searching results, user can apply advanced visual filters to narrow down results.
ZTreeWin provides several context specific search syntaxes that are not pure regex

Column Definitions (D) Entry Notes (s)

Extensibility

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

File managerFilesystem supportAttribute columnsFile previewsMetadata indexingUnicode supportVisual themesAltap SalamanderCommander OneDirectory OpusDiredDolphinDouble CommanderemelFM2Far ManagerFiles (Apple)Files by GoogleFinderForkLiftKonquerorKrusaderMidnight CommanderGNOME Files (Nautilus)NemoNomad.NETPath FinderPCManFMROX-FilerWindows ExplorerWorkerXandros File ManagerXfeXfileXfmxplorer²XYplorerZTreeWinFile managerFilesystem supportAttribute columnsFile previewsMetadata indexingUnicode supportVisual themes
Total CommanderIn search tool

Notes

References

  1. "Directory Opus 4 Research Project".
  2. "Dopus5".
  3. "Release History".
  4. Thomas E. Dickey. "Dating Dired".
  5. "Release Explorer++ 1.4.0 · derceg/explorerplusplus".
  6. "Files by Google - Apps on Google Play".
  7. "Samsung My Files - Apps on Google Play".
  8. "XYplorer Purchase".
  9. "Info Node: (emacs)Dired". cmu.edu.
  10. "Emacs 20.6 under OS/2". Home.snafu.de.
  11. (2013-08-27). "Emacs FAQ for MS Windows". [[Free Software Foundation]].
  12. "Carbon Emacs Package".
  13. "Archived copy".
  14. AaronHawley. (2010-05-28). "Emacs On VMS". EmacsWiki.
  15. "The MacPorts Project - Available Ports". [[MacPorts]].
  16. "Der Schwan-Clan".
  17. [http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/TabBarMode Tab-bar mode] can be activated to show the tab-bar (else it will be hidden).
  18. With ConEmu Far Manager plugin [https://code.google.com/p/conemu-maximus5/ conemu-maximus5]
  19. Via multi-panel plugins or the ConEmu mod.
  20. Column view is called ''Details view'' in Windows Explorer
  21. [[Windows 7]] introduces a ''Content view'' which shows details as well as thumbnails
  22. Support is provided by the underlying operating system.
  23. NFS support in these file managers requires the installation of [[Services for UNIX]].
  24. 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).
  25. FTP support in these file managers requires the installation of [[NetDrive]] or [[WebDrive]].
  26. SSH support in these file managers requires the installation of [[SftpDrive]] or [[WebDrive]].
  27. WebDAV support in these file managers requires the installation of [[NetDrive]] or [[WebDrive]].
  28. WebDAV is supported via Microsoft Windows' built-in Network Places/Mapped Drive functionality.
  29. Support is provided via a free third-party plugin.
  30. Support is provided by [[GVfs]]
  31. Support is provided by [[AVfs]]
  32. "Coming soon: 4.8.28; what's new.".
  33. 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.
  34. 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]].
  35. 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.
  36. 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.
  37. Only actions operating on filesystem data (filename, path, timestamps, [[Access Control List. acl]]s, 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.
  38. With plug-ins, or this can be implemented as a macros
  39. Konqueror can undo, not redo.
  40. Create new file with desired name, then paste contents.
  41. Only text which is dragged from another program and dropped into a folder in GNOME Files (Nautilus) can be pasted as a new file.
  42. Removed in version 3.29.
  43. Path Finder apparently integrates with [http://www.knoxformac.com/ Knox] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-06-19 , an encryption utility.)
  44. Supported up to Windows XP only. Document scraps are not supported in Windows Vista and later.
  45. Via system File Properties dialog, NTFS-only. Must be [http://www.le.ac.uk/cc/dsss/docs/acls1.shtml enabled manually] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-05-28 in Windows versions prior to Server 2003.)
  46. Via system File Properties dialog, NTFS-only.
  47. Encryption is supported for Zip and Rar, other formats depend on the editable ARCHIVER.BB2 file
  48. "Dual-pane file manager for Mac - Commander One".
  49. via image-mode, GUI only
  50. "Shell Commands in Dired".
  51. Press and release Alt
  52. Via plugins, or manual with helping of the embedded Advanced Compare.
  53. Extensible via compression plugins, supported formats list depends on distribution package maintainer
  54. Can be done in two steps
  55. "Two-pane file manager for Windows with symlink and large file support". stackexchange.com.
  56. "Flogisoft - Nautilus Terminal".
  57. (7 September 2010). "Launchpad - Nautilus Terminal".
  58. "Path Finder 7 by Cocoatech".
  59. "LXDE.org Forum - Try PCManFM with a tabbed terminal included".
  60. "Two-pane file manager for Windows with symlink and large file support". stackexchange.com.
  61. Copying directory junctions across drives creates an empty directory in the target
  62. "Xfile: The Standard Setter - Features".
  63. "xplorer² tour#6: external command console".
  64. via XYplorer script- [http://www.xyplorer.com/xyfc/viewtopic.php?p=87537#p87537 SlideShow]
  65. "XYplorer - 9.90 Released".
  66. 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.
  67. Support is provided via a free third-party plugin.
  68. Part of [[Emacs]].
  69. "Krusader - Twin panel file management for your desktop". krusader.org.
  70. using wildcards, subfolders
  71. using wildcards, case match, whole word match
  72. size, date, time, attributes (read only, hidden, archivable, etc.
  73. {{clarify. (March 2016 what/where is additional metadata?)
  74. {{clarify. (March 2016 what is fuzzy logic and how is it useful?)
  75. 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.
  76. 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).
  77. Can integrate with [[Beagle (software). Beagle]] to provide more searching functionality.
  78. Search intersection
  79. One can search for file contents using the Text Contains field in the search window.
  80. [[IFilters]]
  81. In Far 2.0 & Far 3.0+
  82. User can change toolbar icons
  83. File and folder icons customizable on OS level and via folder properties
  84. Main change in Total Commander 7.50
  85. 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.
  86. 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).
  87. 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.
  88. (2013-06-09). "Projects/KDE on Windows/Installation - KDE TechBase". Techbase.kde.org.
  89. [[Cygwin]] or [https://sourceforge.net/projects/mcwin32/ Win32 Native]
  90. Runs in text mode inside Terminal window
  91. 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.
  92. [[Windows 95]] and later
  93. [[Windows Mobile]]
  94. Activating [https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Image_002dDired.html Image-Dired] command in the graphical interface.
  95. 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.
  96. Needs [[KRename]], an application that integrates into Konqueror and Krusader.
  97. (2019-02-21). "Original Windows File Manager (winfile) with enhancements: Microsoft/winfile". Microsoft.
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