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Best Free File Manager
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In a Hurry?
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 Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide |
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Introduction
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Windows Explorer is a reasonable selection for simple file management activities. A question I ask myself is what happens when I want any customization, tabbed browsing panes, or simply more options? That is when I look at one of the great free Explorer alternatives out there today. The Explorer that now comes bundled with Windows7 is a substantial improvement over the version available in Windows XP. It still lacks many of the powerful features in the choices below but is nonetheless, a marked improvement. |
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Discussion
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The lite version supports dual panes and folder tabs, and shares the same desktop browsing and file management engine as the Pro version. |
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XYplorerFree is packed with features including one of the best file-finders I've seen. It's one of those products that impresses more with use. In fact I suspect that if you use it for a month, you'll end up using it permanently. Unfortunately, the free version of this program has been discontinued, but the last free version that was released (v5.55) can still be found on various unofficial sites. |
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It's certainly powerful but I find the interface a little dated. However it's free for both private and commercial use and that's a big plus. |
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CubicExplorer offers only a single listing window interface but makes good use of tabs which can be easily opened and closed and sets of tabs can be saved to open with the application. Overall it is very appealing visually, with a clean, nicely laid out interface. Themes and skins can be applied to easily change the appearance. The product is actively developed. A tree view called Folders is only one of several "panels" that can be activated. Bookmarks, which can be easily managed are in another useful panel. A very clever Filter panel permits quick selection, by checkbox, of file and folder types within the current directory. A Quickview panel will display graphic images. The toolbars can be customized and rearranged easily. Toolbars and panels can be detached and made to float apart from the main window; I'm not sure whether or not that I view that as a desirable feature. Double clicking in the listing window will cause it to go up one directory level, a feature that I have really come to appreciate in some other file managers. A feature lacking in CubicExplorer is saving view settings by directory, the way that Windows Explorer does. If you change to a list or detail view, for example, the view will remain that way as you navigate through directories. The only help available is on the web site, though the application is so easy to use and configure, you will likely not need any help. I found the window management a bit flaky. The Folders panel always appears as an undocked window and I found it rather difficult to dock. CubicExplorer crashed a couple of times while I was moving windows around. The author doesn't publish any information about supported platforms. I evaluated it using Windows XP 32 bit.
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A tree view can be enabled. It can be either a single Tree view on the left side, or a tree view for each displayed listing window. Similarly, the address bar has choices of no address bar or one at the top or one for each list window. It has a very nice ability to create and manage Favorite folders, offers a file preview window and even a small, built-in magnifier. Q-Dir has a very small disk footprint, seems to be very fast and is simple to use. Besides the Quadro-View mentioned earlier, it lacks some of the more advanced features available in other offerings in this category. The configuration is mostly limited to window arrangement. The toolbars are appropriately compact, but cannot be customized. Q-Dir seems to be actively developed and supported. It is available in many different languages. Supported operating systems include everything from Windows 98 through to Windows 7 with separate 32 bit and 64 bit versions available. The installation offers a choice of a portable installation in addition to a standard install. It will execute nicely by simply copying the program into a folder. |
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Other File Managers to be reviewed:
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Notes
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File managers that were written as 32-bit applications will generally work on 64-bit Windows, but functionality will be limited in two ways:
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Related Products and Links
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You might want to check out these articles too: |
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Editor
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This software category is in need of an editor. If you would like to give something back to the freeware community by taking it over, check out this page for more details. You can then contact us from that page or by clicking here |
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Tags
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file manager, windows explorer, file explorer, free software, freeware. |
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Comments
WxCommander:
http://www.wxcommander.com/
I have used FreeCommander (FC) for years but recently upgraded to a Win7 64 bit computer and didn't think FC would work well on that system, so i decided to give xplorer2 lite a try since it is listed as 64 bit compatible. It's very good and i used it a lot for a week or so, explored the different options and customized it to my liking as much as possible....but in the end i found it lacking in some areas compared to FC.
For instance, there appears to be only a single tree view for both panels. This, at least for me, makes it awkward when working with multiple folders (with FC you have the option of having a separate tree view for each panel, but i couldn't find a similar option in xplorer2 lite). Another gripe was with the way the tabs work. Once you lock a tab to the tab bar a new tab is created whenever you navigate to a different folder, so that after a while you can wind up with a very cluttered tab bar (FC has the option of locking a tab with navigation enabled). Other than these and perhaps a couple other inconveniences i liked xplorer2, but in the end i became frustrated with it and decided to give the preview version of the new FC a try (called FreeCommander XE). It has worked perfectly on my system and seems quite stable despite not yet ready for official release.
My conclusion is that while xplorer2 lite would be great for most users, for those who spend a lot of time working with files FC is worth the effort of becoming familiar with all its capabilities. Its power and customization level is impressive, something i didn't fully appreciate until i thought i was forced to switch away from it.
I installed a tool to let Explorer show a different color icon for MP3s, images and video files depending on quality (for MP3s, 320, 256, etc...). It works fine with Explorer, xplorer2, FreeCommander and NexusFile, but most of these others just display the default icons. This is a subtle point that does make a product unusable if you're doing library and version control.
Also, another thing really helpful to know is if you can trigger apps from within the program. Not having to shrink a window to drag something over to jpegcrop or Lupasrename saves a lot of time when you have to do this 200 times a day
As for the guy complaining about dual-pane, being able to see the source and destination simultaneously is the simplest way to avoid disaster. Deal with it.
XYPlorerFree can handle (better) your two points.
You can color folders
You can set a Tab to your Target, then in another tab you select and drag your file.
You can either just drop it on the Tab, or hover over the Tab, and the focus changes to that Tab, where you can drop it, if you are happy.
Open your mind, and give it a try.
It does not require Installation, so what have you got to lose ?
It would be terrific, if all those advocating split pane file managers, would try a decent Tabbed program like XYPlorerFree.
Probably most of you got used to them, back in the pre-tab days. And cannot let go.
As Cher says in her movie -
"Snap out of it"
Unreal Commander http://x-diesel.com/
I'd recommend checking NexusFile file manager > http://xiles.net/nexusfile/
My personal 3rd party file manager for Windoze. I've tried Total Commander, Free Commander and whatnot, but this one really beats them all (and it has a sleek black look, just perfect for my taste).
I can't stand the black interface (not nearly enough contrast for my weak eyes), but the Skin feature under the View menu let me pick something better.
I haven't used this often enough to know how frequently it crashes, but so far I prefer this to everything but xplorer2... and I'm not done testing the feature, so this might win out.
Nexusfile is my default file manager from a long time. It may not have some features, but the sleek black interface is the reason I use it. I tried to contact the developer many times requesting features, but got no reply. I doubt if it's still in development.
It is. I remember seeing a new version some months ago... although, it was a release after a long long time.
Looks solid , works solid , still some settings missing for my taste but good
I agree. Its good, and definitely worth checking out. I like its black sleek look. Still, I prefer FreeCommander.
Tablacus Explorer : http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~gakana/tablacus/explorer_en.html?20111213
I have used Powerdesk 7.0 paid version for 15 years now, finally it could not keep up with Win7 and a new computer, and I did not like the Demo of Powerdesk 8, so I decided to take someone's suggestion here and try UltraExplorer & Multicommander, both were very good File Manager's, but Multi was a bit complicated and was missing a couple of things I need, Ultra has turned out to be as good or better than my old Powerdesk, so if you need power & easy to use program, UltraExplorer has it all for free.
I see that this category needs an editor, so I do not want to be too pushy. However, there are two points that have to be made.
First, there are many more excellent filemanagers that have not been reviewed, including Master Commander, Nomad.NET and Unreal Commander, all of which are freeware and all of which offer superb functionality, often ranked better than Q-Dir or Cubic Exp.
Second, as a matter of personal opinion, a "dated interface" is irrelevant. If you are here seriously needing a replacement for Windows Explorer, then you need functionality and efficiency, not pretty colors and awesome icons. imo, too much software development focuses on appearance rather than function. And then what you get is Vista. No thanks!
Thanks for the recopilation. I use Free Commander.
Would you tell us what you think of mucommander?
http://www.mucommander.com/
It looks pretty lightweight, powerful (including ftp) and cross-platform.
I'd be keen to get your views as to how it compares with others in the category.
Thanks.
There is a god of all file managers, that supports and does everything, and works perfectly with command-line, and it is free.
This is a Far Manager.
farmanager.com
I’d second this selection as unfortunately none of the listed in article and in comments file manager can give all functionality FAR has. Most of them could not work with command line at all or almost at all and none has ability to work with command line inside manager’s window. Built-in vey fast viewer and editor, 7z LZMA SDK imbedded, ability to wok without mouse completely, etc. I have tried everything – did not find a good substitution for this old good thing.
I'm currently using Free Commander and I'm extremely happy with it. I used to use Q-Dir and I also liked it, but I decided to uninstall it just because it crashed more often than not.
I once had a program or script that was really handy but lost it somehow. When you right clicked on a file or folder instead of the normal windows options which still exist I could copy or move that file or folder to any specific place that I wanted to. I loved it but don't have it anymore.
Does anyone know of any such thing and where to get it?
Maybe that is a utility called "send to toys" :
http://www.gabrieleponti.com/software/
Try File Menu Tools..........it adds a lot of options for your right click, and move to any folder is one of them........I use it all the time.........http://www.lopesoft.com/en/fmtools/
You might like to try Nexus File, available from the author here:
http://xiles.net/downloads/#NexusFile
...and also available on Cnet's Download.com site.
It has a strikingly different interface, but it is intuitive and effective. I'm still learning its capabilities while I continue to use xplorer² lite for everyday needs.
i really like nexus file but for one feature it seems to lack...
can open archive files (zip,7z,rar,etc) fine. however, once open unable to drag, copy from source window pane to destination pane (at least haven't figured out how if possible) :( most, other dual-pane file managers can do this fine, and, easily.
otherwise, a real nice file manager.
U can use buttons : Copy To or Move To
came across this dual-pane file manager with tabs that is now free - seems to have a plethora (sorry, i like that word :) ) of features.
it's called: multicommander
at: http://multicommander.com/
from their website:
"Multi Commander is a multi-tabbed file manager that is an alternative to the standard Windows Explorer.
It uses the very popular and efficient dual-panel layout."
...
freecommander is the greatest available but not perfect.
but it is second to none. because there is no first place perfect file manager.
so i say this because it has a portable .ini you can backup and use on any other computer with freecommander installed. idea: use the cloud.
okay, so its great because it is not usd 30 like xyplorer pro. cubic is always not responding. q-dir looks like a work in progress. freecommander has lots of tabs and remembers it from before.
i have been using it for 4 years and i only just donated eur 5. i did it because it is worth it. i pay usd 12 for lastpass and xmarks. i paid for usb safely remove. so i figured freecommander is worth at least eur 5 to me. i wish freecommander was connected to the cloud.
I have been happy with Explorer++
http://www.explorerplusplus.com
It is feature rich and has a 64bit build.
unreal commander, it is pretty good: http://x-diesel.com/
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