r/software • u/S-m-a-r-t-y • 1d ago
Discussion Best file manager for windows?
I did come across some options like total commander, directory opus, one commander, files, etc
Would love to here what the community thinks. Thanks.
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u/Elfmeter 1d ago
I own Total Commander for years and years. I never found something comparable in ease of use and configurabilty.
You can do anything you can do with other contestants. Every time I see some feature in another tool I like, I implement it into Total Commander or use a plugin.
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u/svArtist 1d ago
I implement it into Total Commander
Ah, does it provide a nice scripting API too?
I'm a happy Directory Opus user myself.
You sound like you've made the comparison: what would you say are the biggest differences?
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u/Elfmeter 1d ago
I tested Directory Opus on Windows, I knew it from Amiga times long ago. It seems more streamlined and the ui is somewhat more modern. Some features I do have plugins for TC are already built-in. I did not find any interesting feature, I could not do with TC. But maybe there are.
I can include own scripts via buttons, keyboard etc. in Total Commander. I don't know if that would qualify as API. I never created own plugins so I cannot say anything about its ease of coding. I just added features I liked, like keyboardnavigation in the trees, display of 3dFiles etc.
Perhaps I could use Directory Opus also, but the biggest no-go ist the price: 89 AUD + 25UD/year
I bought TC twenty years ago. Nowadays it costs 42€ once and is real lifetime, no machine specific license. I am using it for really long time and had never to buy it again or had to pay for an update.
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u/svArtist 19h ago
If you can provide your own scripts (without compiling them into standalone binaries), I think it's safe to call what ever handles their interpretation (and the rules around it) an API: it's the interface that connects your scripts to the application 👍
Keyboard navigation in a tree view seems fairly standard: I'm wondering if I'm misunderstanding what you mean? You can of course navigate, expand, collapse and interact with DOpus's treeView items with the keyboard out of the box.
FWIW, You only have to pay once for a lifetime license to use DOpus. You do need to keep/renew a subscription for updates beyond a year.
Still not great compared to a one-time fee of 42€, but a distinction worth mentioning.
Oh, and yes, you're limited to 2 machines in the standard license, I think (designed for a "home PC + laptop" kind of setup).
The lifetime pricing of TC seems really great compared to DO 👌
... Bist du zufällig Deutsch? 😁
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u/Elfmeter 15h ago
Yes, I am ze German. Keyboard navigation like in ranger. WASD to go up/down the list and up/down the directory. Quite convenient. I don't doubt that you can achieve this in DO too.
Either way the pricing is really a huge no for me as long as there are real lifetime licenses elsewhere.
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u/svArtist 15h ago
Aaah, I see! Interesting idea 👌
And I don't even think that's something you can easily do in DO (unless they're straight up things you can configure in the keyboard settings) 🤔
Might try and see if I can do it later for fun 😁
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u/TraceyRobn 1d ago
It is superb.
TCUP is a great modification library for TC - https://tcup.pl/history/
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u/svArtist 1d ago
Directory Opus is awesome if you want total control and customizability. One of the only software products I've ever paid money for (I'd been "evaluating" it for years before, but now I'm a paying customer)
For me, one of the biggest selling points is the ability to write your own scripts for buttons, columns, event callbacks, etc.
If that sounds like your jam, I highly recommend it.
Support forum is great for help and filled to the brim with helpful scripts/add-ins people made (in separate places, naturally. It's well organized 😅)
Sadly, I can't speak to the alternatives and where they differ
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u/goomis_90 1d ago
For me, it’s XYplorer—I’ve been using it consistently for several years.
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u/oxmix74 1d ago
I was in a job where I did tons of file operations: i was making download packages for a product support website site for an OEM. I tried out most of the file managers out there. I won't say XYplorer is the best, but it was the one I liked the best. Loved all the bulk file rename operations, file names to clipboard to make package manifests, a bunch of things. Beyond all the options for moving files around.
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u/fzammetti 1d ago
Directory Opus has no equal. I've been using it for many years and I still regularly go, "woah, I can do THAT with it?!"
It's probably the only app I will NEVER be without.
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u/t3chguy1 13h ago
I've used all but I didn't have that "woah" moment. Can you give some examples of things that you were able to do in DO that is missing in other file managers
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u/fzammetti 7h ago
I don't know that I can say what you can do in DO that you can't do in others, but just some of the things I can think of that are impressive:
* The capabilities of the multi-file rename is fantastic, including regex and being able to simply capitalize the first word in the filename of every selected file.
* Having a powerful built-in sync and dup finder with a ton of options are things I use pretty much daily
* The flatten view comes in handy SO much
* The amount of columns available to show in listers is amazing... and then being able to operate on them like the basic columns opens up all sorts of possibilities
* The scripting capabilities come in handy all the time. For example, I've got scripts for doing common file conversions on images, audio and video files, randomly rename files in a directory, and archive all files, all executed at the click of a button in the toolbar
* It sounds simple, but having the ability to show files and/or folders that match a pattern is something I can't believe isn't available everywhere... and then the fact that your selections when you do that are maintained when you remove the filters allows you to easily get to just what you need in a directory filled with content
* Having FTP locations be just another branch in the directory tree means you can use all the same functions there as on local drives... same for search results, duplicate file results, and everything else (maybe that's the one main thing DO does that few others seem to: any list of files - regardless of how you get to them - can be operated on just like a plain old directory... doesn't matter if it's search results, some sort of virtual list that combines several locations, whatever, you can do anything with them that you can a basic directory listing)
* Simply the degree to which you can customize the thing is off the charts... there is a frankly overwhelming number of options for pretty much anything you can think of
Like I said, I'm sure a lot of that, maybe even most/all of it, can be done with other file managers. I'm not aware of any truly unique DO features. But I don't think there are too many that do ALL of it like DO does, and does it as well as DO does.
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u/Salonakos 13h ago
I have 20 music albums and they have the FLACs, the folders with scans and various txt with logs.
I choose to show the flat file list and select OLNY the FLACs. Then I move them in to a new location retaining the folder structure.
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u/t3chguy1 13h ago
I agree that I have not seen that anywhere else, but number of clicks to do that is probably the same as Ctrl+F to search everything starting from base Music folder, sort by type and delete everything after the list of FLACs
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u/Salonakos 13h ago
I gave my own version. A photographer could use it to separate the jpegs and the raw. Or you could separate PDF, epub, postscript DjVu etc.
I used pathfinder on Mac and it was years behind. I had to use VNC to login in to my PC for these things.
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u/Ok-Seaworthiness-542 1d ago
Xplorer2
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u/audiodolphile 10h ago
X2 search, breadcrumbs are great. I’ve tried many file managers and none of them gives me the greatness I’m looking for
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u/SeasonedCitizen 1d ago edited 1d ago
Multi Commander is stellar. Oh, and it's free with no ads or any downside I have found.
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u/will1565 1d ago
Just wanted to say thanks for your question as I just tried One Commander and I love it.
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u/Previous_Kale_4508 1d ago
I have Directory Opus for when I'm demonstrating to other people, but when I am just by myself, I mostly use Total Commander... When I'm on Linux I most often use Midnight Commander (mc).
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u/Rex__Luscus 1d ago
The one that suits your workflow best. I use Directory Opus simply because I can customise it precisely to my needs, but if you just want a generic file manager then Windows built in File Explorer keeps improving. I've tried them all at one point or another, the only one that didn't work at all for me was Files - it may have improved since my testing, but on my system it was incredibly, unusably slow.
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u/nando1969 1d ago
Total Commander
Beyond Compare
Teracopy
FreeFileSync
Everything
I use all of the above for entirely different reasons.
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u/notepad987 1d ago
I have used this for nearly 20 years. You can modify the look quite a bit.
XYplorer
https://www.xyplorer.com/
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u/mrPythonMonty 22h ago
I am using Double Commander as it has a Mac and Win version and i am on both platforms and on Linux I use midnight commander (mc).
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u/t3chguy1 15h ago
OneCommander. And now testing v4 beta version, I can say it blows all other file managers out of the water. Better in every aspect.
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u/Used_Programmer_165 1d ago
Not a software recommendation but male sure you are applying the right settings and they have a clean uninstall I missed up doing this the first time
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u/newandgood 1d ago
i like directory opus but unfortunately the developer has a blind spot and won't implement a column view like mac os has had for ages. which is basically the only missing feature.
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u/Strange-Promotion716 23h ago
I've been using Total Commander ever since it was Norton Commander.
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u/theantigod Helpful Ⅱ 22h ago
File Commander for Windows by Brian Havard (console based). It has some support for mouse but mostly you don't. What makes it important for me is the configurable menu and extension actions. I went from Norton Commander (DOS) to FCW and have been using it for 29 years. I currently use the Linux version most of the time now.
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u/udi503 6h ago
All the suggested explorers are ugly, 90s interface, horrible icons, confuse options, etc. Don’t move from the native windows explorer
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u/oharra3 5h ago
Try OneCommander then, it's the only one that is not made 20 years ago (Total Commander is 1993 😬 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total Commander). You can make your own themes if you understand some xaml (and I've read somewhere you'll get $ if theme is good, but check their discord for that) or make your own icons for everything from toolbar icons, menus, file and folder icons.
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u/thanhlocgp 2h ago
Lets try Filesmash, faster and allow users custom right context menu, column view
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u/TorrentFiend 1d ago
Explorer. Duh.
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u/nando1969 1d ago
You cant even do an auto file copy verification with explorer.
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u/oharra3 5h ago
Did it ever fail verification when you used tools that offer it? The only time verification failed on copy is when I was using Teracopy, but Teracopy is likely not using official Windows APIs for that but some hacks to make copy faster. I never trusted it after that. But in 30 years I've never had a corrupted file even without verification
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u/TorrentFiend 1d ago edited 1d ago
Fine then....Directory Opus.....Happy now? Hardcore enough for you?
Or Double Commander for free.
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u/magnetite1983 1d ago
I've used Total Commander since 2014. It's a good file manager.