File Manager software offer an easy and convenient way to modify file attributes. Windows has its own file manager – File Explorer. It is designed to simplify file management activities in Windows. Although fine, Windows Explorer doesn’t offer tabs, a dual-pane interface, batch file renaming tools, and other advanced features. This necessitates the use of File Explorer alternatives for your computer-based life. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of File Explorer replacements that do the same job much better than Explorer itself. Below, you can find the list of free File Manager software for Windows 10/8/7 which include Shallot, Tablacus, XYplorer, FreeCommander, Unreal Commander, Multi-commander, Konverter and FileVoyager.
Free File Manager software for Windows
If you aren’t quite sure about which program is best for you, we’ll help you make the right choice with these alternatives and features they support.
1] FileVoyager
Jul 01, 2013 The Microsoft Windows File Manager is the graphical user interface through which users could see and manipulate files and folders on early-version Windows computers. Windows File Explorer isn’t the best for moving files around. There are many better free file manager alternatives for Windows out there. Perhaps it’s time to dump File Explorer and use a third-party alternative? If you’ve never looked into what’s available, you might be surprised. Here are the seven best Windows File Explorer. Explorer is a free and open source file manager designed for Windows that offers a great experience to the Windows users. Among its many features are folder tabs, integration for OneDrive, and a dual-pane interface to be able to browse your files much easily. The File Management category includes software programs designed to manage, delete, recover, convert, move, or monitor your computer files. Software in this category may offer both document. Nov 28, 1989 Files Manager for Windows 10. Full-featured file manager for Windows with Tabs! Manage files and folders, work with archives in the formats.rar,.7z,.zip,.tar, etc., watch videos and photos, edit documents in the.txt and.rtf formats. There is a limit to the selection of the folder, available only after purchasing the Pro version of the application. This is the most configurable File Manager in the world. Do you work with specific file structure, no worries. DOpus will get you hooked. This is an industry-level tool. You will know what i mean when you can not find any other file manager which can do what you want. This is the KRS-One of managers.
7-Zip works in Windows 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP / 2016 / 2012 / 2008 / 2003 / 2000 / NT. P7zip - the port of the command line version of 7-Zip to Linux/Posix. On 7-Zip's SourceForge Page you can find a forum, bug reports, and feature request systems.
Apart from allowing usual file operations like renaming, copying, moving, linking, deleting and recycling files, the tool features a dual pane layout. It makes the transfer operations of files or folders between sources and destinations easier and hassles free.
The portable version of File Voyager supports numerous shortcuts to default folders, such as Documents, Libraries, and Desktop. Moreover, you can easily access the file compressing tool or fax or email the selected document by creating shortcuts. You can also view the file/folder size near each entry and edit the items in notepad.
FileVoyager enables browsing in various modes like report or thumbnail modes and has an extensive collection of tools.
2] Konvertor
The freeware ships with an impressive set of features and has been designed to co-exist with Windows Explorer/ File Explorer. This means it does not interfere with the default file manager in any way. Similar to FileVoyager, Konverter displays data in two panels. A built-in file conversion tool supports many file formats. For instance, there’s support for 2,034 image file types, 795 audi, 230 video, 102 3D files. Besides, there’s a vast number of extras which make the tool a very capable program.
In all, Konverter is a fast and reliable program with a shallow learning curve. This ability of the program gives its users all levels of expertise required to process and alter files quickly and efficiently.
3] Multi-Commander
Multi-Commander comes across as one of the best alternatives to the standard File Explorer. It features an extensive number of tools and plug-ins to help users manage their files and folders.
The program houses a number of buttons, all of which are highly customizable. Plus, there are drive shortcuts for opening specific types of files and accessing the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch of the Registry.
4] Unreal Commander
It is a dual-pane file manager designed to overcome shortfalls of the traditional Windows File Explorer and offer a more convenient way to have control over files and folders. the program comes pre-loaded with a set of useful features and options, like:
- Directory synchronization – Offers capability to open archives with popular formats (ZIP, RAR, ACE, TAR and CAB)
- Multi-rename tool – Allows renaming multiple files simultaneously, once the naming pattern with rules has been defined
- FTP connection – Allows rapid uploading of files to a FTP server.
5] FreeCommander
The tool advertises itself as an easy-to-use alternative to the standard Windows file manager. Similar to other programs mentioned above, Free Commander helps you undertake all of your daily activities in Windows with convenience.
It has a built-in file viewer to view files in hex, binary, text or image format. With this tool, you can set your own keyboard shortcuts and menu buttons for easier navigation. A simple right click on a folder or file displays the traditional Windows Context Menu.
6] XYplorer
XYplorer takes basic and familiar features of File Explorer a notch higher. It has multilingual support. The program avoids any entry in the Registry or system folders, allowing you to use it as portable application alongside Explorer. Another unique feature of the tool – it allows users to colour-code their tabs for easier identification.
Apart from the above, XYplorer runs powerful file search, multi-level undo or redo, branch view, folder view settings, batch
- Powerful file search
- Multi-level undo or redo
- Branch view
- Folder view settings
- Batch rename
- Color filters
- Directory Print
- File tags.
7] Tablacus
This tool does not require any installation as it is available in a portable version. Tablacus, basically adds new features to the layout of File Explorer so that you find it easier to search files.
Its design is heavily inspired fromFile Explorer but makes some necessary changes needed in the file manager. The most obvious being tabs so that a user does not require dozen explorer windows to be opened at once.
8] Shallot
Shallot makes possible to customize the interface and configure behavior and options of a file manager as per your liking. This flexible manager comes with a plugin interface that adds a wealth of convenient features and versatility. The freeware program supports built-in plugins as long as they are written in Python. As such, you can create your own plugins to automate a few file management tasks.
For a free and easy way to manage the files on your system, give Shallot, a try!
9] One Commander
Instead of just being a dual window file manager, One Commander offers both double window view, and multi-column view. You can choose that when you launch it for the first time. Along with this, you can choose between white, dark and light theme.
Which one would you recommend?
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The Windows File Manager lives again and runs as a native x86 and x64 desktop appon all currently supported version of Windows, including Windows 10. I welcome your thoughts, comments and suggestions.
There are two primary versions of the source code in the master branch:
original_plus tag: refers to the source for WinFile as of Windows NT4 with minimal changesso that it compiles with Visual Studio and runs on current Windows.
current master: contains my personal changes / additions to WinFile.
I will consider bugs fixes and suggestions for minor changes to the master branch. Feel free to create a pull request or post issues as you see fit.
I will not be changing the original_plus sources nor creating other branches for other purposes.You are welcome do that on your own.
Download The App
If you are running Windows 10, you can download the app from the store
If you just want to download the WinFile application without worrying about compiling from the source code, we have precompiled versions available for both original_plus as well as the latest stable release for you to download. Source code for the corresponding release is also, optionally, available.
Please select the version which you would like to download.
Latest build from master: coming soon
To see more release binaries, including of older versions, see the releases page.
History
The Windows File manager was originally released with Windows 3.0 in the early 1990s. Youcan read more about the history at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Manager_(Windows).
What it looks like
Thanks to @Speps for the link; not sure who uploaded the image to Wikimedia.
Changes in original_plus
The source code provided here (in the src directory) was copied from the Windows NT 4 source tree in November2007. The tag named original_plus contains a very limited set of modificationsfrom the original sources to enable WinFile.exe to run on current Windows.The most significant changes are:
- converted to Visual Studio solution; works on VS 2015 and 2017
- compiles and runs on 64-bit Windows (e.g., GetWindowLong -> GetWindowLongPtr, LONG -> LPARAM)
- added a few header files which were stored elsewhere in the NT source tree (e.g., wfext.h)
- deleted some unused files (e.g., winfile.def)
- converted 64-bit arithmetic from internal libraries to C
- converted internal shell APIs to public APIs (the primary reason the old version would not run)
The help directory contains both winfile.hlp and winfile.chm. Winfile.hlp was in the NT4source tree, but does not work on Windows 10 any more. Winfile.chm was copied froma regular installation of Windows 98 and works on Windows 10. As is, WinFile.exetries to launch winfile.hlp which fails.
To create your own local branch referring to this release, run 'git checkout -b original_plus'.
Changes in master v10.0 after original_plus
The master branch contains changes I have made since 2007. The changes have been solely determinedby my needs and personal use. Some of the changes have limitations that fit the way I use the tool.For example, the path index which supports the new goto command only contains information for the c: drive.
I have also not redesigned or restructured WinFile in any major way.
Version v10.0 represents the entire set of changes from Nov. 2007 until this OSS projectwas created. For changes post v10.0, see the commit and release history.
In summary v10.0 has the following changes/new features compared to original_plus:
- OLE drag/drop support
- control characters (e.g., ctrl+C) map to current short cut (e.g., ctrl+c -> copy)instead of changing drives
- cut (ctrl+X) followed by paste (ctrl+V) translates into a file move as one would expect
- left and right arrows in the tree view expand and collapse folders like in the Explorer
- added context menus in both panes
- improved the means by which icons are displayed for files
- F12 runs notepad or notepad++ on the selected file
- moved the ini file location to %AppData%RoamingMicrosoftWinFile
- File.Search can include a date which limits the files returned to those after the date provided;the output is also sorted by the date instead of by the name
- File.Search includes an option as to whether to include sub-directories
- ctrl+K starts a command shell (ConEmu if installed) in the current directory; shift+ctrl+Kstarts an elevated command shell (cmd.exe only)
- File.Goto (ctrl+G) enables one to type a few words of a path and get a list of directories;selecting one changes to that directory. Only drive c: is indexed.
- UI shows reparse points (e.g., Junction points) as such
- added simple forward / back navigation (probably needs to be improved)
- View command has a new option to sort by date forward (oldest on top);normal date sorting is newest on top
You can read the code for more details.
Contributing
Contributor License Agreement
As mentioned above, this project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Most contributions require you to agree to aContributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant usthe rights to use your contribution. For details, visit https://cla.microsoft.com.
When you submit a pull request, a CLA-bot will automatically determine whether you need to providea CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., label, comment). Simply follow the instructionsprovided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.
This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct.For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ orcontact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.
What Makes a Good Pull Request for WinFile?
If you are interested in contributing and/or suggesting changes to the actual application, you might find it helpful to read this post first.
License
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Windows File Manager
Licensed under the MIT License.