Comparison of file managers
![]() | It has been suggested that List of file managers be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since September 2006. |
![]() | It has been suggested that Orthodox file manager be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since September 2006. |
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of file managers. Please see the individual products articles for further information.
General information
Basic general information about the managers: creator/company etc.
Operating system support
The operating systems the file managers can run on without emulation.
File manager | DOS | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A43 | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
DOS Command Center | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Directory Opus | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
Disk Order | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
Dos Navigator | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
emelFM2 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
F | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Finder | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
freeCommander | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
GNOME Commander | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Konqueror | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Krusader | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Macintosh Explorer | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
Magellan Explorer | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
MeeSoft Commander | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Midnight Commander | no? | Yes [1] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Nautilus | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Path Finder | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
RageWork | No | Yes [2] | Yes [2] | Yes [2] | Yes [2] | Yes [2] |
ROX-Filer | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Servant Salamander | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
Total Commander | Yes [3] | No | No | No | No | |
Tux Commander | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Volkov Commander | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Windows Explorer | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
XionDE.fm | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Xffm | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
xplorer² | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
XYplorer | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
ZTreeWin | Partial [4] | Yes | No | Partial [5] | No | Partial [6] |
File manager | DOS | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix |
- ^ Cygwin
- ^ a b c d e It's a cross-platform orthodox file manager written in Java
- ^ Windows 95 and later; also Windows Mobile.
- ^ XTreeGold
- ^ UnixTree
- ^ UnixTree
Manager views
Information about what common file manager views are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons).
File manager | Icon view [1] | List view [1] | Column view [1] | Thumbnails [1] | Details + Thumbs [1] | Grouping [1] | Content dependent [2] | Twin-panel (OFM) [1] | Favs-panel [1] | Panel tabs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A43 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No |
Beesoft Commander | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Directory Opus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
Disk Order | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes |
DOS Command Center | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Dos Navigator | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
emelFM2 | No | Yes | No | No | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | No |
Finder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? |
freeCommander | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
GNOME Commander | No | Yes | No | No | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | No |
Konqueror | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Partial | ? | No | ? | Yes |
Krusader | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
Macintosh Explorer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | No | ? | Yes |
MeeSoft Commander | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | No |
Midnight Commander | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Nautilus | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Partial |
Path Finder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes |
RageWork | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | No | Yes | ? | Yes |
ROX-Filer | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | n/a | Yes | ? |
Servant Salamander | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | No |
Total Commander | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | ? | Yes |
Tux Commander | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Volkov Commander | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Windows Explorer | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No |
XionDE.fm | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No |
xplorer² | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [3] | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
XYplorer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
ZTreeWin | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? |
File manager | Icon view | List view | Column view | Thumbnails | Details + Thumbs | Groups | Content dependent | Twin-panel (OFM) | Favs-panel | Panel tabs |
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 Mac OS X 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Directory Opus | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes SFTP & SSL |
Disk Order | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes (FTPS & SFTP) |
emelFM2 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Finder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | No |
GNOME Commander | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | ? |
Konqueror | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Krusader | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Nautilus | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Path Finder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
RageWork | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
ROX-Filer | Based on underlying operating system support | |||||
Servant Salamander | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | Yes |
Total Commander | Yes | ? | PartialTemplate:Refun | ? | Yes | ? |
Windows Explorer | Yes | Yes | PartialTemplate:Refun | No | Yes | No |
XionDE.fm | Based on underlying operating system support | |||||
Xffm | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
xplorer² | Yes | YesTemplate:Refun | PartialTemplate:Refun | No | Yes | No |
ZTreeWin | Yes | PartialTemplate:Refun | PartialTemplate:Refun | No | PartialTemplate:Refun | ? |
File manager | SMB/CIFS | WebDAV | NFS | AFP | FTP | FISH/SSH |
- ^ NFS support in these file managers require the installation of Services for UNIX.
- ^ FTP support in these file managers require the installation of NetDrive.
- ^ WebDAV is supported via Microsoft Explorer's Network Places.
File features
Information on what basic file features the file managers support.
File Manager | File compression | File encryption | Rename busy files | File preview | File coloring filter [4] [1] | File selection filter [1] | Paste clipboard as file | File and folder reports [1] | ACL (Access control list) | Mass Rename [5] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A43 | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | No |
Directory Opus | Yes | PartialTemplate:Refun | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
Disk Order | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
emelFM2 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
GNOME Commander | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | Yes |
Finder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | No |
Konqueror | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Partial [6] | ? | Yes | Yes[7] |
Krusader | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Nautilus | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partial [8] | No | Yes | No |
Path Finder | Yes | No [9] | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
RageWork | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
ROX-Filer | With helper apps | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | |
Servant Salamander | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes, multiple[10] | ? | Yes | Yes [11] | Yes |
Total Commander | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
Tux Commander | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Windows Explorer | Yes | Partial [12] | No | No | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | No |
XionDE.fm | No | No | ? | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No |
Xffm | ? | ? | ? | Partial [13] | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
XYplorer | Yes [14] | Partial [12] | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes |
xplorer² | Yes | Partial [12] | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [15] | Yes |
ZTreeWin | Yes | Partial [16] | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? |
File manager | 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 |
Browse Features
File manager | Browse compressed folders | Slideshows | Directory Sizes | Branch Sizes | Directory Compare | Synchronizer | Find as you type (Type-ahead find) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Directory Opus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Disk Order | Yes | ? | Partial | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Dos Navigator / NDN | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
emelFM2 | ? | No | Partial | ? | Yes | ? | Yes |
Finder | No | Yes | Partial | ? | No | No | Yes |
Konqueror | Yes | ? | Yes(with konq-plugin) | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
Krusader | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Midnight Commander | Partial [17] | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes[18] | |
Nautilus | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
Path Finder | No | Yes | Partial | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
RageWork | Yes | No | ? | Yes | No | ? | |
ROX-Filer | No | No | Yes | ? | No | ? | Yes, and browsing with tab completion |
Servant Salamander | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Partial (for remote folders) | Yes |
Total Commander | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Tux Commander | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Windows Explorer | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | No | Yes |
XionDE.fm | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Xffm | Partial [19] | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
xplorer² | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
XYplorer | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
ZTreeWin | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
File manager | Browse compressed folders | Slideshows | Directory Sizes | Branch Sizes | Directory compare | Synchronizer | Type-ahead find |
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/content search | Basic metadata search | All metadata search | RegExp | Boolean (nesting levels) | Fuzzy logic | Save searches [20] | Refined searches [21] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A43 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Directory Opus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Disk Order | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
emelFM2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Partial | ? |
Finder | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Konqueror | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Krusader | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Nautilus | Yes | PartialTemplate:Refun | PartialTemplate:Refun | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Path Finder | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
RageWork | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
ROX-Filer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? |
Servant Salamander | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes[22] | ? | ? | Yes | Yes |
Total Commander | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Tux Commander | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Windows Explorer | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No |
XionDE.fm | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
xplorer² | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
XYplorer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (256) | Yes | Yes | ? |
ZTreeWin | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
File manager | File name/content search | Basic metadata search | All metadata search | RegExp | Boolean (nesting levels) | Fuzzy logic | Save searches | Refined searches |
^ Can integrate with Beagle to provide more searching functionality.
Extensibility
What parts of the application can be extended by plugins?
File manager | Filesystem support | Attribute columns | File previews | Metadata indexing |
---|---|---|---|---|
Directory Opus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
Disk Order | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
emelFM2 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Finder | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Konqueror | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Krusader | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
Nautilus | Yes | ? | Yes | ? |
Path Finder | ? | ? | ? | ? |
RageWork | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
ROX-Filer | No | Yes | No | |
Servant Salamander | Yes | No | Yes | ? |
Total Commander | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
Tux Commander | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Windows Explorer | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
XionDE.fm | No | No | No | No |
xplorer² | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
ZTreeWin | Yes | No | Yes | ? |
File manager | Filesystem support | Attribute columns | File previews | Metadata indexing |
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Manager views" and "File feature" examples:
-
Icon views represent files and folders as large icons
-
List views display items in a sortable list
-
Column views allow multiple levels of the hierarchy to be open at once
-
Thumbnail views display images or contents of folders
-
Details + Thumbnails views and Favs-panel (bottom left)
-
Folder and File reporting. Here is an example of reporting to CSV file in XYplorer.
-
Color filters make viewing of files easier. Example of colorfilters in XYplorer.
-
Grouping allows similar files to be grouped together
-
Twin-panel views allow for simple side-to-side comparison
-
- ^ 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.
- ^ Via "Mirrored Browsing" feature
- ^ 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.
- ^ Mass Rename is a feature to rename big amounts of files in a convenient way and including a preview, see
File:Servant Salamander 2.5RC batch renamer screenshot.png 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 (eg. "date created"), path related fields (eg. "parent directory name"), regular expressions etc.Example screenshot of mass rename - ^ Only text can be pasted as a new file.
- ^ Needs KRename, an application that integrates into Konqueror and Krusader.
- ^ Only text which is dragged from another program and dropped into a folder in Nautilus can be pasted as a new file.
- ^ Path Finder apparently integrates with Knox, an encryption utility.
- ^ Servant Salamander offers to show only selected files and hide unselected ones, also in picture viewer etc. For selection, the usual wildcards and add/substract/intersect with 1...N stored selections are offered.
- ^ ACL is dependent on the type and version of file- and operating system. Servant Salamander offers quick access to owner, auditing and permission settings in WinXP with NTFS 5.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ Can automatically generate image previews.
- ^ Via shell context menu.
- ^ Via system File Properties dialog, NTFS-only.
- ^ Encryption is supported for Zip and Rar, other formats depend on the editable ARCHIVER.BB2 file
- ^ Can browse .rpm .tar, .tar.gz, and .tgz files.
- ^ Can be done in two steps
- ^ Can browse compressed tar files.
- ^ Save searches: 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.
- ^ 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) substract from those results (original result set reduced by intersection of result sets).
- ^ Servant Salamander Search offers RegExp for defining the file content.