Comparison Of File Managers
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable file managers.
General information
| Name | Developer | Initial release | Platform | Latest release | License | Cost | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | Date | Version | Date | |||||
| Altap Salamander | Altap | 1997-08-15 | Windows | 4.0  | 2019-06-11 | Proprietary | No cost | |
| Commander One | Eltima Software | 2015-08-04 | macOS | 3.7.3831 | 2023-08-25 | Proprietary | US$29.95 | |
| Directory Opus | Jonathan Potter GPSoftware | 1 | 1990-01-03 | AmigaOS | 4.16 | 2001-07-04 | GPL-2.0 | No cost |
| AmigaOS | 5.91 | 2015-08-30 | APL | |||||
| AROS | ||||||||
| MorphOS | ||||||||
| 6 | 2001-06-18 | Windows | 12.27 | 2022-03-21 | Proprietary | A$49 Lite A$89 Pro | ||
| Dired | Integral part of Emacs. Part of the GNU project. | ~1976 | 7.17 | 2009-07-30 | GPL-3.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| Dolphin | KDE | 0.5 | 2006-06-07 | BSD | R14.1.1 | 2023-10-20 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost |
| Linux | ||||||||
| macOS | ||||||||
| Unix | ||||||||
| Windows | ||||||||
| DOS Navigator | Ritlabs | 0.90 | 1991 | DOS | 1.51 | 1999-04-19 | BSD-3-Clause | No cost |
| OS/2 | ||||||||
| Windows | ||||||||
| DOS Shell | Microsoft / IBM | 1988 | DOS | 1998 | Proprietary | Bundled | ||
| Double Commander | Alexander Koblov | 2007 | BSD | 1.1.9 | 2024-01-14 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost | |
| Linux | ||||||||
| macOS | ||||||||
| Unix | ||||||||
| Windows | ||||||||
| emelFM2 | tooar | 2003-09-06 | BSD | GPL-3.0-or-later | No cost | |||
| Linux | ||||||||
| Unix | ||||||||
| Explorer++ | David Ercig | 2008-01-08 | Windows | 1.4.0 | 2024-01-28 | GPL-3.0-only | No cost | |
| Far Manager | Eugene Roshal Far Group | 1996 | Windows (Linux, Mac, BSD via far2l) | 3.0.6226 | 2023-12-14 | BSD-3-Clause | No cost | |
| OS/2 | ||||||||
| Windows | 2.40 | 2011-03-03 | ||||||
| File Explorer | Microsoft | 1995-08-24 | Windows | 2015-07-29 | Proprietary | Bundled | ||
| File Manager | Microsoft Ian Ellison-Taylor | 1990 | Windows | 10.3.0.0 | 2024-03-25 | MIT | Bundled | |
| Files (Apple) | Apple Inc. | 2017-09-19 | macOS | Proprietary | Bundled | |||
| Files by Google | Google LLC | 2017-12-05 | Android | 1.2263.598736326.1 | 2024-01-21 | Proprietary | No cost | |
| GeoManager | Berkeley Softworks Breadbox Ensemble | 1990 | GEOS | 2009 | Proprietary | Bundled | ||
| Finder | Apple Inc. | 1984-01 | macOS | 10.10.5 | 2015-08-13 | Proprietary | Bundled | |
| ForkLift | BinaryNights | 2007-06-01 | macOS | 4.0.7 | 2024-01-30 | Proprietary | US$29.95 | |
| gentoo | Emil Brink | ? | GPL-2.0-only | No cost | ||||
| GNOME Commander | GNOME Commander | 2001-09 | 1.14.3 | 2022-06-18 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| GNOME Files | Eazel | 2001-04-11 | 46.1 | 2024-04-21 | GPL-3.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| Konqueror | KDE | 2000-10 | 23.08.3 | 2023-11-09 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| Krusader | Krusader Krew | 2000-07-11 | R14.1.1 | 2023-10-20 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| Midnight Commander | Miguel de Icaza GNU | 1994-05 | 4.8.31 | 2024-01-27 | GPL-3.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| muCommander | Maxence Bernard | 2002-02-17 | 1.3.0 | 2023-07-08 | GPL-3.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| Nemo | Linux Mint | 1.0.0 | 2012-07 | 6.0.2 | 2023-12-28 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost | |
| nnn | Arun Prakash Jana | 2017-04-13 | 4.9 | 2023-08-27 | BSD-2-Clause | No cost | ||
| Nomad.NET | Eugene Sichkar | 2.2.0.537 beta | 2008-08-14 | 3.2.0.2890 | 2016-06-13 | Proprietary | No cost | |
| Norton Commander | Peter Norton Computing Symantec corporation | 1986 | DOS | 5.51 | 1998-07-01 | Proprietary | ? | |
| Windows | 2.01 | 1999-02-01 | ||||||
| Path Finder | Cocoatech | 2001-04 | macOS | 9.1 | 2020-03-24 | Proprietary | US$36.00 | |
| PathMinder | Albert Nurick Brittain Fraley | 1984 | DOS | 4.11 | 1988 | Proprietary | US$39.95 | |
| PCManFM | Hong Jen Yee | 2006-01-09 | 1.3.2 | 2021-02-05 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| PC Shell | Central Point Software | 1986 | Proprietary | ? | ||||
| ranger | Roman Zimbelmann | 2010-06-09 | BSD | 1.9.3 | 2019-12-31 | GPL-3.0-or-later | No cost | |
| Linux | ||||||||
| macOS | ||||||||
| ROX-Filer | Thomas Leonard et al. | 2000-03-10 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost | ||||
| SpaceFM | IgnorantGuru | 0.5.0 | 2012-01-13 | 1.0.6 | 2018-03-04 | GPL-3.0-or-later | No cost | |
| STDU Explorer | STDUtility | 2009-03-23 | Windows | 1.0.465 | 2012-05-24 | Proprietary | No cost | |
| Tabbles | Yellow blue soft UAB | 2009-08-01 | Windows | 3.1.29 | 2016-08-12 | Proprietary | US$29.95 | |
| Thunar | Xfce | 2006-01-22 | 4.18.8 | 2023-10-24 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| Total Commander | Christian Ghisler | 1.0 | 2012-05-18 | Android | 3.50 | 2024-03-27 | Proprietary | No cost |
| 1.00d | 1993-09-25 | Windows | 11.03 | 2024-02-21 | CHF40, €37, US$42 | |||
| ViewMAX | Digital Research / Novell | 1.0 | 1990 | DR-DOS | 3.0 | 1993 | GPL-2.0-only | Bundled |
| Volkov Commander | Vsevolod Volkov | 1992 | DOS | 4.05 | 2000-06-16 | Proprietary | Depends | |
| WinSCP | WinSCP | 2000-09-30 | Windows | 6.3.3 | 2024-04-16 | GPL-3.0-only | No cost | |
| worker | Ralf Hoffmann | 1.0.0 | 1999-03-06 | Unix | 4.12.1 | 2023-03-05 | GPL-2.0-only | No cost |
| Xandros File Manager | Xandros Corporation | ? | 4.2 | 2007-07-26 | Proprietary | Bundled | ||
| Xfe | Roland Baudin | 2002 | 1.45 | 2022-12-30 | GPL | No cost | ||
| Xfile | Rixstep | 2003-03-02 | macOS | 2.1.0.10 | 2010-02-14 | Proprietary | US$79.00 | |
| Xfm | Simon Marlow Albert Gräf Till Straumann Robert Vogelgesang Juan D. Martin | 1992 | 1.4.3 | 2001-09-03 | GPL-2.0-or-later | No cost | ||
| xplorer² | Nikos Bozinis | 2004-06-10 | Windows | 5.4.0.2 | 2023-06-14 | Proprietary | US$29.95 - 49.95 | |
| XTree | Jeffery C. Johnson | 1985-04-01 | DOS | 1992 | Proprietary | US$39.95 | ||
| 1992 | Windows | 1992 | ||||||
| XYplorer | Donald Lessau | 1997 | Windows | 20.80.0100 | 2020-02-13 | Proprietary | US$39.95 - 79.95 | |
| ZTreeWin | Kim Henkel | 1996 | Windows | 2.2.19 | 2011-05-27 | Proprietary | US$29.95 (1-4) | |
| Name | Developer | Initial release | Platform | Latest release | License | Cost | ||
| Version | Date | Version | Date | |||||
Operating system support
Cross-platform file managers
This table shows the operating systems that the file managers can run on, without emulation.
| File manager | DOS | OS/2 & eCS | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS | OpenVMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Directory Opus | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Dired | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dolphin | No | No | Needs KDE | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Double Commander | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| DOS Navigator | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| emelFM2 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| GNOME Commander | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Konqueror | No | No | Needs KDE | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Krusader | No | No | No | Needs X | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Midnight Commander | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| muCommander | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| nnn | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| GNOME Files (Nautilus) | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Nemo | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| PathMinder | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| PCManFM | No | Needs POSIX-compliant platform | Needs POSIX-compliant platform | Needs POSIX-compliant platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Ranger | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| ROX-Filer | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||
| Thunar | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Total Commander | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Volkov Commander | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| worker | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Xandros File Manager | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | No | No |
| Xfe | No | Needs X | Needs X | Needs X | Yes | Yes | Yes | Needs X | Yes |
| Xfm | No | Needs X | Needs X | Needs X | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Far Manager | Needs HX DOS Extender | No | Yes | Yes (far2l) | Yes (far2l) | Yes (far2l) | ? | No | No |
| ZTreeWin | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| File manager | DOS | OS/2 & eCS | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS | OpenVMS |
Mac-only file managers
*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
- SE-Explorer
- STDU Explorer
- Total Commander
- File Explorer
- xplorer²
- XYplorer
- ZTreeWin
iOS-only file managers
Android-only file managers
- Files by Google
- Ghost Commander
Manager views
Icon views represent files and folders as large icons.
Details + thumbnails views and favs-panel (bottom left)
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 manager | Family | UI | Icon view | List view | Column view | Thumbnails | Details + Thumbs | Grouping | Content dependent | Twin panel | Favorites / Bookmark | Panel tabs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altap Salamander | Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Partial | No |
| Commander One | Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Demos Commander | Orthodox | Text | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| Directory Opus | Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dired | Directory editor | Text | Yes, on GUI | Yes | ? | Yes, on GUI | Yes, on GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes, one or more | Partial (bookmarks) | Yes (optional tab bar) |
| Dolphin | Navigational | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Double Commander | Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DOS Navigator | Orthodox | Text | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| emelFM2 | Orthodox | GUI | No | Yes | No | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | No |
| FAR Manager | Orthodox | Text | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| File Manager (Windows) | Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes[citation needed] | No | No |
| Files (Apple) | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||||||
| Files by Google | GUI | |||||||||||
| Finder | Spatial / Miller Columns | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, with Cover Flow | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| ForkLift | Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| gentoo | Orthodox | GUI | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| GNOME Commander | Orthodox | GUI | No | Yes | No | No | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Konqueror | Navigational / Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Krusader | Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Midnight Commander | Orthodox | Text | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| GNOME Files (Nautilus) | Navigational / Spatial | GUI | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Nemo | Navigational / Spatial | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes,press[F3] | Yes | Yes |
| Nomad.NET | Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Partial, Manual | Yes | Yes | Yes, Shared |
| Path Finder | Navigational | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PCManFM | Navigational | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ROX-Filer | Spatial | GUI | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| STDU Explorer | Navigational | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Total Commander | Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes In viewing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Thunar | Navigational | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Volkov Commander | Orthodox | Text | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| Windows Explorer | Navigational / Spatial | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| worker | Orthodox | GUI | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Xandros File Manager | Navigational | GUI | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Xfe | Hybrid Navigational | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Xfm | Spatial | GUI | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | No | ? | No |
| xplorer² | Hybrid Navigational / Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| XYplorer | Hybrid Navigational / Orthodox | GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ZTreeWin | Orthodox | Text | No | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| File manager | Family | UI | Icon view | List view | Column view | Thumbnails | Details + Thumbs | Grouping | Content dependent | Twin panel | Favorites / Bookmark | Panel tabs |
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 manager | SMB/CIFS | WebDAV | NFS | AFP | FTP | FISH/SSH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altap Salamander | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Commander One | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Directory Opus | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (SFTP & SSL) |
| Dired | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Dolphin | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Double Commander | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
| emelFM2 | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | ? |
| Far Manager | Yes | Partial | Partial | No | Yes | Yes |
| File Manager | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Files (Apple) | ||||||
| Files by Google | ||||||
| Finder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | No |
| ForkLift | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GNOME Commander | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Konqueror | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Krusader | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| muCommander | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Midnight Commander | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| GNOME Files (Nautilus) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nemo | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Nomad.NET | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Path Finder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (Read Access) | No |
| PCManFM | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| ROX-Filer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Total Commander | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | Yes |
| Thunar | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| worker | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
| Windows Explorer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Xandros File Manager | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Xfe | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Xfm | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| xplorer² | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | No |
| XYplorer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| ZTreeWin | Yes | Partial | Partial | No | Partial | Partial |
| File manager | SMB/CIFS | WebDAV | NFS | AFP | FTP | FISH/SSH |