Total Commander

Despite the undeniable usefulness of Windows File Manager, its limited functionality and the despairingly slow development over the years, make tools like Total Commander a much-needed complement to the file management requirements of the average Windows user.

Thus, this tool, with its two-pane interface and a wealth of useful utilities, can perfectly replace (and improve in more than one way) that obsolete File Manager.

Something as simple as a two-pane window where you can view the contents of two folders or even two disks at once is something that Microsoft has been unable to implement in decades. This simple feature is the first thing you see when you launch the program. Then you can decide which of the available views better fits your needs and preferences and customize each pane to present your PC contents as a list, a tree, thumbnails, etc., and even change the look of the button bar.

Once you’ve selected the folders or disks (including remote disks via FTP) you want to work with and start browsing the various menus and options available, you’ll begin to understand why you needed a tool like Total Commander. Files and folders are displayed in all their glory complete with whatever attributes you prefer (including id3 tags for audio files, for instance), though I sorely missed the possibility to know the size of a folder straight away. However, to compensate for this and other minor flaws (such as the option to export to file a list of the elements displayed in the panes without any fiddling about), you will enjoy a Multi-rename tool, a file comparison utility that looks at the contents of the files and displays their differences, a folder synchronization tool, an advanced search function, pack and unpack files and archives, and so on.

Not being a free tool and knowing what other free options are out there, I find Total Commander a bit laggy in some respects. Having said that, it is but fair to say that those interested in purchasing the corresponding license will appreciate a program that works like a charm, that is comprehensive and easy to use, and that is miles away from the old fashioned and limited Windows File Manager.