I work on a computer all day. My core-business is 3d. So a lot of my time is spent on programs like 3dsMax or photoshop. But since I’m also a projectmanager I have to look at a lot of other people’s files, and of course my own. As a part of my everyday work I’ve got to look up and move a lot of files. I also work on multiple project at the same time, so I need to keep track of multiple locations for these files.
Although my core-business is 3d, I seem to spend most time working with the default file-explorer on Windows. Since I’ve realized this, I started to look for an alternative way to work with my files. And I’ve found it in Freecommander. It’s a somewhat out-dated looking program, but it’s packed with a slew of functions I can use in my everyday file-browsing work. Admitted, it’s not a program for the casual user. And for users of modern devices, like tablets, where the filesystem is hidden this program may look a bit daunting. The interface is not very intuitive but if you use it everyday it gets very easy to move around. Especially since you can use a lot of keyboard shortcuts.
Besides that, it’s free! You can get it on the freecommander site.
This program has many reviews, so I won’t write one here. For a review check for instance this one out. I just want to show the functions I use most to increase my productivity. These are:
- Tabbed interface: have multiple folder-locations available without opening another instance of the filebrowser
- double pane: view two locations at the same time and exchange files between them
- switch filetree on and off: use a filetree or not
- locked tabs: lock some of your tabs, for instance the projects you work on at the moment
- Show size of directories: view sizes of directories without having to rightclick them all
- Quick filter contents of current folder: type in a few characters as a filter to only show files with those characers
- Flat view files: show all files in the current folder AND it’s subfolders in a flat list
- Copy filepaths: easily copy the filepaths of a single or multiple selected files and paste them anywhere, for instance in an e-mail
- Multi rename: the usual suspect, but very handy
- Search files and folders: also a need-to-have but it just works
- Quick access system folders and desktop: no more searching for folders like “local” or “my documents”
- Browse history for every single tab: every tab keeps a history of visited locations
There are many more features of course, but these are the most important ones I enjoy everyday. Below is a list of screenshots corresponding to the features I’ve described.
