File managers are essential for managing everyday activities on your Linux system. A reliable file manager provides a simpler way of navigation and makes file operations quicker. Linux offers a wide selection of such tools to help us make the most out of our time.
To help you find the best file managers for Linux, we're outlining 10 apps that warrant a try.
1. Dolphin
Dolphin is a robust file manager and is the default option for the KDE Plasma Environment. It is a full-featured application with several innovative features up its sleeve. In terms of design, Dolphin looks and feels quite sleek. The user interface feels natural and clutter-free. It's also relatively lightweight.
Dolphin supports three separate viewing modes, including the classic grid view and a tree view. Users can also view files or directories from cloud services as well as remote desktops. Moreover, Dolphin comes with an integrated terminal and has in-built support for multi-pane views.
Download: Dolphin (Free)
2. Nemo
Nemo is a feature-rich file manager that provides a clean, fast, and productive GUI interface. It is a fork of the famous Nautilus file manager and utilizes GNOME's Virtual filesystem (GVfs). The dual-pane mode of this tool makes it easy to copy or move files across different locations.
Nemo also offers reliable bookmark management capabilities and navigation options. You can view the progress of your file operations in the window list and title.
Download: Nemo (Free)
3. GNOME Files
GNOME Files is the default file manager for the GNOME desktop environment. It was formerly known as Nautilus, and the development team still refers to it by that name. It is a simple yet effective file manager with numerous user-friendly features. The user interface itself is simple and pretty straightforward.
GNOME Files offers the flexibility to revert harmful operations like accidental file deletion. The search functionality of this Linux file manager is also very productive. Plus, you can choose from many different plugins for added features.
Download: GNOME Files (Free)
4. nnn
nnn is a fast terminal-based file manager for Linux. It offers a plethora of robust functionalities that make file operations effortless. Some key features of nnn include its ability to analyze disk usage, launching apps, and renaming batch photos. You can also choose from a great selection of plugins for extra features like mounting disks, file preview, etc.
Moreover, nnn offers two independent Vim plugins for vim aficionados. The low resource usage of this file manager also makes it lucrative. However, there will be some learning curve before you feel confident with nnn. It should feel natural once you master the console interface.
Download: nnn (Free)
5. Krusader
Krusader is an advanced file manager for the KDE Plasma Environment. You can use it on any desktop by just installing some KDE libraries. It is a twin-panel file manager similar to Midnight and Total Commander. Its elegant interface also makes for an exciting user experience, and its solid feature set helps with file management.
Moreover, you can find some pretty helpful Krusader plugins on the KDE Store. Overall, Krusader is an excellent choice for users who value design and performance.
Download: Krusader (Free)
6. Double Commander
Double Commander is a two-pane file manager that offers several solid features. It is inspired by Total Commander, a Windows-only file manager with similar features. Some of the app's key features are its tabbed interface, batch rename support, built-in text editor, file viewer, and customizable button bar. You can use the file viewer for viewing hex, binary, and text data as well.
Besides, it allows us to copy files to and from several archive formats, including tar, zip, rar, gz, and bz2. You can also use some of the popular Total Commander plugins readily. So, give it a try if you're on the hunt for a powerful twin-pane file manager for Linux.
Download: Double Commander (Free)
7. Thunar
Thunar is a modern, fast, and reliable file manager for XFCE and other popular desktop environments for Linux. It has near-instant load time, and the navigation is also quick. The clean GUI interface is beginner-friendly and offers a smooth user experience. Its robust settings editor makes tweaking the options simpler.
Plus, you can add features like bulk renaming, custom actions, and volume management via plugins. Overall, Thunar is a great option for XFCE users as well as anyone looking for a lightweight but capable file manager.
Download: Thunar (Free)
8. Ranger
Ranger is a terminal-based file manager inspired by Vim. It's an excellent tool for users who want to make the most out of Vim keybindings. Ranger has a minimalistic user interface which makes navigation straightforward. It offers features like UTF-8 encoding, mouse support, file previews, image preview, batch renaming, and so on.
The Vim-like console of this Linux file manager allows us to use the same hotkeys for file management. Ranger also offers support for multi-pane views. So, give it a spin if you want to try some console-based file managers for Linux.
Download: Ranger (Free)
9. Konqueror
Konqueror is another solid file manager from the KDE ecosystem. It is unique in the sense that it not only acts as a file manager but also a web browser. This makes Konqueror a versatile choice for many Linux users, especially the ones using KDE. It offers most of Dolphin's functionalities, such as version control and tabbed UI. Konqueror also supports multiple panes and embeds apps for file previews.
Like with many other popular file managers, you can use third-party plugins for adding additional features to Konqueror. So, if you are looking for a powerful multi-purpose file manager, give Konqueror a shot.
Download: Konqueror (Free)
10. SpaceFM
SpaceFM is a feature-rich yet flexible file manager for Linux. It provides a multi-pane, multi-tab interface, which makes file management much more straightforward. It's built using GTK and is highly extendable, allowing users to tweak everything from the menus to actions.
Moreover, you can easily extend SpaceFM's functionality by using personalized scripts. Overall, it's a good option for users who want lightweight Linux file managers but don't want to cut on features.
Download: SpaceFM (Free)
Managing Your Files on Linux
The growing number of quality Linux file managers makes it hard to choose the best tool out of the available options. Thankfully on Linux, we can try and test many different apps and see what works best for us.
Beginners who don't have enough experience with the command-line can choose from several graphical options such as Dolphin and GNOME Files. Power users, on the other hand, can fiddle with more advanced tools like nnn, Konqueror, or Ranger.