File Pilot: A file explorer built for speed with a modern, robust interface
200 comments
·February 18, 2025mherrmann
vjekoslav
Hey, thanks! Yes, I know about Fman. I’ve tried pretty much all file explorers on Windows, a fair number on Linux, and fewer on macOS. I watched that video a couple of years ago, it had some nice insights. Thanks for sharing that.
I've been talking about File Pilot since the early days of the project, so I managed to build a following on Twitter and Discord, along with a decent number of email subscribers. I'm hoping that'll be enough to spread the word.
I'm sorry Fman didn't work out for you as a business. But truth be told, you need to deliver something exceptional to compete with established players. While I don't see other file explorer alternatives as direct competition, I do think File Pilot will bring a breath of fresh air. We'll see how it goes!
mherrmann
Hm, are you hinting that fman was not exceptional at its time? If yes, then I disagree.
123sereusername
fman is still exceptional.
truetraveller
That's not exceptional IMHO. It's a good effort, but not exceptional. Exceptional apps scream "wow" and are feature rich, with great UI/UX. Example of exceptional apps are Obsidian, TablePlus, Transmit (by panic), Sublime Text, VSCode. File Pilot has that "wow" factor and the features.
deramboss
Without your OpenSource Promise Scam you wouldn't have earned nearly as much with fman.
zerr
Good to know, thanks for the insight. I was playing with the idea of creating a similar app, with more features and faster (in C++). I guess there is no much demand for modern NC clones, orthodox file managers. Btw, are the sales still going on?
mherrmann
I put it down to desktop utility apps being a very tough market because 1. they are time-consuming to develop and 2. people hate paying for desktop software. You already have several comments in this very thread from people complaining about the price:
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43102477
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43099230
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43097749
Ah and yes, I'm still getting a handful of fman sales per month. But nowhere near enough to justify any time investment.
nipperkinfeet
Wow, after so many useless bloated Electron based applications over the years, this is like a breath of fresh air. This is so fast, lightweight, portable, and uses only 17 MB of memory with XL icons of over 10k photos. Very impressive. If only more developers would quit their laziness and make such software again.
qingcharles
Really impressive. Basically has everything from Windows 11 Explorer without being a bloated POS.
Only thing I'd love is to be able to go bigger on the preview thumbnails. It's limited itself to the Windows sizes.
quyleanh
Totally agree! Let's make a real joy such like this one. I feel a great sense of satisfaction and excitement watching the File Pilot development process.
stavros
What GUI framework did they use for this?
qingcharles
This is all I found:
"It's written in C and has custom OpenGL renderer."
pjc50
It looks like WPF but isn't. Sibling comment suggests sui generis, which explains the tiny size and lack of dependencies. This does make it blindingly fast but makes the keymappings different from what you'd normally expect. Haven't tested annoying cases e.g. two monitors with different DPI.
edit: report of poor CJK support https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43100494 ; Windows file system encoding is annoying because it's UTF-16.
regularfry
This is always, always the tradeoff with custom UIs. The edge cases eat you alive.
whartung
I'm sorry, as I don't know.
I mean, I don't even know what you use to write "windows" applications anymore.
But are the stock frameworks that slow to justify rewriting the toolkit? I am under the impression that writing GUI toolkits was Hard.
Are there plans to make this cross platform?
vjekoslav
It was written from scratch with a custom OpenGL renderer (a DirectX port is in progress for Windows) and a custom IMGUI layer on top.
zerr
You mean all those complex UI stuff code is written in immediate GUI? How maintainable/readable is the resulting code?
sachahjkl
Made it himself
semantecture
Nice work, really snappy, love the "speed at the your fingertips" approach. I absolutly am willing to shell out some EUR for such life-altering tools.
I have been entrenched in the https://www.ghisler.com/ camp for 20+ years for three main reasons:
1. function keys for copy/move etc. like in mc, norton etc.
2. navigate (even larger) archive files in every format under the sun as if it were an extension of the file system. Blazingly fast and seamless.
3. the rich ecosystem of viewers , add-ons that has been added by the community at https://totalcmd.net/ over decades and is supported by the open source alternative implementation https://doublecmd.sourceforge.io/
Any roadmap that has some of this on the list? [edited spelling]
Thanks for the cool work!
huhtenberg
Between all two-panel clones of the Norton Commander [1] FAR [2] is by far the best of the bunch /rimshot.
Very keyboard-oriented, extremely capable, super fast, open source with a vast plug-in library. A console app on top of that and it looks like the original. What's not to like.
basch
on windows I was partial to Saladin https://saladin.mimec.org/
justsid
This is eye opening to me. I have been swearing by Directory Opus for years, but I was also under the misguided impression that most Norton Commander clones were long gone. Love seeing so many alternatives, I’ll have to go check the, out.
vjekoslav
Thanks for trying it out!
I was a long-time TC user too.
1) Those are not assigned by default, but all hotkeys in FP are reassignable, so you can create a setup very similar to TC.
2) This is a planned feature.
3) Not currently on the roadmap, but it's a possibility.
semantecture
Thank you for the reply.
Really looking forward to the archive file navigation, and will use your tool. I am already sensing that the snappiness is pretty addictive, and it will be hard to go back to anything slower...
Keeping my fingers crossed for your product!
throwaway_20357
Also still use Total Commander, a software now in development for > 30 years. Even paid way more for continuing my CrossOver subscription than in TC license fees over the years.
BLKNSLVR
If there's a portable version of this I can run on my work computer, I will! (stand-alone version, it's so fast!)
The Windows built-in File Explorer is godawfully slow. Like, slower than I remember it being in the late 90's. Motivation-sappingly slow. But I think it's because my work computer has it's inescapable synchronisation to OneDrive, and so every folder and every file it has to scan for a thumbnail or whatever, waits for it's data from OneDrive like a happy little idiot.
Funnily enough, navigating a remote directory on my NAS from my home Linux desktop is blazingly fast as if the files are local.
Windows or the Corporate Environment, or the combination of the two, is creating so much overhead that it feels like going back in time 25+ years.
egeozcan
Also company computer: Built-in file explorer sometimes takes 3 seconds to display a thumbnail for a 10KB png I saved to a folder from my editor. I just don't get it. We also have OneDrive. Don't shoot the messenger alright but it really makes me want to punch the monitor.
kristianp
Maybe it's Onedrive. My older laptop has Onedrive and dropbox (not on the same folders) and Explorer runs like molasses in the dropbox folder.
metalman
People are gushing about a file explorer, what? Looks like there is a plan to force user's to pay for a subscription to there own local files. My $90 wallmart phone and hinky fdroid software is faster than than what is bieng described on current windopes editions. what happened? since my last windoze experience? linux on the laptop is ok, ancient laptop, cheap phone, that play nice with each other, random free sofware, does what it says on the label and more. Obviously my set up is not goung to work in a professional business environment, but then for professional users, hunting around for fixes to inadequate OS features, should be a thing of the past. tedious and somewhat embarassing that things are so horrible, now, still, again
Sweepi
There seems to be one, at least the "installer" asks you if you want to install or have a portable installation.
guilamu
It is portable by default, no need to install anything, just run the main and only exe.
hermitcrab
OneDrive is an abomination. I never asked for it on my computer. It is infuriating that MS apps default to saving to it.
user_7832
I’m not sure if this is really the right place to ask, but it’s close enough so I’ll ask anyway - why are there no apparent file explorers that allow simultaneous “multi depth” viewing? For example, if Folder A contains only Subfolders B and C which are both empty, why are there no explorers that show eg 2 boxes called ‘B’ and ‘C’ inside A’s icon/view? If a directly has dozens of empty folders, and 2 subfolders have 1 file each, and another subfolder has 20 files and takes 99% of space, why is there no intuitive way to quickly find the large folder?
The closest is probably how windows shows previews on desktop but that is only one level deep, if there are empty subfolders it doesn’t help.
Id imagine someone at Plan9 or WebOS or BeOS or some archaic software/OS developer had surely thought of this and made something. Yet all “top” windows file explorers are completely “flat” and don’t show any depth.
sorenjan
It's not a file explorer so not exactly what you're looking for, but WizTree is good for finding out which folder contains the large files. It's like WinDirStat but much faster.
user_7832
Thanks, I’m familiar with WizTree but to the best of knowledge it’s meant more to find what’s taking space, rather than navigating between folders. I’m not sure how practical it would be as a replacement of file explorer, for example I think it defaults to mapping out the whole drive (rather than a specific folder). But thanks anyway for the suggestion!
defrost
WizTree can be used to navigate about a subtree,
if you start from File Explorer Navigation Pane and used the default WizTree install then every folder (in File Explorer) should have a right click context menu item that launches Wiztree for just the folder subtree.
if you start from command.com or Powershell then you can pass a subdirectory path as an argument (with a switchy? I don't recall ATM) or make a shortcut comman to launch WizTree for a subfolder.
Leftium
Directory Opus has a "flat tree" view (as well as a plain "flat" view): https://imgur.com/3uqW8it
Directory Opus can also calculate & display the sizes of folders including all child content. (The calculation is nearly instant if Everything integration is enabled.)
idyllrain
Directory Opus lets you see this by enabling relative size bars in file lister views: https://resource.dopus.com/t/calculate-folder-sizes-automati...
6510
Sounds interesting, I use to use a tool that showed a drives or folders content by file size. Larger files being larger boxes.
It definitely seems useful to have a view where folders are simply boxes with ---names--- in their top border. A folder could also be a simple outline with its name in front of the file names.
Something like this
user_7832
Thank you, that’s a nice photo and shows something very close to what I’m thinking about! (Albeit hopefully a little less barebones haha)
Could you share the name of the software it is/was, or perhaps a link?
6510
There is no software, I just make a drawing to see what I'm thinking. Ideas fail surprisingly often in the process. For example, here the boxes somewhat conflict with lining up the text and the line spacing. Some background color (rather than outlines) could better visualize the nesting and use less space. I think a folder that contains only one file should look almost exactly like the file was in the parent folder.
If the folder name is long it should probably fail back on the normal tree view rather than putting it in front of the files in the box. But then you get a mix of solutions which is undesirable.
I'm afraid people are to used to the traditional tree view. It is a surprisingly good solution now that I've bothered to think about it.
Folders should probably just have a value in the size column and the screens are large enough to have a column for the number of files. (the pilot does F:21 S:123) Empty folder and file font colors can be slightly translucent.
M95D
SpaceMonger
I used that since Win95.
willaaam
Please, I beg you dear developer, replace my stupid MacOS finder with your superpowers!
linsomniac
What is the deal with MacOS file dialogs? A couple days ago I was trying to open a project in Cursor, and I click on "home" and my name, and then it has the directories grouped by year created. So I type in the search box, but it's now searching some other context, like the whole system or something? I don't even have tons of files/directories in my home directory "ls | wc -l" gives 36.
It's like they designed it while watching High Fidelity: "I sorted my albums autobiographically. So if I'm looking for <this album> I have to remember that it's under albums I bought for a girl but ended up not giving to her." "That sounds like a great idea!"
sureIy
> then it has the directories grouped by year created
That's a setting you set.
Right click on empty space > uncheck "Use groups"
Or in that context menu, select "Show View Options" and customize it to your liking. My liking is "Group by kind" (folders to the top) then "Sort by name"
kstrauser
If you start searching, I think it defaults to scope "This Mac". That's probably right for most cases. If you want to open a Word doc named Fnord, you'd kind of hope Finder would... find it... wherever it was. But you can also click next to "This Mac" to switch it the context of the directory you're in.
Also, cmd-shift-G (the Finder shortcut for "Go to Folder...") will let you start typing a path.
sureIy
> If you start searching, I think it defaults to scope "This Mac".
Correct, and it's the first setting I change.
Finder > Settings > Advanced > When performing a search: "Search the Current Folder"
wpm
Sounds like it was sorted by “most recent” (not the column, but the view mode).
That said the Open dialog is a sad sack stand in for even the flawed Finder. 20 year Mac user here: I developed the muscle memory to just have a Finder window open to the file I want so I can drag and drop from that into the Open dialog.
vjekoslav
If everything goes well with Windows and the project becomes financially stable, a macOS version is planned.
nguyenkien
Mac user tend to buy premium apps more, so you should just made for mac anyway.
CharlesW
There are a few good Finder alternatives for macOS, including Path Finder, ForkLift, Commander One, and Double Commander (FOSS).
kstrauser
I ended up with ForkLift after much trial and error. Commander One was nice. Double Commander is also great but not "native" on Mac. Path Finder is super powerful but has a rep for being overcomplicated and also crashy, but I can't personally vouch because it wasn't quite what I was looking for anyway.
fatboy
Forklift is the one I settled on as well. I had the experience you describe with Path Finder before and finally I gave up.
Forklift has a couple of things that annoy me daily though. Often I will have to refresh a pane to see a file I know has recently been added. Eg in downloads. I may even have navigated to downloads after the download finished and it's still not visible until I refresh.
The other is that it doesn't reuse existing tabs if I "reveal in finder" or whatever, so after a while there's a million tabs open, most pointing to the same directory.
code_biologist
Path Finder went to a subscription-only model, no way to outright purchase a license sadly.
lylejantzi3rd
The quality of Path Finder went downhill many years ago as well.
darek
On macOS my daily driver is Nimble Commander (https://magnumbytes.com/). Super fast, powerful and inspired by Total Commander. It used to be paid but now is free and open source so give it a try. It deserves to be better known.
keyle
I don't think it's technically possible to even replace Finder. If you type "open ." in terminal, it will open in Finder.
There is not an optional "set this as default" like browsers. Something we should really push Apple to do. Finder is trash.
kstrauser
It’s possible to get pretty close. For example, Forklift’s instructions (go to https://binarynights.com/manual, search for “Default File Viewer”) nearly replaces it, except you still have a Finder icon in the dock.
asyncze
Is it not possible to alias the open command?
tiborsaas
I've found this article recently: https://www.xda-developers.com/4-finder-alternatives-on-maco...
lylejantzi3rd
Hahaha, that's great. Halfway down this article, there's a link to an old article on File Pilot.
spython
ForkLift is really good.
troffed
Really, really, really impressive the speed of that piece of software.
I tested it with a bit of skepticism, but it left me open-mouthed at the speed with which it does everything.
I will test it for a few days and if it is confirmed, I will not hesitate to purchase a license.
vjekoslav
Thank you!
eviks
Does it integrate with Everything allowing for instant search results for any file anywhere? Plans to have extensions? A detailed comparison with Directory Opus would be welcome
vjekoslav
It does not integrate with Everything. It's already blazingly fast with the regular WinAPI for indexing. However, MFT indexing (which Everything uses) will be added as built-in support in the near future. It will be an opt-in option for users.
There are a couple of reasons why I didn't want to make MFT the default.
a) It requires admin access.
b) It's NTFS specific, which means you need to write different logic for other file systems anyway.
c) It's not officially documented or supported by Microsoft. It was reverse-engineered.
eviks
There is "blazingly fast" where you also have to only include SSDs, still see your root drive taking seconds to populate data for, and still requiring admin for the whole app with those ugly underlines otherwise..
And then there is literally instant, for literally everything, while the app itself is in normal mode and thus preserves the non-admin benefits.
a) Not for the app, only for Everything
b) Those other file systems could also be indexed by Everything (though via a slower mechanism). Also given the primacy of NTFS, I'd definitely trade the ability to have folder sizes for drives I rarely use for the instant calculations on drives I use all the time
c) Good. Waiting for MS docs could mean a few more decades of wasted potential
tobwen
That's exactly what I've been asking myself and I wish I could. I index our huge, nested network drives every night with Everything and can search & find within seconds.
rkagerer
Where does it store configuration info? (e.g. like the flag that you chose the "Standalone" option)
Is there a forum, or something non-Discord where you can see community-answered tech questions previously asked (without having to log into anything)?
Sweepi
Quick questions/observations:
1. Is there a way to reassign/set keyboard shortcuts?
2. Is there a keyboard shortcut for opening the "hamburger/3-dots" menu?
3. In the "hamburger/3-dots" menu, there is an option the open a cmd shell, but there seems to be no shortcut for it.
4. While in "quick filter mode" the context menu key does not work (but the context menu does when using right mouse button) [1]
[1] If this does work for other people: My keyboard does not have a context menu key, therefore I use the following AutoHotkeyScript to rebind F13 (labeled mute/unmute on the keycap) to "open context menu", which so far has work everywhere, but I still wanted to mention.
F13::AppsKey
returnprogbits
Wow that TortoiseSVN in context menu is a blast from the past!
Looks like it's still under active development. Is SVN still being used in some industries? I know it used to be big in gamedev but I would have expected everyone to have moved on by now.
Sweepi
TortoiseSVN (+Winmerge as diff tool) still is my go-to for non-programmers. If the person groks the windows explorer, TortoiseSVN just makes everything better and nothing worse. Log/History, Blame, Add, Update, ..: everything of importance is in the context menu. Also the trunk/stable model is more intuitive then "everybody has a branch and then there are merges, and merges of merges....".
Did show it to lawyer and he got it in an hour.
hermitcrab
I still use TortoiseSVN. I have run my own 1-man software company for the last 20 years and don't see any advantage in switching to Git or similar.
dazzawazza
It's still used with Unreal Engine when people don't want to pay the Perforce tax. Although most of the "hip young kids" waste their time with git+lfs the people actually getting work done on LARGE projects still rely on Subversion... and probably tortoise.
mrcomplicated
SVN is used in the movies industry as far as I can remember. Especially 3d artists use this for synchronizing their models.
kapitanluffy
Based from the previews in the website, all I can say is that this is awesome! It feels very inspired by Sublime Text! Even the low-tier license seems inspired by ST; you buy a license, use it forever but won't get updates
Looking upfront, I know you will succeed on this. I remember way back there was a file manager who did the similar thing. It is very ST-inspired. It got all the hype given how "sleek" the application is. It even did an "open-source promise" thing.
It was very promising at that time until the developer went.. not sure how to describe it but for the lack of a better term, "profit-focused". Ironically, it does make a profit; as stated on the website.
That app is still around. Not sure if the dev is still active but the issue tracker is. Last I heard from the dev is a YT "tear down" video. I guess at the end of the day, the guy is a "business man" and would do his best to make money.
I hope you stay focused on delivering a good product. Collaborate with your community and rest-assured, profits will follow.
I dropped by your Discord. Ping me whenever!
I once devoted 2 years of my life to developing a file manager called fman [1]. In total, it generated probably 35,000$ in profits, so my income from the project is somewhere around 10 $/h. As software developers, our opportunity costs are high. I use my file manager to this day and love it. But I regret spending so much time on it.
Congratulations on your launch. I wish you more success than I've had. Failing that, I wish you that you will see earlier than I did when it is time to move on.
I once recorded a video about my experiences developing a file manager [2]. Maybe you'll also find some interesting bits and pieces on fman's blog [3]. Incidentally, an article there is what sparked my current venture, which is much more profitable: consulting services around automatic updates.
If you'd like to have a chat, feel free to reach out. My contact info is on my website. :-)
Good luck!
[1]: https://fman.io
[2]: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I1K3IkOlaVw
[3]: https://fman.io/blog/