What is your Favourite Windows Explorer App in Win7-10?

[Mechatrommer]

now its time for me to ask this simple thing... if one thing that made me stuck in WinXP, its this. Windows (File) Explorer in XP is just incomparable to the real shit crap Explorer in Win7-10... no visual "directory tree lines". no permanent view of deep subfolders (things keep resetting to the root drive i cant  imagine how retarded the programmer who made them). Explorer is the backbone for all my workflows so i cant let it go. i can let go old Start Menu appearance and easiness, i can let go easier shortcut to System Properties in desktop wallpaper etc, but not Windows Explorer XP. to add the insult, its not simply i can copy Explorer XP to Win7, Win10. all my old Apps and SWs are ready and can be ported, but not the Explorer . i downloaded few Free App such as Free Commander, Explorer++ etc but havent test them, i would like to hear from you the experienced one who used Explorer a lot in their working environment in newer Windows. i dont need full fancy Commando level of explorer/commander, i just need to navigate files easily, copy paste to another location or another instances of the App, copy its file/directory name to paste in another's dialog box etc or drag and drop files. double pane view will be a bonus, but i dont really need those, basically what the old Windows Explorer XP can do, simple... any experience or idea? thanks.

[SiliconWizard]

I have tested Explorer++ a while ago and it looks like it would be what you're looking for.

[Zeyneb]

Explorer++ for me too. I share your anger/frustration on Windows Explorer in Win7. I've no experience with Explorer from Win8 and 10 but I bet it's an even steeper nose dive into crapland.

[Mechatrommer]

Yup i copied the explorer++ right away into my win10 pc. It has natural xp look and functionalities. One thing i noticed is we cant undo when we accidentally moved a folder into another folder. i usually did this without knowing what was moved. Without undo i have make deep digging to move the folder(s)  back. Right click menu items seem fine, i guess configurable from regedit just as xp way hopefully the developer still actively upgrading it? its dated 2011 the one i copied here..

[rdl]

I wonder if Explorer++ saves shellbags to the registry like regular Windows Explorer does. I had downloaded Explorer++ a long while back and never really used it, but I don't think it does. Windows Explorer basically saving a history of every file you open from it has always been an annoyance to me.

[james_s]

I'll give Explorer++ a try, I've been putting up with the Win7 explorer but now that I think about it I realize it is pretty crappy. That and Search are garbage in Win7 and just get worse in later versions. I really don't understand how they screwed up such basic features that worked perfectly in XP and earlier. They were finished, fully working features that had already been perfected and for some reason they ruined them. The Win7 calculator is crap too but the one from Vista works fine if you copy it over.

[Mechatrommer]

That and Search are garbage..

dont get me into that.. its super garbage! the deepest place in the garbage site. i dont know what its doing and whats in the mind of the programmer, all the fucked up result that i did not expect.. the Indexing Service went haywire... since i guess Search and Explorer are one entity, this topic should include that too i just dont want to elaborate all the shits. i made my own simple Search VB App because even Search XP cant give me all that i want. with Search 7-10, its like a drop from Himalaya cliff.

[BravoV]

That and Search are garbage in Win7 and just get worse in later versions. I really don't understand how they screwed up such basic features that worked perfectly in XP and earlier. They were finished, fully working features that had already been perfected and for some reason they ruined them.

One word ... telemetry.

Yeah, Microsoft knows all your pron collections.   

[tycz]

Xyplorer is the best Windows-Explorer-like (as opposed to Norton-Commander-like) file manager on Windows.

If your budget is $0 then consider gritting your teeth and making an attempt to get used to the Win 7 Windows Explorer. It's mediocre, but the free alternatives are all somewhat worse.

[MrMobodies]

I have tested Explorer++ a while ago and it looks like it would be what you're looking for.

I have found a Classic shell theme script earlier this year that works with Windows 10 2016 enterprise build:

https://winclassic.boards.net/thread/204/automatic-classic-theme-script-windows

It works but it is a little unstable attimes and with this Explorer++ another improvement.

The only thing that I find could do with a little improvement is the search, to search by date but it has the important feature which is the path, something I keep on trying to set as default on Windows 10 search but intemittently defaults back to folder despite saving (which doesn't always tells me where it is but the folder name that I can already see.)

Now with this Explorer++ it looking more the way I want.

[Mechatrommer]

Xyplorer is the best Windows-Explorer-like (as opposed to Norton-Commander-like) file manager on Windows.

downloaded and will try it. i love the bolded tree line on actively viewed folder its more convenient and it looks more polished than Explorer++. also the multi folder tabs at the bottom looks much appealling on the first sight i think i can improve work efficiency more with this (on second look i think thats the double pane view top and bottom). I thought i've seen this App before but didnt download it maybe because its paid version (and there are many others paid version out there i dont know which one to invest) the Undo Move folder works! i will need to try further on my most commonly used functions, if it works, its worth to pay the price... thanks for the advice.

If your budget is $0 then consider gritting your teeth and making an attempt to get used to the Win 7 Windows Explorer. It's mediocre, but the free alternatives are all somewhat worse.

as mentioned, if $0 is budget, Explorer++ is there much better than Win7/10 built-in Explorer.. (i donated some money to the Explorer++ developer for his effort on this matter)

[MrMobodies]

Forgot to mention that I just made a donation too after I was tested Explorer++.

I have found two things just now, in folder tree view the tree starts from Desktop and shows all the desktop files which is not what I want and in empty folders "Folder is Empty" I just want the window to be blank. It is also not without problems.  "Save Column Layout as Default" intermittently works and sometimes defaults back and toolbars.

What I like about it it can calculate folder sizes if set in options but doesn't sort it ascendingly/descendingly by size only the files.


I have looked at XYplorer Pro trial and that's good too and I see lots of other things and also can be customized.

Lifetime License Pro
Valid for one person on all of his/her computers. The license never expires.
US$79.95
Bonus: The Lifetime License Pro includes free upgrades forever!

That seems generous for those who need the extra functionality.

That XYplorer might be useful with the search feature and I might consider it in future.

[NiHaoMike]

SpaceFM is a great file manager for Linux, maybe it will work on WSL.

[tycz]

Windows (File) Explorer in XP is just incomparable to the real shit crap Explorer in Win7-10... no visual "directory tree lines". no permanent view of deep subfolders (things keep resetting to the root drive i cant  imagine how retarded the programmer who made them).

I read your post again and wondered what you meant by this. Then I realised that I have Classic Shell installed which modifies the look of Windows Explorer. Here's what my Explorer window looks like with Classic Shell installed and set to 'Windows XP Classic' navigation pane style. It might be enough to make it usable for you. I've attached a screen shot of what it looks like.

If your budget is $0 then consider gritting your teeth and making an attempt to get used to the Win 7 Windows Explorer. It's mediocre, but the free alternatives are all somewhat worse.

as mentioned, if $0 is budget, Explorer++ is there much better than Win7/10 built-in Explorer.. (i donated some money to the Explorer++ developer for his effort on this matter)

Isn't it crazy to use a file manager without an undo feature? That's like going back to the Windows 3.1 File Manager.

[Mechatrommer]

Then I realised that I have Classic Shell installed which modifies the look of Windows Explorer...

thanks for the info, i noticed the link earlier but is it reversible? and how does it fix Search feature?

btw in the mean time i'll get myself familiar with XYplorer, it seems to have more features than i need to, Search is superb, a lot better than Exporer++'s Search. both XYplorer and Explorer++ failed to open my ftp site. XYplorer failed miserably with "cant open" notice. Explorer++ at least redirect to default App which is the built-in XP explorer. XYPlorer has better feature that i can delete Recycle bin for each drive without deleting the files in other drive's Recycle Bin, one feature that is short in built-in WinXP. but it cant show proper names of files in Recycle Bin, similar to Explorer++. so i guess i will still need the built-in Windows Explorer for some tasks.

[tycz]

Then I realised that I have Classic Shell installed which modifies the look of Windows Explorer...

thanks for the info, i noticed the link earlier but is it reversible? and how does it fix Search feature?

It's just cosmetic. You can choose the style in the Classic Shell settings including the original. Does nothing to help the search, unfortunately.

btw in the mean time i'll get myself familiar with XYplorer, it seems to have more features than i need to, Search is superb, a lot better than Exporer++'s Search. both XYplorer and Explorer++ failed to open my ftp site. XYplorer failed miserably with "cant open" notice. Explorer++ at least redirect to default App which is the built-in XP explorer. XYPlorer has better feature that i can delete Recycle bin for each drive without deleting the files in other drive's Recycle Bin, one feature that is short in built-in WinXP. but it cant show proper names of files in Recycle Bin, similar to Explorer++. so i guess i will still need the built-in Windows Explorer for some tasks.

I use Filezilla and Xyplorer open simultaneously and drag files to and from the remote window of Filezilla. This works well for website maintenance where the remote system isn't so large.

I associated Windows Explorer to the .zip file extension and use it as a fancy archiver tool. That's about the only use I have for it these days.

[Mechatrommer]

I associated Windows Explorer to the .zip file extension and use it as a fancy archiver tool. That's about the only use I have for it these days.

i use the old WinZip since like 20 years. still apply until today and integrates very well into Explorer XP shortcut menu, no need an upgrade (i hate to learn new things when there is no real advantage ). i think i still keep the Zip Executable Extractor but dont use it so often these days. also used old WinRAR for *.rar and few others extractors such as cab or iso, each with their own special purpose and files. dont use them too much though so i wont bother to search for integrated all in one tools.

[c64]

There is also "open source Windows XP" https://reactos.org/
It should be possible to get sources for explorer and compile it under Win7

[David Hess]

My current problem with Windows Explorer is that it has a habit of stealing focus.  My conversation with Microsoft Technical support went something like:

Me: "How do you stop a program from stealing focus?"
Microsoft: "You will have to contact the manufacturer and ask them to fix it."
Me: "The program is Windows File Explorer.   You are the manufacturer."
Microsoft: "..."

[SilverSolder]

[...] Isn't it crazy to use a file manager without an undo feature? [...]

Are you talking about the stock Windows 7 explorer?  It does have undo of folder move - I am not following what you mean here?

[AlexJackson]

I just cant stand the modern stance with dumbing down computers and the internet and constant notifications. Give us oldtimers and techies a "I know what I'm doing, let me do this my way" option and leave us the hell alone... blah blah blah...

Sorry, rant over.

I'm still on windows 7 myself and "Classic Shell" has been my go to. I just love the "start menu w 2 columns". The default windows search is totally abysmal even when it eats disk space for its constant 'indexing' which I cant/wont trust since windows became a telemetry subscription platform. It searches like a search engine from the 80s. I've found 'Agent Ransack' (its a lite version of some other product) and use that as my desktop search and it hasn't failed me yet. supports regex, multiple threads (can search my entire ssd of over a million files in 38 seconds) and can search contents of files and actually find them. Its file content search and regex search has not failed me yet.

Jeez I sound like an advertisement.

[David Hess]

I just cant stand the modern stance with dumbing down computers and the internet and constant notifications.

Too many unnecessary notifications also leads to notifications being disabled or ignored, in which case the notifications fail.

[SiliconWizard]

My current problem with Windows Explorer is that it has a habit of stealing focus.  My conversation with Microsoft Technical support went something like:

Me: "How do you stop a program from stealing focus?"
Microsoft: "You will have to contact the manufacturer and ask them to fix it."
Me: "The program is Windows File Explorer.   You are the manufacturer."
Microsoft: "..."

You can take a look at this: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/c22363e5-802c-4f43-b4e3-8a7259865648/windows-10-stop-any-application-from-stealing-focus-ever-is-it-possible?forum=win10itprogeneral#123b4fea-0a57-491d-bdfa-a5ee0771f2de

Funnily enough, there used to be a setting in Windows for preventing background apps to steal focus, IIRC it was in Windows NT, then 2000, then XP (and Server 2003), and was removed in Vista and later. Any background app willing to get in the foreground would just flash in the taskbar, but stay in the background.

[mariush]

I use Total Commander ... like my keyboard shortcuts and working with two panels (each can have multiple tabs) and the similarity to Norton Commander / Dos Navigator

[BravoV]

I use Total Commander ... like my keyboard shortcuts and working with two panels (each can have multiple tabs) and the similarity to Norton Commander / Dos Navigator

+1 for twin panel file manager.

Used since DOS era NC , then Total Commander (worth every penny) and now mix with Krusader as I'm in the "transition". 

Probably I will use these till I die, seriously.