Best Finder alternatives / File managers

[svenmany]

Ditto for me.

Although I delayed getting a license for months because it lacks a feature I wanted (see Post #881 is this thread), I’m glad to finally be using ForkLift. The productivity increase resulting from using dual panes is alone enough for me to justify the cost. However, in addition I found the synchronization capabilities of ForkLift meet my needs better than anything else I considered.

ForkLift is completely useless for me. I just tried their latest version and they still don't support the most basic of functionality offered by Finder, Path Finder, QSpace, etc. In List View they don't record the expansion state of the folder tree. So when you return to a folder you had expanded, it shows totally collapsed. I always use List View and that basic functionality is a requirement.

 

[it wasnt me]

I've actually moved away from graphical file managers entirely now and primarily use nnn. It can do everything I need, and the one "killer feature" of Bloom, the floating folder window, you can recreate with nnn and Topit.

 

[gregmac19]

ForkLift is completely useless for me. I just tried their latest version and they still don't support the most basic of functionality offered by Finder, Path Finder, QSpace, etc. In List View they don't record the expansion state of the folder tree. So when you return to a folder you had expanded, it shows totally collapsed. I always use List View and that basic functionality is a requirement.

Although I’m using ForkLift, I agree that it has a few glaring issues, including the one you noted, and the file highlighting problem I described in Post #881. I would have thought that neither of these issues would be in any Finder alternative.

I contacted BinaryNights about my problem:

gregmac19: "I noticed that when you drag a file from one folder to another using Forklift, the file does not remain highlighted in the destination folder once the drag operation is complete. Is there a way to make Forklift behave like Finder is this respect?"

BinaryNights Support: "We are not considering changing that behavior. Already selected files stay selected in the inactive pane, if nothing is selected, then nothing gets selected. In Finder, you are moving between windows and not inside the same window between panes. I see how your idea would be beneficial in some cases, but in other vases (sic) it would be rather confusing."

I don’t agree with their view, but at least I got a prompt response. How do other Finder alternatives work when dragging files from one folder to another? (I would investigate this myself, but I have major qualms about loading either QSpace or Bloom on my computer.)

 

[Apple_Robert]

Although I’m using ForkLift, I agree that it has a few glaring issues, including the one you noted, and the file highlighting problem I described in Post #881. I would have thought that neither of these issues would be in any Finder alternative.

I contacted BinaryNights about my problem:

gregmac19: "I noticed that when you drag a file from one folder to another using Forklift, the file does not remain highlighted in the destination folder once the drag operation is complete. Is there a way to make Forklift behave like Finder is this respect?"

BinaryNights Support: "We are not considering changing that behavior. Already selected files stay selected in the inactive pane, if nothing is selected, then nothing gets selected. In Finder, you are moving between windows and not inside the same window between panes. I see how your idea would be beneficial in some cases, but in other vases (sic) it would be rather confusing."

I don’t agree with their view, but at least I got a prompt response. How do other Finder alternatives work when dragging files from one folder to another? (I would investigate this myself, but I have major qualms about loading either QSpace or Bloom on my computer.)

When I highlight files to be copied or moved from one place to another, the files do not stay highlighted once the copy or move has been completed in Bloom. I believe the same happens with QSpace.

 

[Diskutant]

How do other Finder alternatives work when dragging files from one folder to another? (I would investigate this myself, but I have major qualms about loading either QSpace or Bloom on my computer.)

In QSpace I moved a file (drag and drop) from one pane to another in the same window. The moved file is selected in the new location. The same happens when I cmd+x and cmd+v a file.
But when I copy a file using drag and drop holding alt or using cmd+c and cmd+v the new file is not selected.

 

[MacGizmo]

I don’t agree with their view, but at least I got a prompt response.

I've had the same experience with Forklift. I love the app, but it doesn't have integration with Microsoft OneDrive... you can add OneDrive and access the files – but there is no contextual menu functionality like "Copy OneDrive Link" or "Share File", etc. Forklift has it for Dropbox, but not OneDrive. I've asked about it more than a few times since FL4 was released, but the developer has stated he can't/won't for whatever reason.

I'm not happy with his answer, but I do appreciate that he had the courtesy to respond.

 

[svenmany]

Although I’m using ForkLift, I agree that it has a few glaring issues, including the one you noted, and the file highlighting problem I described in Post #881. I would have thought that neither of these issues would be in any Finder alternative.

I contacted BinaryNights about my problem:

gregmac19: "I noticed that when you drag a file from one folder to another using Forklift, the file does not remain highlighted in the destination folder once the drag operation is complete. Is there a way to make Forklift behave like Finder is this respect?"

BinaryNights Support: "We are not considering changing that behavior. Already selected files stay selected in the inactive pane, if nothing is selected, then nothing gets selected. In Finder, you are moving between windows and not inside the same window between panes. I see how your idea would be beneficial in some cases, but in other vases (sic) it would be rather confusing."

I don’t agree with their view, but at least I got a prompt response. How do other Finder alternatives work when dragging files from one folder to another? (I would investigate this myself, but I have major qualms about loading either QSpace or Bloom on my computer.)

I also got quick responses from them. I asked about the expansion state in 2021. They wrote:

"Unfortunately, ForkLift can't remember the expanded folder structure. Making that possible is already on our feature request list and we will consider implementing it in the future."

"We will consider changing ForkLift in the future so that it can remember and restore the extended folder structure. Some users are happy that ForkLift doesn't restore it but I also think that it should restore it at least in local directories. The developer of ForkLift will decide on this during the development of ForkLift 4."

When Forklift 4 came out I asked again. So in 2023 they responded:

"At the moment that is not possible but that request is still on our feature request list and we might add it in the future."

The comment "Some users are happy that ForkLift doesn't restore it" only makes sense for remote directories which might suffer a performance impact. During our discussions I made sure that they knew I was only referring to local folders. So, people have requested it at least 4 years ago and one support person (Agnes, who has answered emails from me over the years) agreed it should work that way, but they haven't done it. The only explanation I can think of is that the main developer disagrees that the app should work that way. I don't expect them ever to change it.

 

[tukancheez]

I recommend DoubleXplorer - there is 14 days trial to fully try.
I have tried a lot of double commanders, but this one seems to be clean, minimalistic, quick.

Feel free to try it.