These 5 apps are better than Windows Explorer for organizing your files

Summary

Total Commander offers easy file organization and synchronization with intuitive tools and FTP server management.
Directory Opus allows customization, duplicate file search, and file conversion to enhance file exploration.
OneCommander provides a user-friendly interface, file automation tools, and color tagging for easy file sorting.

Most of us stick to File Explorer in Windows 11 as our default file organization app because it does the job and has a familiar interface we’ve all been using for years. However, there are many third-party file management and explorer apps out there that are worth trying.

These apps offer features like multiple viewing windows, mass file renaming, and other tools that make organizing and converting your files and browsing your Windows 11 laptop easier. These five Windows Explorer alternatives are the best solutions if you’re always searching through countless files and want a more efficient system to get things done faster.

Windows 11 Start Menu Category screenshot

Windows 11 is copying one of the iPhone’s best features

Microsoft is gearing up to release a new iPhone-inspired Start Menu feature that makes app organization a breeze on Windows 11.

1 Total Commander

Easy packing and unpacking of most formats

Total Commander is a super-handy tool for organizing your files and folders. It’s a shareware app that offers a 30-day trial before you need to pay a $50 once-off fee for a security key. It’s worth the price for the intuitive dual-pane default dual-pane view, and you can even tweak it to display up to four panes, with parent directories on the left and highlighted files on the right.

Total Commander makes creating and managing an FTP server easy, and you can set speed limits or pause the file transfers if you’re worried about system resources.

This app has numerous file management tools and can synchronize different folders, so you don’t lose critical information. It has shortcut buttons to pack or unpack files in a folder and has built-in compatibility with zip, rar, and other standard formats, so you don’t need third-party apps. You can also rename multiple files in bulk, either by extension or using a simple search-and-replace tool. Total Commander makes creating and managing an FTP server easy, and you can set speed limits or pause the file transfers if you’re worried about system resources.

2 Directory Opus

Easy exploring and file converting

Directory Opus duplicate files screenshot.

Directory Opus is another file management app with a dual-pane display that makes navigation easier. One of its best features is its in-depth customization options, which let you tweak its toolbars, hotkeys, and views. It also has a light and dark mode, and you can download various themes from the Opus Support Forum to customize its look.

The Find Duplicate Files tool makes it easier to free space and declutter your drive. You can search by directory, exclude online files, and filter by file type for more accurate searches. The app also has a split tool to break huge files like ISOs into smaller, more manageable parts and a joining tool to combine later. I like the simple Print Folder feature, which takes a screenshot of my folder contents and converts it into a PDF file for me to view later.

PowerToys against a blue starry background.

I use these 7 essential PowerToys tools to enhance my laptop’s capabilities

PowerToys is one of the best free downloads for improving Windows and boosting productivity because of these features.

3 OneCommander

One file management app to rule them all

OneCommander / Pocket-lint

OneCommander is the perfect file management app if you want a user-friendly interface without clutter. The free version offers decent functionality with simple yet practical tools. Alternatively, you can pay a once-off fee for the Pro version, which is for commercial use and adds more features like a multi-user license, custom scripts, and downloading audio and video files by inputting the YouTube link.

OneCommander is the perfect file management app if you want a user-friendly interface without clutter.

The File Automater is OneCommander’s standout feature and the best reason to use it. This tool lets you simultaneously add a date, time, or text to multiple files in different formats. It can also extract the audio track from a video, convert files to MP,4 or fix an MP3 song name. The color tagging tool is also helpful for sorting files into different types and makes it easier to find what you’re looking for when exploring.

Tag your files to find them easily

TagSpaces takes a different approach to organizing files and is all about labeling and tagging files and folders to keep them manageable. It gives each folder a unique color and icon and does the same with files but adds the file extension name, like XLSX or JPG, to make them easily identifiable. However, the main reason for using the app is to assign tags, like low, medium, and high priorities, or attach due dates — like today or tomorrow — to each file or folder to improve your workflow.

You can choose from a comprehensive list of preset tags in various colors or add emojis and ratings to your work. Creating unique tags like company or project names and assigning them to files is also possible. After assigning tags to your files, you can manage them more efficiently and set due dates or priorities. TagSpaces lets you search for specific tags in each file location, so you can easily find all the work due tomorrow or belonging to a particular client in no time.

These 5 apps are my secret to a better Windows 11 experience

Try out these quality-of-life Windows 11 apps to enhance your experience with Microsoft’s desktop OS.

5 Q-Dir

Four windows to explore

Q-Dir3 screenshot with files of various colors.

Q-Dir goes further than the other organizational tools I mentioned by displaying four panes to explore your PC. It also has numerous shortcuts on the homepage to customize their positioning and split them vertically or swap between single, dual, or triple panes, depending on your preference. You can add the files and folders you frequently use to your favorites for faster access and use the magnification tool to highlight selected content.

Q-Dir goes further than the other organizational tools mentioned here by displaying four panes to explore your PC.

Another way Q-Dir makes file sorting easier is by color-coding files and folders. For example, folders are labeled in green, Word documents in blue, PDFs in yellow, etc. Apart from navigation, Q-Dir has an email shortcut to send documents and spreadsheets quickly. It also includes buttons to access common Windows apps like the task manager, command prompt, and calculator to help you finish your work faster.