A fast, keyboard-friendly file manager for Windows — column view, tabs, split view, instant preview and Ctrl+K.
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Dirwise is a free, open-source file manager for Windows 10/11 with column view, tabs, split view, instant preview and a Ctrl+K command palette.
- Column view – Miller columns with a preview pane, for browsing deep folder trees. File Explorer has nothing like it.
- Keyboard first – Ctrl+K opens a command palette for folders, actions and tags; Space opens a preview.
- Two panels in one window – split view with F5 / F6 copy and move, without a second Explorer window.
- Small and local – an installer under 3 MB (Tauri: Rust + WebView2), installs per user without admin rights, no account and no telemetry.
- Icons, List and Columns views; thumbnails for images, videos (with a ▶ badge) and PDFs.
- Tabs – rounded chips, each with its own history, view, sorting and selection; drag to reorder, drop files on a tab to move them there.
- File extensions like File Explorer – shortcuts (.lnk, .url) never show one, other files follow Windows’ “Hide extensions for known file types”, or choose Always / Never in More → View → File Extensions. Renaming keeps a hidden extension.
- Light and dark mode following Windows, or set it in More → Appearance. English and Czech UI.
- Glass look by default – the title bar, toolbar and tabs sit on one translucent, blurred plate and the list shows through as you scroll; menus, the command palette and tooltips are glass too.
- Blurred transparent window – the desktop and other windows show through the app, blurred like Windows 11 Acrylic, in three strengths: Subtle, Medium and Strong. Text keeps WCAG AA contrast over light, dark and colourful wallpapers. Off by default.
- Turn it on in More → Appearance → Transparency, or from the command palette (Ctrl+K, type “transparency”).
- Needs Windows 11 22H2 or later with Transparency effects on; on Windows 10 and older Windows 11 the option isn't offered. When the window isn't active it turns solid, like other Windows windows.
- Ctrl+Shift+D splits the window into two independent panels;
Tabswitches between them. - F5 / F6 copy or move the selection to the other panel, like in Total Commander.
- Drag the divider to resize (double-click = 1:1); the ratio is remembered.
- Ctrl+K searches folders (Quick access, recent, tabs, subfolders), actions and tags.
- Type
~or a path to go there directly; Ctrl+Enter searches files in the current folder. - Actions show their keyboard shortcut, and the commands you use most come first.
- The preview column shows a thumbnail plus duration and resolution for videos, dimensions for images and page count for PDFs.
- Space opens a preview for images, PDF, video, audio, text and source code, and rendered Markdown; ←/→ steps through files.
- Thumbnails and icons are cached locally in
%LOCALAPPDATA%\dirwise.
- Real Windows clipboard – Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X / Ctrl+V work with Explorer, Outlook and browsers.
- Drag & drop both ways – drop files in from Explorer or the desktop; drag them out to Explorer, the desktop, a browser upload, Discord or an e-mail. Copy by default,
Shiftmoves. - + New button in the toolbar – Folder, Text Document and every file type from Windows' New menu (Word, Excel, ZIP …); also in the context menu (New ▸) and the command palette. Name collisions get “(2)” like in Explorer.
- Terminals – PowerShell 7 and Windows PowerShell are listed separately in More → Terminal;
Shift+click Open in Terminal picks any installed terminal. - Undo / Redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y) for the last 50 renames, moves, copies, new items, deletions and tag changes.
- Recycle Bin in the sidebar – browse deleted items (original location, date, size), Restore without overwriting anything, Delete Permanently, Empty Recycle Bin.
- Continue as Administrator – in protected places (e.g. the root of C:) delete, move, paste, rename and new folder offer it and Windows asks for confirmation (UAC), like Explorer; the app itself never runs as administrator.
- Windows 11 title bar – small icon and name on the left, the standard Minimize / Maximize / Close buttons on the right, including Snap Layouts when you hover Maximize.
- Sidebar with Quick access (pinned folders; “Pin to Quick Access” in the context menu), This PC (Desktop, Downloads, Documents …), Cloud, Drives (with the Recycle Bin), Recent and Tags. Drives update when a USB drive is plugged in. In Icons view the whole tile is highlighted when selected.
- Status bar shows the selection and free space, e.g. “1 of 52 selected · 120.7 GB free”.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+T |
New tab |
Ctrl+W |
Close tab |
Ctrl+K |
Command palette (Ctrl+Enter = search files) |
Ctrl+Shift+D |
Split window into two panels |
F5 / F6 |
Copy / move selection to the other panel (split view) |
Space |
Preview |
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y |
Undo / redo |
All shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
↑ ↓ ← → |
Move the selection (Icons follow the grid, Columns move between columns) |
Shift + arrows / click |
Extend the selection |
Ctrl + click |
Add / remove an item from the selection |
Home / End, PgUp / PgDn |
First / last item, page up / down |
| Typing letters | Jump to the item whose name starts with them |
Enter / Ctrl+↓ |
Open selected item |
Backspace / Alt+← |
Back |
Alt+→ |
Forward |
Alt+↑ / Ctrl+↑ |
Go to parent folder |
Ctrl+L |
Edit path |
Ctrl+F |
Focus search field (Enter = recursive search, ↓ = into results, Esc = clear) |
Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X / Ctrl+V |
Copy / cut / paste (Windows clipboard) |
Ctrl+Shift+Z |
Redo |
Tab |
Switch active panel (split view) |
Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
Next / previous tab |
Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+9 |
Go to tab 1–8 / the last tab |
Ctrl+D |
Duplicate |
Ctrl+A |
Select all (not in Column view) |
Ctrl+Shift+N |
New folder |
F2 |
Rename |
Delete |
Move to Recycle Bin (in the Recycle Bin: delete permanently) |
Shift+Delete |
Delete permanently (with confirmation) |
Ctrl+R / F5 |
Refresh (F5 outside split view) |
Ctrl+Shift+. |
Show / hide hidden files |
Esc |
Clear selection; close search results; close menus and dialogs |
← / →, Esc |
Previous / next file, close (in Preview) |
| Mouse button 4 / 5 | Back / forward |
| Middle click on a folder / tab | Open in a new tab / close the tab |
- Download
Dirwise_…_x64-setup.exefrom the latest release and run it. It installs for the current user only; no administrator rights needed. - The installer is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen shows "Windows protected your PC". Click More info → Run anyway.
Upgrading from version 1.5.x (released before the rename to Dirwise): the installer silently uninstalls the old version itself (no second copy side by side) and your settings are kept. Pin it to the taskbar again.
Or get it from the Microsoft Store – no SmartScreen warning, updates come through the Store.
Also coming: **winget** (`winget install krystof2-ops.Dirwise`; the manifest is in [`winget/`](winget)).Known limitations
- Windows only.
- Undo history lives only while the app runs. A file overwritten by Replace can't be brought back.
- Phones and cameras (MTP) are listed, but open in Windows Explorer.
- Recursive search matches file names only and stops at 500 results.
- Tabs, but no multiple windows.
Dirwise makes exactly one kind of network request: at most once a day it asks the GitHub API (api.github.com/repos/arcly-studio/dirwise/releases/latest) whether a newer version exists and, if so, shows a small bar with a link to the release page. No telemetry, nothing about you or your files is sent. Turn the check off in More → Check for Updates. Full privacy policy.
Prerequisites: Node.js 20+, Rust (stable), Microsoft C++ Build Tools ("Desktop development with C++") and WebView2 (preinstalled on Windows 10/11).
npm install
npm run tauri dev # run in development mode
npm run tauri build # build the installer → src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/Bug reports and pull requests are welcome in Issues; suggest and upvote improvements on the Ideas page; help and known issues are on the Support page. Before a PR, run npm run build and, in src-tauri, cargo clippy -- -D warnings and cargo test. UI texts go through the translation files in src/i18n/ (English and Czech). Security issues: see SECURITY.md.
Dirwise is developed with the help of AI (Claude Code). The author directs the design, tests and reviews every release.
Release notes are in CHANGELOG.md.