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We’ve been talking quite a bit about replacing the Windows 11 File Explorer here at XDA, and indeed, there are plenty of alternatives out there. There’s a generally negative sentiment towards a lot of the changes Microsoft makes to File Explorer, and if you want an alternative, we wouldn’t blame you.

But recently, I’ve come across a couple of apps that I believe could make you forget all about the quirks and downsides of File Explorer. Those apps are OneCommander and Everything, with one being a full-on File Explorer replacement, while the other replaces the search indexer in Windows, which is also known to be less than ideal.

OneCommander is my favorite file manager so far

A great UI that makes it easier to multitask

I’ve tried a few File Explorer alternatives in the past, but none have won me over in the way that OneCommander has. This is, in my opinion, the best File Explorer replacement out there, and one big reason is the UI itself. This is a very modern-feeling app, with support for dark and light themes and a clean, modern look that, while not following the Windows 11 design language super closely, looks fantastic all the same. It’s very functional and fast, but it’s also really easy on the eyes.

But of course, functionality is what really matters, and OneCommander delivers an excellent file manager experience. For one thing, you can choose between a typical single pane view or a much more interesting dual pane mode. In this mode, you can always view two folders side by side, which makes it really easy to move files between folders, compare the contents of folders, and more. There’s even a columns view, where each pane also includes a sort of navigation tree for whatever folder you’re viewing (though this one is admittedly a little too busy for my liking).

One of the features I’ve really enjoyed about OneCommander is perhaps a bit odd. In list view, the app shows how old any given file is in a much easier to read way compared to File Explorer. You can see exactly how many minutes, hours, or days old a file is, with a color associated with a specific time range. Sometimes I have to capture a lot of screenshots or import a lot of photos in a row, and since these files have somewhat generic names, having colors that clearly indicate which files were just created makes it way easier to find the files I want. Another thing I really like is that when you start typing while looking at a folder, it doesn’t just jump to the first file with that letter, it actually automatically filters the contents for what you type. It’s really easy to find files this way.

OneCommander also has tab support, with each pane having its own set of tabs, so you can easily juggle multiple folders in a single window and move files around faster. The UI overall makes it easy to get to the files you need and see important information. In addition to the two primary navigation panes, there’s a pane on the left side that shows you drives, user folders, cloud storage, and a history of recent folders, making it really easy to get back into major folders or things you worked on recently. You can also create your own group to have quick links to specific folders, too. And below each pane, you can enable a preview tab that shows more information about the file you’re looking at, including thumbnails for images and even text in TXT or BAT files. It’s a very complete interface that offers all the right information.

Best of all, OneCommander offers the ability to replace File Explorer as the default file manager, so you don’t have to jump through hoops editing the registry to do it.

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Notes, a powerful file renamer, and more

More than just a file manager, OneCommander also has some extra features, some of which I have to admit I don’t fully understand. One that’s pretty neat is the ability to create notes in a folder, so you can remind yourself to organize its contents or something related to the content of that folder. You can also just create files and even PowerShell scripts, though I have to admit this feature is a little beyond my comprehension. I’m not sure how you’d use this, but I assume it’s pretty cool.

Another cool feature in OneCommander is called File Automator, which has a couple of things you can do. One such thing is renaming files using certain arguments. For example, if you have downloaded a song but the file name doesn’t match the song’s name, OneCommander can fix the names of MP3 files by using the metadata from the file to apply the right song title and artist to the file name. You can also add a date and time to a file name, or replace a specific string of characters with something else.

File Automator also has a file converter, which can handle different kinds of files. For audio or video, you need to have installed the FFmpeg libraries, but you can convert images out of the box without that. It’s a pretty cool feature to have available so readily.

Everything is an awesome search indexer

Find anything in a flash

For the times when you don’t know how to find a file, Everything is the tool for you. Everything is a search tool for Windows, and it uses its own indexer that is extremely fast and thorough. Using Everything, you can type anything into the search bar, and absolutely any results that match what you typed will appear. Everything indexes all your files the first time you open it, and even then, it’s incredibly fast, and after that, any changes are monitored in real time, so dinfing your files is always a breeze.

On top of incredibly fast search results, Everything also offers plenty of filtering options by file type and extension, the ability to match the case of your search, search in the current path, and more. Even if you don’t think anything is wrong with Windows Search, just give Everything a go and you’ll see just how fast it can bring up results, and show you results you probably had never seen before. It’s kind of amazing. In fact, it’s so good that apps like Start11 and Flow Launcher allow you to integrate with its search indexer so you can find files that much more quickly without specifically having to open the Everything window.

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Start11 v2 review: Making the Windows 11 Start menu actually useful

With tons of configuration options for appearance and organization, Start11 makes the Start menu and taskbar so much richer

Don’t wait for Microsoft to give you the experience you want

We can complain about File Explorer and Windows all day, but the fact of the matter is, it’s unlikely Microsoft will make the changes users are asking for. So if you want a better experience than what File Explorer provides, apps like OneCommander and Everything are really the way to go, and you’ll be amazed at just how much faster you can work when you use these apps instead of Microsoft’s solutions.