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Add to SafariWhen comparing Midnight Commander vs One Commander, the Slant community recommends One Commander for most people. In the question“What are the best file managers for Windows?” One Commander is ranked 9th while Midnight Commander is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose One Commander is:
Free for non commercial use.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Intuitive interface
Midnight commander uses the full screen of the terminal in a very efficient way. It displays two panels for files horizontally. On the bottom it has the most useful commands with their corresponding key attached. All of this makes for a very intuitive interface both for beginners and experienced users.
Pro Can be run in the terminal
Being a terminal application means that it's suited for people who spend most of their time on the terminal because they don't have to switch windows in order to open their file manager. It also means that they can use it both locally and remotely.
Pro Easy to use
Midnight commander is easy and intuitive to use. The most common commands are displayed in the bottom (move, copy, paste, delete, edit, view, make directory). Files can be selected with the arrow keys which move the cursor through them. The Enter key goes down in a directory. To move the focus between two panels the tab key is used.
Pro Lightweight
Pro Stable
Pro Often available in default repository
and hence easy to install by usually package manager.
Pro Lynx-like motion
Cursor+left to go to parent directory, cursor+right to go into child directory.
Pro Well-presented
Pro Free
Free for non commercial use.
Pro Simple and fast
Fast search and filter.
Pro Miller columns
Like Finder from macOS.
Pro Multi tab support
Pro Themes
Light, dark and customizable themes/colours.
Pro Default file manager setup
Can make it the default file manager such that windows explorer stays out of the way for most of the work.
Pro File previews
Pro File / folder filters
Pro Folder views can be saved and applied
Cons
Con File viewer: searching can be quite cumbersome
Especially searching next or previous.
Con No directory bookmarks
Con No easy way to change colors matching certain files
There probably is a possibility, but it is not easy.
Con Quirky and hard to remember shortcuts
E.g. when trying to take the current directory's path to the command line.
Con Lacks drag and drop feature
With midnight commander you cannot drag and drop files to move them around. Instead, you have to do the necessary actions in order to move files around (cut and paste or copy and delete).
Con Can only be run in the terminal
MC lacks a standalone GUI option.
Con Folders cannot be sorted by size
Con Cannot access Android device connected by USB
Con Cannot access Android device by FTP
And can never will as this is clarified by developer that this feature will never be added.
Con It doesn't have UNDO function
Very important. When you work with valuable data files, this function can't be ommited.
Con Navigating folders by Ctrl+Tab has considerable delay
Con Browsing Recycle Bin is very slow
Navigating away from Recycle Bin tab and coming back to it reload the Recycle Bin which is very slow as mentioned. Program has an option to open recycle bin in Windows File Explorer, which suggests that developer is aware that opening Recycle Bin is problematic.
Con Confusing
Con Context menu only based on icons
No longer with Onecommander 3.6.43
