Review: Commander One – The best dual-pane file manager for Mac

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Mac Finder got a much-needed improvement back in 2001 and since then, there hasn’t been any radical effort from Apple to make Finder more boisterous and an efficient file manager. That’s why you need Commander One which is a complete Mac file manager with ample user-friendly features that you can actually learn to like. It is also a rambunctious Finder alternative, soon you’ll find out why.

First and foremost, Commander One has a dual-pane window as opposed to Finder’s single-pane. This feature alone is pretty useful since you can view and make changes to files and folders in various locations of the system or remote servers and Dropbox, simultaneously. Furthermore, you can even rename files while they are on the move. Can you do that with Finder?

Since Commander One is a file manager, you would primarily use it to view, edit, copy, move, delete and create a new folder, but how would you like to do that with hotkeys instead? Yes, that’s possible with this application. Moreover, you can even customize hotkeys for more functionality.

User Interface & Dual-pane file management

The ability to view folders and folder contents in a specific manner is one of the core purposes, Commander One has List, Column and Thumbnail Grid just for this purpose, which shows the details of a folder in the same way that Finder does.

Since Commander One has a host of features, it can feel a bit daunting at first to master it, but if you hang tight you will find this software easy to control & very helpful. The two panes have a divider in between and neither can be closed off at any time. Although you can resize the panes to attain an almost single-pane view and open an unlimited number of tabs on each of the panes.

Upon activation of the software for the first time, you will be greeted with six different areas; these are Buttons, Command Line, Disk List, Disk Info, Path Bar, and Selection Info. But you can filter out which of these details do you actually needed and ‘uncheck’ the remaining that you do not require from ‘View’ in the menu bar.

Pro Pack features

For only $29.99 you can upgrade to the Pro version to unlock archive compression and extraction, built-in FTP, SFTP, FTPS remote client managers, a process viewer, access to Dropbox accounts and mount iOS devices directly to the system instead of relying on iTunes. You also get and colored themes that apply largely to the content panes.

Final words

Commander One is everything that Finder dreams of becoming. If you are seeking a Finder alternative you’ve just got a reason to download this Mac app.

Reneide Nunes De Souza

Reneide (Rene) is a content writer for all things tech, gadgets, software, productivity, organization, and management. In her spare time, she likes to try out mobile apps & computer software. You can connect with Rene on Facebook & Twitter.