I missed Total Commander so much on macOS that I built my own file manager

Hello fellow keyboard-driven humans!

I’ve been a long-time Total Commander user, and after switching to macOS, I never really found anything that matched that dual-panel, keyboard-driven workflow.

Finder is fine for basic use, but once you get used to fast navigation, quick copy/move operations, and full keyboard control, it starts to feel limiting.

So I started building my own solution.

The goal wasn’t to replace Finder, but to recreate that fast, efficient workflow in a way that feels native on macOS.

What I focused on

• dual-panel navigation
• keyboard-first workflow
• fast file operations
• minimal friction between actions

Challenges

• translating a Windows-style workflow into macOS conventions
• keeping performance high with large file operations
• making it feel native instead of a port

It’s still in beta, but already usable for daily work.

Curious if others had a similar experience when moving to macOS.

What tools are you using today for file management? Would love to hear how others solved this on macOS.

If you want to check it out:
https://www.voidcommander.com/