EmpiricCommander Features
Everything you can do with EmpiricCommander, the dual-pane file manager for macOS, iPad, and iPhone. Every feature is unlocked during your 7-day free trial.
File Operations
Copy, move, rename, and transform files with confidence
Copy / Move / Delete
Standard file operations with progress tracking, parallel transfers, and a 10-second undo toast for accidental moves.
iPhone shows a confirmation dialog instead of a passive undo toast.
Cross-provider copy
Drag from S3 to local, SFTP to Google Drive, iCloud to Azure. The same file operation spans every backend with no intermediate downloads visible to you.
New folder, inline rename, multi-select
Create folders, rename in place, and select ranges with Shift-click or rubber-band selection.
Batch rename (regex, sequence, replace)
Rename hundreds of files at once with regex capture groups, sequential numbering, or simple find and replace. Live preview before committing.
Conflict resolution
Skip, replace, rename, or merge when destinations already exist. Decide once and apply to all conflicts in a transfer.
Parallel transfers with live progress
Multiple files transfer in parallel with per-file progress and cancel-anytime support.
Background transfers
Large transfers continue in the background even when you switch tasks. URLSession's background configuration takes over so the OS can resume after suspends.
Step into ZIP archives as folders
Browse ZIP archives like regular folders. Drill into nested archives, extract individual entries, drag files out into other panes.
Step into 7z and RAR archives
Same drill-in experience for 7z and RAR formats. macOS only, because the extraction toolchain uses subprocess calls unavailable on iOS.
Create and extract ZIP
Compress selections into a new ZIP, or extract any ZIP in place. Pure-Swift implementation, works on every platform.
Remote Connections
Eight storage backends, one consistent interface
Local filesystem
Full disk access on macOS. On iOS, sandboxed access via the Files app, document picker, and share extensions.
iCloud Drive
Native iCloud integration. Your iCloud folders appear as a regular connection, including offline-on-demand files.
SFTP
Pure-Swift SFTP via Citadel. Host key verification, fingerprint display, password and key authentication. No OpenSSH dependency.
FTP and FTPS
Classic FTP with optional TLS. Credentials stored in Keychain.
WebDAV
Connect to Nextcloud, Apache mod_dav, Box, and any WebDAV-compatible server.
Amazon S3 and S3-compatible
Native S3 API with manual SigV4 signing. Works with MinIO, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2 (via S3 API), Wasabi, and any S3-compatible endpoint.
Azure Blob Storage
Connect with SAS tokens or shared keys. Manage blobs as if they were local files.
Google Drive
OAuth-authenticated Google Drive access with resumable uploads for reliable large-file transfers.
SMB and CIFS (network shares)
Mount Windows shares and NAS devices via the native NetFS framework on macOS. Apple does not provide an iOS equivalent.
Docker, Lima, and Colima containers
Browse running container filesystems read-only. EmpiricCommander auto-discovers Docker Desktop, Colima, and every Lima instance, and lists their containers in a toolbar menu. Click any container to open a tab at its root.
Read-only browse in v1; write-back, container logs, and distroless support are planned follow-ups. macOS only — Docker does not run on iOS.
Workflow
Navigate, preview, and stage files the way you think
Dual-pane browsing
Two independent panels with their own paths, sort orders, and view modes. Copy or move with one drag across panes.
iPad falls back to single-pane at compact width unless force-toggled.
Single-pane browsing on iPhone
iPhone uses a focused single-pane layout with bottom tabs: Browse, Shelf, Cloud, Settings. Optimized for one-handed use.
iPad falls back to single-pane when the window is compact.
Tabs (up to 10 per side)
Open multiple tabs per pane to keep frequent folders one tap away.
Workspaces
Save the current pane layout, paths, tabs, and sort orders as a workspace. Restore the exact setup with one click. Unlimited workspaces for different projects or clients.
Drag and drop between panes
Drag a selection from one pane to the other to copy or move it. Hold Option to force copy or Command to force move. Drop onto folders to place files inside.
Breadcrumb navigation
Click any path segment to jump back up the tree. Right-click for sibling navigation.
View modes (list, grid, tree)
Switch between list, grid, and tree views per pane.
iPhone is list-only. Grid and tree are designed for dual-pane layouts.
Hidden files toggle
Show or hide dotfiles and system items with a single shortcut. Per-pane preference.
Filter and search
Filter (Cmd+F) narrows the current folder live. Search recurses into subfolders.
Quick Look preview
Cmd+Y or Space to preview any file without leaving the file manager. Navigate through siblings with arrow keys.
Rich preview for code and data
Code, CSV, YAML, TOML, JSON, and Markdown get a structured preview with syntax highlighting and table rendering.
Drag and drop with Files / Finder
Drag files into EmpiricCommander from the Files app on iPadOS or Finder on macOS. Drop them on a pane or a folder.
iPhone uses Import from Files; cross-app paste is not exposed by the iOS sandbox.
Shelf (cross-source clipboard)
Stage files from any source on a floating shelf. Move them across panes, connections, or devices without juggling.
Shelf iCloud sync
Drop a file on the shelf from your Mac, pick it up on your iPad. Same shelf, all your devices.
Locked Shelf (encrypted vault)
An encrypted compartment inside the Shelf for highly sensitive items. Files at rest are AES-GCM encrypted with a key derived from your passphrase via PBKDF2; only the unlock screen ever holds the plaintext key in memory.
iOS Files app integration
EmpiricCommander connections appear under Locations in the system Files app. All six remote providers (WebDAV, SFTP, S3, Google Drive, Azure, FTP) enumerate against the live backend through EmpiricCommander's File Provider extension.
Other apps can share, import, and export through EmpiricCommander's providers without leaving the Files app.
Power Tools
Built-in utilities for power users
Disk Usage treemap with drill-down
Squarified treemap color-coded by file kind. Double-click or Enter Folder to drill into subfolders; the path stack + breadcrumb + Up button navigate the tree. Top-10 sidebar lists the largest items in the current scan. Right-click → Delete with confirmation works in both bar-list and treemap modes.
Drill-down navigation and Top-10 sidebar are macOS and iPad only; iPhone shows the flat treemap view.
Git Projects (Status, Commit, Log graph, Stash, Pull/Push)
When the active pane is inside a Git repository, EmpiricCommander surfaces a branch chip, a Git toolbar menu (Status, Commit with Stage All, Discard, Stash save/list, Switch Branch, Pull/Push/Fetch), a Log master-detail with a branch/merge topology graph (Canvas-rendered lanes, dots, and merge rings), a per-file context menu (Stage / Unstage / Discard / Show Diff), and SF Symbol status badges on file rows.
macOS only — built on AsyncSwiftGit and a forked static-libgit2 with libgit2 1.9.1, libssh2 1.11.1, OpenSSL 3.0.16.
Auto-Organize folder
Group files by type, date, or custom rules into new subfolders. Live preview before committing.
Duplicate Finder
Find duplicates by name, size, or content hash. Review groups before deleting.
Folder Sync (one-way and two-way)
Sync two folders with configurable conflict policy and optional SHA-256 verification after each copy.
Folder Compare and File Diff
Highlight differences between two folders. Open individual files in a side-by-side text diff.
Checksum view (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256)
Compute hashes for files or selections. Useful for verifying downloads or detecting tampering.
Full Terminal (SwiftTerm)
An xterm-compatible terminal built on SwiftTerm. Your dotfiles, aliases, completions, and preferred shell.
OmniShell (in-app shell on iOS)
A lightweight built-in shell for iPad and iPhone with Unix-like commands. Type `help` inside the app to list supported commands.
External editor integration
Open files in BBEdit, VS Code, Sublime, or any registered macOS app with per-extension defaults. NSWorkspace handles the handoff.
F-key toolbar
Norton Commander muscle memory: F5 Copy, F6 Move, F7 New, F8 Delete, F9 Terminal. macOS only.
Open in external app
Hand a file to another app via NSWorkspace on macOS or the share sheet on iOS.
Trust, Privacy, License
How EmpiricCommander handles your credentials, devices, and data
Credentials in Keychain
Every connection password, OAuth token, and private key is stored in the system Keychain. Never in plain files, never in UserDefaults.
Zero tracking, opt-in diagnostics
No analytics by default. Optional diagnostics share only API error metadata (status, latency, endpoint), never bodies, with tokens redacted at record time.
Pro license: up to 3 devices
One Pro license covers 1 Mac plus 1 iPad plus 1 iPhone. Server-enforced. Adding a 2nd Mac auto-replaces the 1st in the same transaction.
7-day free trial
Full access to every feature for 7 days. The trial is per user, not per device, so signing in on Mac + iPad + iPhone shares one 7-day window.
External-keyboard support on iPad
Attach a hardware keyboard to iPad and the standard iPadOS shortcuts overlay surfaces every Cmd-key combo. iPhone supports physical keyboards but with a narrower shortcut surface.
Localized UI
English, Romanian, German, French, Spanish.
Themes
Light, dark, and accent variants follow your system appearance.