Microsoft Windows 10 operating system ships with a powerful file explorer tool which seems to be inspired from Q-Dir, the multiple panel program for managing files. Microsoft has done a good job in designing its windows explorer, but the latest version of Q-Dir has many unique features that you’ll not find in any of its alternatives.
Q-Dir is a freeware is available for download in 3 versions, 32 bits, 64 bit and portable. It is compatible with Windows 7, XP, 10 and 8.1 OS. The UI of the QDir program may not be very beautiful, but the features amazing.
When you run the freeware on your PC, it will open 4 panes in the main window. The window can be tilted to the right, left or center of the desktop without using the mouse or the trackpad.
The program comes with several layout options for the pages. Each pane has its own title and status bar, which can be either hidden or shown. The files and folders will be displayed in the pane. The user can configure Q-Dir to display the files in either a list or in the tree view.
QDir comes with a powerful filter tool that allows you to find files whose name contains a particular string or ends with a specific extension.
For example, if you’re in the pictures folder, you can create a filter to find .png files or files having “screenshot” word in their names. If you’ve saved 100s of files in the documents folder, QDir can be used to quickly find Microsoft Office or Libre Office presentation, word or excel files.
When a filter has been created, files will be highlighted on the fly. You can either copy the highlighted files to the Windows clipboard and paste them to some other folder or delete them to free up hard disk space.
When you select a file, Q-Dir will display its important details on the status bar of the current Windows Pane.
If the user is working in a directory of a folder, he can easily change the icon size for previewing the file.
The program allows you to quickly navigate to the Windows or System directory. It has bookmarks for the same. It has the quick-links management tool where you can create bookmarks to your favorite folders.
QDir lets you open the Windows registry, task manager, command prompt and calculator tools. You can open and edit the win.ini configuration file with it.
Q-Dir runs the Windows context menu when you right-click on any file, folder or a partition. If you want to see the structure of the file system, simply activate the tree-view interface.
The user is allowed to drag and drop multiple folders and files from one pane to the other. He can configure QDir to highlight folders or files with different colors.
As the free Q-Dir FileManager comes with a lot of options, you can use it as the Windows Explorer replacement. Some options in this program can be confusing for a new user. Thus, a newbie should spend some time in understanding the functions before reaching a conclusion that the program is not user-friendly.
To install the Quad Explorer freeware on your Windows 7, 8.1, 10, 98 or XP computer, visit the official website of the developer.
