Learn About File Pilot: The Super Fast File Manager That Replaces Windows File Explorer

Despite the improvements in Windows 11 , File Explorer is still slow and sluggish. But what if there was a faster, more efficient alternative? File Pilot is a lightweight, clean, and feature-rich file manager that outperforms the default Windows tool in every way.

 

Super fast Pilot File

The first thing you'll notice after installing File Pilot is how fast it launches and loads files, folders, and everything else. The context menu doesn't take long to launch, and opening new tabs isn't like watching a YouTube buffering on a 2G network.

It looks great, too. The interface is clean, modern, and familiar—like File Explorer, but better. The animations are smooth, and switching between views is seamless. Just click the % button in the bottom right corner and use the slider to adjust the view to your liking, or hold Ctrl and use the scroll wheel.

Bringing the classic context menu back with a new twist

Microsoft made the right-click menu worse in Windows 11, often hiding important options under Show more options . Sure, you can get the classic menu back by tweaking the registry, but File Pilot doesn't require any extra clicking to find those actions.

 

The built-in search function is another useful addition to the context menu. It allows you to quickly find the command or action you want to perform. For example, right-click on a file, type delete, and press Enter to complete the action. You can also pin frequently used commands so they always appear at the top.

Great multitasking with panels and tabs

Like File Explorer and other third-party file managers, File Pilot supports tabs, allowing you to open as many tabs as you want in the same window. You'll also notice that it supports tab retention, meaning File Pilot will automatically remember and restore previous tabs, just like a web browser. This is extremely handy if you frequently work with the same set of folders every day.

Furthermore, File Pilot also supports multiple panels, allowing you to split your screen into different layouts with as many tabs as you want. Simply drag and drop tabs to arrange them, and your custom layout will remain intact until you close it manually.

 

Inspector is another great addition to File Pilot. It works a lot like File Explorer's preview pane, except it's more interactive. Inspector lets you quickly preview and zoom in on file contents, including text, images, and even other folders in a split-screen view.

You can toggle Inspector mode on or off with the spacebar, which makes it especially useful since File Pilot doesn't support third-party extensions like all the useful tools you can use in Microsoft PowerToys.

Packs a great set of useful utilities

In addition to basic file management and multitasking, File Pilot includes other powerful tools that make finding and managing files much easier.

For example, GoTo lets you search for any folder directly from the address bar. Instead of manually typing the entire folder path, you can type the folder name — like 'Program Files' — and select that folder from the search results.

The Search bar is equally handy, letting you instantly view flattened folder hierarchies or even entire drives. You can even filter files by their extensions for faster, more accurate results.

There are also more handy features like batch renaming, which lets you rename multiple files at once, and the ability to save your current view settings with a lock icon in the address bar. You can also use quick bookmark shortcuts to save frequently used folders or paths to Bookmarks for easier access.

File Pilot's command panel (Ctrl+Shift+P) lets you browse all available actions and assign keyboard shortcuts. Plus, changing keyboard shortcuts is incredibly intuitive. Just click on the assigned shortcut in the UI and change it to the key combination you want.

 

In the Options panel (Ctrl+,) you can adjust the font size, style, spacing, animation, color scheme, panel opacity, etc. Although File Pilot supports light and dark modes, you will need to enable them manually in the settings.

Disadvantages of File Pilot

File Pilot is still in public beta and open to everyone. However, it lacks a few key features, which may be a deal-breaker for some users. First, it doesn't support network storage, meaning you can't access files from other computers over a LAN . On top of that, there's no easy way to set it as your default file manager, so you'll have to juggle between two file managers.

That's not all. File Pilot doesn't have proper Unicode support, which means some common keyboard shortcuts don't work, and the Inspector can't preview file types like PDFs. Plus, there's no third-party extension support yet. However, some of these missing features will likely be added before the final release.

Pricing is another important factor to consider. While a license is optional for the beta, you'll need one once it leaves public testing. A perpetual license for an individual user will cost $50 ($40 now on sale) with 1 year of updates, or $250 ($200 during the beta) for all future updates.

While File Pilot is priced similarly to other paid file management solutions, it's still on the higher end of the spectrum for this type of software. However, it has a much smaller footprint and doesn't involve the steep learning curve of many of its popular competitors. Alternatives like Directory Opus, OneCommander, Files, and Total Commander are aimed at more advanced users.

The advantage of File Pilot is its usability. It opens faster and searches files even better. It looks great, is smooth, and fixes the context menu without adding complexity. Overall, it provides the tools needed to manage or access files quickly and efficiently. At under 2MB, File Pilot is an impressive tool for most users who prioritize speed, efficiency, and simplicity.

If file management is an important part of your workflow, give File Pilot a try and decide if its convenience is worth the price.