Double Commander is a twin-panel, cross-platform file manager. Inspired by Total Commander and featuring some new ideas in file management. Double Commander is absolutely free, open source software distributed under the GNU GPL version 2 license.
Some features of Double Commander:
all operations work in the background with threading operations support
tabbed panels interface
custom toolbar with buttons to launch external programs or internal commands
extended search function with full text search in any files
multiple files name rename at once
request administrator/root privileges for file operations (if necessary)
customizable columns
built-in file viewer (F3) to view files of ANY SIZE in hexadecimal, binary or text format
built-in text editor (F4) with syntax highlighting
archives are handled like subdirectories, you can easily copy files to and from an archive
supports WCX, WLX, WDX and WFX plugins from Total Commander (also supports its own DSX plugin format)
operations log
and more...
Note: the project is under heavy development now, so information presented in this document may be incomplete or irrelevant.
These parameters may be used with internal command cm_Options to jump directly to a specific configuration section.
| List of parameters for internal command cm_Options | |
|---|---|
| Parameter | Target configuration section |
TfrmOptionsLanguage |
Language |
TfrmOptionsArchivers |
Archivers |
TfrmOptionsAutoRefresh |
Auto refresh |
TfrmOptionsBehavior |
Behaviors |
TOptionsColorsGroup |
Colors |
TfrmOptionsColors |
Colors (Windows 10 1809 and newer) |
TfrmOptionsFilePanelsColors |
Colors > File panels |
TfrmOptionsFileTypesColors |
Colors > File types |
TfrmOptionsConfiguration |
Configuration |
TfrmOptionsDirectoryHotlist |
Directory Hotlist |
TfrmOptionsDirectoryHotlistExtra |
Directory Hotlist > Directory Hotlist Extra |
TfrmOptionsFileAssoc |
File associations |
TfrmOptionsFileAssocExtra |
File associations > File associations extra |
TfrmOptionsFileOperations |
File operations |
TfrmOptionsFileSearch |
File operations > File search |
TfrmOptionsMultiRename |
File operations > Multi-Rename |
TfrmOptionsFilesViews |
Files views |
TfrmOptionsFilesViewsComplement |
Files views > Files views extra |
TfrmOptionsBriefView |
Files views > Brief |
TfrmOptionsColumnsView |
Files views > Columns |
TfrmOptionsCustomColumns |
Files views > Columns > Custom columns |
TfrmOptionsTabs |
Folder tabs |
TfrmOptionsFavoriteTabs |
Folder tabs > Favorite Tabs |
TfrmOptionsTabsExtra |
Folder tabs > Folder tabs extra |
TfrmOptionsFonts |
Fonts |
TfrmOptionsIcons |
Icons |
TfrmOptionsIgnoreList |
Ignore list |
TfrmOptionsKeyboard |
Keys |
TfrmOptionsHotkeys |
Keys > Hot keys |
TfrmOptionsLayout |
Layout |
TfrmOptionsDrivesListButton |
Layout > Drives list button |
TfrmOptionsTreeViewMenu |
Layout > Tree View Menu |
TfrmOptionsTreeViewMenuColor |
Layout > Tree View Menu Colors |
TfrmOptionsLog |
Log |
TfrmOptionsMisc |
Miscellaneous |
TfrmOptionsMouse |
Mouse |
TfrmOptionsDragDrop |
Mouse > Drag & drop |
TfrmOptionsPluginsGroup |
Plugins |
TfrmOptionsPluginsDSX |
Plugins > DSX |
TfrmOptionsPluginsWCX |
Plugins > WCX |
TfrmOptionsPluginsWDX |
Plugins > WDX |
TfrmOptionsPluginsWFX |
Plugins > WFX |
TfrmOptionsPluginsWLX |
Plugins > WLX |
TfrmOptionsQuickSearchFilter |
Quick search/filter |
TfrmOptionsToolbar |
Toolbar |
TfrmOptionsToolbarExtra |
Toolbar > Toolbar Extra |
TfrmOptionsToolbarMiddle |
Toolbar > Toolbar Middle |
TOptionsToolsGroup |
Tools |
TfrmOptionsDiffer |
Tools > Differ |
TfrmOptionsEditor |
Tools > Editor |
TfrmOptionsEditorColors |
Tools > Editor > Highlighters |
TfrmOptionsTerminal |
Tools > Terminal |
TfrmOptionsViewer |
Tools > Viewer |
TfrmOptionsToolTips |
Tooltips |
Internal commands may be groups by categories so here they are:
| Table of Command Categories | |
|---|---|
| Category | Description |
| These commands apply to the current selected panel, left or right. | |
| These commands apply to the left panel, no matter which one is currently selected. | |
| These commands apply to the right panel, no matter which one is currently selected. | |
| These commands apply to current selected item in current selected panel. It includes operations like view/copy/move/rename/delete/pack/unpack/split, etc. These are the commands that can have a direct impact on your files. |
|
| Access options and configurations of Double Commander. | |
| Related directly with computer network. | |
| Inevitable category with those commands which we did not know in which category to place them! Effort has been made to try not to place too many commands in this category. |
|
| Select the items on which file operations will take place. | |
| Interaction between the system clipboard and selected items. | |
| To move from one folder to another to access different items according to their location. | |
| Access the integrated help files of Double Commander. | |
| Commands related to the Double Commander window, its look and behaviour like any other computer application. | |
| Interact with command line to view past commands and help to invoke new ones. | |
| For action requiring more than a click. These action will generally show another window to have Double Commander do some more complex jobs. | |
| Commands related with the visibility and appearance of data files, system files, etc. | |
| Interact with tabs by creating new ones, navigate from directory to directory, etc. | |
| Actions related with DC log files. | |
Here is a quick description of all the internal command.
For each of them we will:
These commands apply to the current selected panel, left or right.
| Category "Active Panel" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+F1 |
Just the name of the items. If possible, more than one column. |
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Ctrl+F2 |
One item per line, with default or user defined columns.
See column section. |
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Ctrl+Shift+F1 |
Items shown as small images. If possible, in more than one column. |
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Ctrl+B |
Will scan all the directories of panel to show all content in one single panel.
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Ctrl+Shift+B |
Like the cm_FlatView command without parameter, but for selected files and folders only. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+Q |
Content of selected item shown in opposite panel (instead of a separate window). See details here. |
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Ctrl+F3 |
Sort items in active panel by name. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+F4 |
Sort items in active panel by extension. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+F6 |
Sort items in active panel by file size. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+F5 |
Sort items in active panel by date. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sort items in active panel by attributes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Invert sorting items displayed in the active panel. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Open drives list for active panel. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will sort specified column in specified order of the specified panel. See the following table for the possible parameter values.
Example: "cm_UniversalSingleDirectSort: panel=active, column=size, order=descending" This will sort the item in active by column according to size – larger files first. |
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Alt+Shift+Enter |
Compute overall size of the contents of each of the directories present in current selected panel. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
These commands apply to the left panel, no matter which one is currently selected.
| Category "Left Panel" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | |||||||||
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In left panel, just the name of the items. If possible, more than one column. |
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In left panel, one item per line, with default or user defined columns.
See column section. |
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In left panel, items shown as thumbnails. If possible, more than one column. |
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Will scan all the directories of left panel to show all content in this single panel. | |||||||||
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Sort items in left panel by name. | |||||||||
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Sort items in left panel by extension. | |||||||||
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Sort items in left panel by size. | |||||||||
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Sort items in left panel by date. | |||||||||
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Sort items in left panel by attributes. | |||||||||
|
Invert sorting items in the left panel. | |||||||||
Alt+F1 |
Open drives list for left panel. | |||||||||
These commands apply to the right panel, no matter which one is currently selected.
| Category "Right Panel" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | |||||||||
|
In right panel, just the name of the items. If possible, more than one column. |
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|
In right panel, one item per line, with default or user defined columns.
See column section. |
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In right panel, items shown as thumbnails. If possible, more than one column. |
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Will scan all the directories of right panel to show all this content in this single panel. | |||||||||
|
Sort items in right panel by name. | |||||||||
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Sort items in right panel by extension. | |||||||||
|
Sort items in right panel by size. | |||||||||
|
Sort items in right panel by date. | |||||||||
|
Sort items in right panel by attributes. | |||||||||
|
Invert sorting items in the right panel. | |||||||||
Alt+F2 |
Open drives list for right panel. | |||||||||
These commands apply to current selected item in current selected panel.
It includes operations like view/copy/move/rename/delete/pack/unpack/split etc.
These are probably the commands that have a direct impact with your files.
| Category "File Operations" | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | |||||||||||||||||
F3 |
Open file in the viewer program. The command supports one parameter that allows to force a viewing mode (in this case, plugins will be ignored, but you can switch the mode later in the viewer window). See the description of the modes on this page.
Note: This parameter will work if there are no selected files or only one file is selected. |
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F4 |
Open file in editor (internal or external, see Tools > Editor). | |||||||||||||||||
Shift+F4 |
Create a new text file in the current directory and open in the editor (see Tools > Editor) or open existing file (if a file with the same name already exists). You can enter the full name of the file (with path) and it will be created in the specified directory. |
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F5 |
Copy items from source to target.
Example: "cm_Copy confirmation=1" will prompt user to confirm the copy, no matter how file operations confirmation for copy operations setting is set. |
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Copy items from source to target without asking for confirmation. | |||||||||||||||||
Shift+F5 |
Copy items in the same directory. | |||||||||||||||||
F6 |
Rename or move items.
Example: "cm_Rename confirmation=1" will prompt user to confirm the rename/move, no matter how file operations confirmation for move operations setting is set. |
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Rename or move items without asking for confirmation. | |||||||||||||||||
F2, Shift+F6 |
Rename files in the same directory. | |||||||||||||||||
F7 |
Create a new directory. | |||||||||||||||||
F8, Del |
Delete selected item to trash (recycle bin) or permanently. Deleting to trash can might not be available for all platforms. A different confirmation message is given when deleting to trash or permanently.
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Alt+Del |
Wipe file. | |||||||||||||||||
Alt+F5 |
Pack items into archive.
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Alt+Shift+F9 |
Validate the integrity of the content of selected archive file. If archive content is corrupted, error message will be reported. |
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Ctrl+PgDn |
If a directory is selected, will open this directory to show its content. If a file is selected, ignoring its extension, will try to open it as an archive based on its detected content (see ID configuration in other help page). |
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Alt+F9 |
Unpack one or more selected archives.
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Open VFS list. | |||||||||||||||||
Alt+Enter |
Show item properties (size, data, attributes, etc). | |||||||||||||||||
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Adjust item properties like creation, modified and last access date, file permission, etc. | |||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+Z |
Create or edit comment for file/directory. | |||||||||||||||||
Shift+F10 |
Shows context menu for files and folders. In Windows Double Commander will show the system context menu (as in Windows Explorer), in other operating systems Double Commander creates its own context menu with typical actions.
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Enter |
Open a file or program under cursor. Associated application based on file association configuration might be used, etc. |
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Ctrl+Alt+Enter |
Will invoke a program for the selected file from the system file associations. A single parameter may also be provided for the call. |
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Create symlink to file/directory. | |||||||||||||||||
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Create hard link. | |||||||||||||||||
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Split files dialog. | |||||||||||||||||
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Combine multiple splitted files together to form one single file. | |||||||||||||||||
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Calculate file checksum (MD5, SHA1, etc). | |||||||||||||||||
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Verify MD5, SHA1, etc. checksum. | |||||||||||||||||
Access options and configurations of Double Commander.
| Category "Configuration" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Open configuration dialog. Command supports a single parameter to jump to a specific configuration section. Here is a link for possible parameters to use. |
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Access configuration of the toolbar. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+Shift+D |
Access configuration of the directory hotlist. It is equivalent to cm_WorkWithDirectoryHotlist command with the following parameters: action=config source=%Ds |
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Access the "Directory Hotlist" configuration window. With the parameters, you may control which actions will be done regarding the hotlist.
Example: "cm_WorkWithDirectoryHotlist action=addboth" This will add to directory hotlist both current directories of active and inactive frame as source and target respectively. |
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Open file associations configuration. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Access configuration for settings related with folder tabs. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Access configuration of the Favorite Tabs. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Access configuration of the Tree View Menus. This is where we could configure for which command by default we want to use the tree view menu style of selection. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Access configuration of the color used with the Tree View Menu section interface. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Access configuration of general options regarding file search. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Access configuration of hotkeys. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will save current state and position of the main window of DC. |
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Will save all the current settings and history, just like if you would close application and restore. This might be useful if you've used DC during a long session and you want to save current context in case system would crash and you do not want to lose current history when you would restart DC. |
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Will launch the configuration page of the external archivers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will launch the configuration page for the tooltips. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Access configuration of plugins. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This command makes it easy to add plugins, two ways are supported: 1) Select a plugin file and Double Commander will automatically detect its type (WCX, WDX, WFX, WLX or DSX), open the required settings section and add it to the list. 2) Select the archive that contains the plugin and a special file pluginst.inf (the plugin file and pluginst.inf must be located in the root of the archive): the content of the archive will be extracted to the appropriate directory, the plugin will be added to the settings and Double Commander will open the corresponding settings section. If settings are stored in the user profile, Double Commander will use the "plugins" folder in the user's directory:
Note: The first method of adding plugins requires to first place the files in a suitable location, however, in this case, Double Commander will report an error if the plugin could not be loaded (for example, if the operating systems does not contain the necessary libraries). Filename can be passed as a parameter. |
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Related directly with computer network.
| Category "Network" | |
|---|---|
| Name | Description |
|
Network connect. |
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Network disconnect. |
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Windows only: copy names with UNC path. |
Inevitable category with commands we did not in which category to place them!
Effort has been made to try to don't place too much commands in this category.
| Category "Miscellaneous" | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | |||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+L |
Calculate occupied space of selected items in active panel. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Launch a simple benchmark consisting in running supported hash functions. | |||||||||||||||||||
F9 |
Starts a terminal. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Execute Lua script file (requires Lua .DLL installed), see details here.
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Load list of files/folders from the specified text file (plain text file containing full file names, one per line). Use UTF-8 without BOM.
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Select the items on which the file operations will took place.
| Category "Mark" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Num + |
Select items in active panel using a mask (provided or not) according the following parameters:
Note1: So if command is used without any parameters, user will be prompt to enter its filter and other options will be the same ones as the last time their were specified in the current session foreach file view. Note2: When using filtering like Windows as oppose of DC legacy, file with no extension will be selected with filter *.* Note3: When specifying the "mask" parameter, please note you may also use predefined selection type simply by preceding the name of it with symbol ">" like "mask=>Pascal files". Note4: When using filtering parameter "ignoreaccents=TRUE", the ligatured characters like "œ" for example will be evaluated as the sequence "oe". So for example "cœur" will match "coeur". Note5: The fact to use parameters like "casesensitive" for example will not affect the subsequent usage the cm_MarkPlus with no parameters which will use the default same parameters of last time it was prompting the user. Note6: Regarding the "attr" possible parameter values, see the "Searching for files with specific attributes." section in the "Find files" help file. The way to specify the filter regarding the attributes is the same. Example1: "cm_MarkPlus mask=*.pas;*.dfm;*.dpr;*.inc casesensitive=false" This will select all the files matching the given filter mask (which is basically common Delphi source file extensions) and ignoring the case of the letters. Example2: "cm_MarkPlus mask=*ecole*.docx ignoreaccents=true" This will select all the files matching the given filter mask (which is basically Microsoft Word document with the word "ecole" in them) ignoring the accents. This means it will select file with "école" and "ecole" in them since accent are ignored. |
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Num - |
Unselect items in active panel matching the mask (provided or not) according the the same parameters as the cm_MarkPlus command. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+A, Ctrl+Num + |
Will basically select all the entries in the active panel according to attribute filter that follows.
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Ctrl+Num - |
Will unselect all the entries of the active panel according to the same filter described in table of cm_MarkMarkAll command. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Num * |
Will Invert the selected state of all the entries matching the same filter described in table of cm_MarkMarkAll command. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mark files with the same path as item under cursor of active panel. Note: It might seem useless at first look but may be used in at least two situations:
After you've filled a panel with search results coming from various level of directories
After you've invoke the cm_FlatView internal command. |
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Unmark files with the same path as item under cursor of active panel. See note of cm_MarkCurrentPath for the possible usefulness of this command. |
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Mark files with the same filename ignoring the extension as item under cursor of active panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Unmark files with the same filename ignoring the extension as item under cursor of active panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shift+Num + |
Mark files with the same extension as item under cursor of active panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shift+Num - |
Unmark files with the same extension as item under cursor of active panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mark files with the same filename and extension as item under cursor of active panel. See note of cm_MarkCurrentPath for the possible usefulness of this command. |
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Unmark files with the same filename and extension as item under cursor of active panel. See note of cm_MarkCurrentPath for the possible usefulness of this command. |
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Will select the items, in both active and inactive panels, that are not present in the opposite panel. Files with the same names will be compared by modification date, after that, newer files will be selected.
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Used in conjunction with "cm_RestoreSelection". The cm_SaveSelection command will save in internal buffer current selected items. Then later, the command cm_RestoreSelection could be use to re-select again the same items that were selected before. |
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See previous cm_SaveSelection command. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Save the current selection to a file. You may specify the output filename into the first parameter. If no parameter is supplied, Double Commander will prompt user to enter one. |
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Will read the content of the supplied file to select items from what is read from the file. This file could be supplied as the first parameter of the internal command. If no file is supplied, application will prompt use to enter one. |
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Will select the item of the active panel based on the content of the clipboard. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Save all shown columns of selected items to file. You may specify the output filename into the first parameter. If no parameter is supplied, Double Commander will prompt user to enter one. |
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Actions related to interact between system's clipboard and selected items.
| Category "Clipboard" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | |||||||||
Ctrl+X |
Cut selected text, file or directory to clipboard. | |||||||||
Ctrl+C |
Copy selected text, file or directory to clipboard. | |||||||||
Ctrl+V |
Paste data from clipboard. | |||||||||
Ctrl+Shift+X |
Copy item names to clipboard. | |||||||||
Ctrl+Shift+C |
Copy item full names to clipboard. One parameter is available, we can specify the preferred directory separator:
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Will copy the full path of the current selected items including an ending directory separator. One parameter is available, we can specify the preferred directory separator, see the description of cm_CopyFullNamesToClip. |
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Will copy the full path of the current selected items excluding an ending directory separator. One parameter is available, we can specify the preferred directory separator, see the description of cm_CopyFullNamesToClip. |
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Will copy file information of selected items onto the clipboard. | |||||||||
To go from one folder to another to access various items according to their location.
| Category "Navigation" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+H |
Invoke dir history menu.
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Ctrl+D |
Directory hotlist.
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Synchronous directory changing in both panels. Synchronous navigation is disabled when this command is called again or automatically if there are no matching folder names. |
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Ctrl+PgUp, Backspace |
Go to the parent directory of the current shown one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+Shift+Home |
Go to to the user's home directory. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+\ |
Go to root directory ("/" in Unix and GNU/Linux) or root of the current disk (Windows). Also see the description of the "\" button here. |
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Alt+Z |
Open the directory of the active panel in the opposite panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+ ← |
Open directory under cursor in the left panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+ → |
Open directory under cursor in the right panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Show same directory in left panel than what is in the right panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Show same directory in right panel than what is in the left panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+U |
Swap file panels. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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User may type directly the directory he wants see in the selected panel. Also see F2 and Shift+F6 here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will switch the active/inactive/left/right panel to the specified directory(ies). Please note that you may specify more than one parameter, so with only one command, you may set both source and target path.
Examples: cm_ChangeDir activepath=%$DESKTOP% inactivepath=E:\Medias\Paul Houde This will make the active panel to show content of the current user's desktop folder and in the inactive panel you'll see the content of "Paul Houde" one. cm_ChangeDir leftpath=C:\Working rightpath=E:\Euler No matter where is the current active panel, the left one will show content of "Working" folder and the right panel will show the one of "Euler". cm_ChangeDir \\TERA-06\OPENSHARE1\MEDIAS\PICTURES\2015 The active panel will switch to show content of the network mentioned path. cm_ChangeDir wfx://FTP The mentioned WFX plugin will be opened in the active panel. |
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Ctrl+S |
Quick search in directory.
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Ctrl+F |
It allows to filter the file list to show only desired files/directories.
For example, setting a tool button with the following parameters will allow pressing button to toggle the application of a filter to show only the "txt" file or not each time the button is pressed:
text=txt
filter=toggle files=on directories=on matchbeginning=off matchending=on When no parameter at all is specified, it will be assumed to activate the filter AND the other options will be the same as previous filter except for the text with the focus ready in the text box to allow you to type the desired text to set filter. |
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Place cursor on first folder or file in list. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Place cursor on last folder or file in list. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Place cursor on next folder or file. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Place cursor on previous folder or file. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Place cursor on first file in list. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Place cursor on last file in list. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will popup at the cursor position, the last directories visited.
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Alt+ → |
According to list of last directories visited, will set the active panel to the very next one, if any, visited prior to current one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alt+ ← |
According to list of last directories visited, will set the active panel to the very last one visited prior to current one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In the current tab of the specified panel, will show content of the specified drive. If no panel is specified, it will be in the current active panel.
Example: "cm_OpenDriveByIndex side=left index=2" will focus panel on left and show drive E: content assuming in our current drive list we have C:, E:, S: and X:. |
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Switch focus between left and right panel.
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Access the integrated help files of Double Commander.
| Category "Help" | |
|---|---|
| Name | Description |
F1 |
Open Double Commander help index page. |
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Open the help page with the default keyboard shortcuts of Double Commander. |
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Go to Double Commander's home page. |
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Show program "About" information. |
Commands related with the Double Commander window, its look and behavior, like any other computer application.
| Category "Window" | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | ||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+Shift+H |
Will set the arrangement of panels between two vertical ones disposed in left/right OR two horizontal ones disposed in top/bottom.
Example: "cm_HorizontalFilePanels mode=horizontal" will force the two panels to be in horizontal disposition, one above the other. |
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Set the panels width, e.g. 50% – equal size.
Example: "cm_PanelsSplitterPerPos splitpct=80", with vertical panels, will set the left panel width to 80% of the available space. |
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Determine if we see the main bar menu or not.
Example: "cm_ShowMainMenu menu=off", will hide the main menu. |
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Determine if we see the toolbar or not.
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Alt+V |
Shows a window with the file operations process currently in progress if any. | ||||||||||||||||
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Ex-command not implemented anymore. Since the configuration of the toolbar is done via one single simple versatile dedicated configuration window, you may want to refer to cm_ConfigToolbars command instead. |
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Minimize the Double Commander window. | ||||||||||||||||
Alt+X |
Close Double Commander. | ||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+Shift+F8 |
Tree View Panel. | ||||||||||||||||
Shift+Tab |
Switch focus between current file list and tree view (if enabled). | ||||||||||||||||
Interact with command line to view past commands and help to invoke new ones.
| Category "Command Line" | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | ||||||||||||||
Shift+F2 |
Change focus to the command line. | ||||||||||||||
Alt+F8, Ctrl+ ↓ |
Show history of all commands used in the command line.
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Will activate in the next command line typed prior the current one, if any. | ||||||||||||||
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Will activate in the next command line typed after the current one, if any. | ||||||||||||||
Ctrl+P |
Place current path in command line.
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Ctrl+Enter |
Place filename of current selected item in command line. Note: Command also accepts the same parameters as the cm_AddPathToCmdLine. |
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Ctrl+Shift+Enter |
Place current path and filename of selected item in command line. Note: Command also accepts the same parameters as the cm_AddPathToCmdLine. |
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Ctrl+O |
Toggle fullscreen mode console window. | ||||||||||||||
For action requiring more than a click.
These action will generally show another window to have Double Commander do some more complex jobs.
| Category "Tools" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | |||||||||
Ctrl+M |
Open Multi-Rename Tool.
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Alt+F7 |
Open Search dialog with default parameters or with saved template from option "Default search template" (see File Operations > File search). Also command supports a single parameter to open Search dialog with saved template, use template name as is without quotes. |
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Ctrl+Shift+F7 |
Create and open a new instance of Search dialog window. Invoking this command to do a search will preserve the searches we've made earlier in the session. It will also allow to launch a new search instance to search something else while a long search is in progress. | |||||||||
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If we've launched a few instances of search with the cm_AddNewSearch, this command will allow us to view a summary of them and be able to switch back to one of them. | |||||||||
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If we've launched a few instances of search with the cm_AddNewSearch, this command will allow us to close and remove from memory all of them at once. | |||||||||
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Will invoke the directory synchronization tool to scan left and right panel folder to eventually see the content difference and make them equal. | |||||||||
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Open compare by contents dialog. If an external diff program is used, the "dir" parameter (without quotes) is available: in this case, the current directories of the left and right file panels will be passed to the program. |
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Will simply show a message with the info passed as parameters. This may be helpful to validate the parameter you're passing to a command. |
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Shift+F12 |
Will show an internal command selector window where user may select any of the possible internal command and execute it. | |||||||||
Commands related with the visibility or not of files like the system files, etc.
| Category "View" | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | |||||||||||
Ctrl+R |
Refresh panel. | |||||||||||
Ctrl+. |
Show hidden and system files. | |||||||||||
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Enable or not the "Ignore list" depending of the parameter.
Example: "cm_SwitchIgnoreList ignorelist=on", ignore list is enabled so item present in the ignore list won't be shown in the panels. |
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Interact with tabs by creating new ones, navigate through them, etc.
| Category "Tabs" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Description | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+T |
Create a new tab for opened directory. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+ ↑ |
Open directory under cursor at new tab, but don't switch to it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+Tab |
Change to next tab. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
Change to previous tab. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Move current tab to the left. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Move current tab to the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Prompt user to rename current tab of active panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ctrl+W |
Close current tab of active panel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Close all tabs of panel(s), excluding the active one, according to following parameters:
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Close tabs pointing to same dirs so at the end of action, only one tab for each dir is kept.
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All tabs from the specified side will be added also on the opposite side. By default with no parameter, it copies tab from the active panel to the inactive panel.
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Open a file expected to contains tab names and their associated directories to apply to panel.
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Will save into a file the current tab names and their associated directories, for both left and right, to a .tab file to be eventually loaded back with previous described command.
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Current tab status to normal. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Current tab to "locked", user cannot change directory. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Current tab to "locked with dir change allowed", user may change directory inside the panel, but if user changes tab and then come back to that one, it will come back to original directory where it was "locked with dir changed allowed". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Current tab to "locked with dir change in new tab", user may change directory inside the panel, but as user enters in new directory, that one will be opened in a new tab. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Set back to "normal" all the tabs.
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All tabs to "locked", user cannot change directory.
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All tabs to "locked with dir change allowed", user may change directory inside the panel, but if user changes tab and then come back to that one, it will come back to original directory where it was locked.
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All tabs to "locked with dir change in new tab", user may change directory inside the panel, but as user enters in new directory, that one will be opened in a new tab.
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Prompt the user with a menu asking to select a previously saved setup.
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Will save in the "Favorite Tabs" the current opened tabs. Later on, on request, user may reload these saved setup using the cm_LoadFavoriteTabs command. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reload again the last Favorite Tabs setup that was loaded. So if after browsing in every tab and additional tabs were added, etc. we want to restore "as-is" what has been set for the last Favorite Tabs that was loaded, that's the command to invoke. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will resave the current tabs configuration over the last loaded Favorites Tabs entry. This is useful if you realized you're missing a tab in one of your configuration. After loading your Favorite Tabs you add the missing tab you wanted and then you invoke cm_ResaveFavoriteTabs internal command. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will load the Favorite Tabs setup that is just before in our list the last one we loaded. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will load the Favorite Tabs setup that is just after in our list the last one we loaded. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will activate the specified tab in the specified panel where it will also switch to. If no panel is specified, tabs used will be from the active panel.
Example: "cm_ActivateTabByIndex side=right index=1" will activate the 1st tab in the rigth panel and will switch focus on it. |
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Ctrl+Shift+A |
Show a menu with a list of all open tabs.
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Actions related with DC logs file.
| Category "Logs" | |
|---|---|
| Name | Description |
|
Open the current log file of operation. |
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Will erase the current log file of operation. |
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Will clear the log window content. |
Originally created by Rustem (dok_rust@bk.ru)
When launching Double Commander executable we may specify some command line parameters to customize our start up.
For example, we may specify the directories that will be displayed in the file panels.
There are some switches that may be used as well.
These switches are NOT case sensitive.
Here is a summary description of the syntax of what's possible in the command line:
doublecmd.exe [-C] [-T] [-P L|R] [path1\subpath1] [path2\subpath2]
An alternative form is also possible like this one:
doublecmd.exe [-C] [-T] [-P L|R] [-L path1\subpath1] [-R path2\subpath2]
Note: macOS command line has a some specificity, use the open command with the full application name ("Double Commander" with -a) and --args to pass parameters. For the second and subsequent instances, add -n.
Here is the list of what may be present as parameters when launching Double Commander.
| Command Line Parameters | |
|---|---|
| Parameter | Description |
path1\sub1 [path2\sub2] (no switches, directly a path) |
If one path passed then load it into the active panel. If two paths are passed then load first path into left panel and second in the right panel. Directory names containing spaces must be put in double quotes. Always specify the full path name. |
-C or --client | If Double Commander is already running, activate it and pass the path(s) in the command line to that instance. |
-L directory | Set directory to show in the left panel. |
-R directory | Set directory to show in the right panel. |
-P L|R | Sets the active panel when program starts:
|
-T | Opens the passed directory(ies) in new tab(s). |
--config-dir=path | Set custom directory path with DC configurations files. |
--servername=x |
Sets the name of the instance (server) DC, which can then be used to pass parameters. If there is no already existing instance, then create it. If there is already existing instance, and the current one is a client, then send params to the server (i.e. to the existing instance). If there is already existing instance, and the current one is not a client, (i.e. Allow only one copy of DC at a time is false and no --client/-c options were given), then user-provided servername is altered: firstly, just add a trailing number "2".If there is already some trailing number, then increase it by 1, until we found a servername that isn't busy yet, and then create instance with this servername. |
--no-splash | Disables the splash screen at startup DC. |
--debug-log=file |
Running Double Commander with sending the debug output to the specified file. Also used module (Lazlogger) supports the environment variable xxx_debuglog, where xxx is the program file name without extension:
in this case, it will be doublecmd_debuglog. If this environment variable exists, the file specified in its value will be used.In Linux, it is preferable to use running in a terminal and redirecting the output to a file (both streams, stdout and stderr). |
Note: If the full file name is specified instead of the directory, Double Commander will open the folder and move the cursor to this file.
Here is a few examples of wanted behaviors that could be done via command line parameters when launching Double Commander.
Open the directory e:\Xilinx\ISE DS in the left panel and the directory c:\temp in the right one:
doublecmd.exe "e:\Xilinx\ISE DS" c:\temp
Open directory c:\Logs in a new tab in the active panel of and already running instance of Double Commander:
doublecmd.exe -c -t c:\Logs
Start application with configuration files from directory f:\Documents\DC\Job Settings with the mention JOB in the title bar of application:
doublecmd.exe --config-dir="f:\Documents\DC\Job Settings" --servername="JOB"
Double Commander keeps its configuration settings in files. You may configure the location of these configuration file from the Configuration settings section. There is usually no need to edit these files manually, since with rare exceptions, the parameters of Double Commander are available through the program's interface.
The main files are:
doublecmd.xml – all the main program settings;
doublecmd.cfg – settings that are applied before initialization of all program components and loading doublecmd.xml;
extassoc.xml – file extension association configuration;
favoritetabs.xml – favorite tabs;
pixmaps.txt – maps file extensions to MIME-types icon names;
multiarc.ini – external archivers;
shortcuts.scf – keyboard layout settings;
colors.json – all color settings, Double Commander stores color values in the "Light" and "Dark" profiles and selects the profile automatically depending on the current theme (light or dark theme);
tabs.xml – list of opened tabs;
history.xml – command line and directory history, search and replace, etc.;
few others... – etc...
The files are generated automatically, except for multiarc.ini and pixmaps.txt: they are included in the distribution of Double Commander (in the "default" folder) and are copied to the directory of configuration files when the program is first launched.
The configuration version in doublecmd.xml defines the data storage format: if it has changed in the new version of the program (for example, new parameters have been added or existing ones have changed), then at the first start Double Commander will update the configuration files. The upgrade process will back up the previous version of doublecmd.xml.
The "Options" window allows to set almost all of the options in Double Commander, but there are several parameters that can only be changed manually in the doublecmd.xml configuration file. A filter by parameter name is available at the bottom of the window: the program will display only those sections that contain a matching parameter.
To open the corresponding section in the program help, you can use the Help button or the F1 key.
Double Commander has several internal commands to open the configuration dialog and quickly jump to the desired section.
Double Commander supports importing/exporting some settings: directory hotlist, favorite tabs, external archivers, toolbar (main and middle), tooltips. Also, the list of hotkeys can be saved to a new file and you can switch between them.
Note: To the right of the file or directory choose buttons is the button Some functions to select appropriate path 
: the popup menu contains lists of variables (including environment variables) and some additional functions, see description here.
These are the various translations available for Double Commander. You can choose your preferred language.
There are several parameters that affect certain behaviors of Double Commander.
Allow only one copy of DC at a time – If enabled, only one copy of the program can be run. If you try to run a second copy of Double Commander, the first copy will be activated.
Move icon to system tray when minimized – When minimized Double Commander will display its icon in the system tray (notification area) rather than the panel (or Windows taskbar).
Always show tray icon – If enabled, in addition to the Double Commander window button on the panel (or Windows taskbar), it will additionally show the tray icon.
Drives blacklist – use this to hide certain drives in the drives panel menu bar. Each item must contain the full path to the drive/mount point. Separate multiple drives with semicolons ";" without spaces. Examples: /media/cdrom;/mnt/win_c (Linux) or a:\;b:\;d:\ (Windows). Also in Unix/Linux you may use wildcard mask, example for AppImage files: /tmp/.mount_*. Hidden drives will still be available, for example, you can open them from the Directory Hotlist menu or change the path manually.
Automatically hide unmounted devices – An unmounted device will be automatically removed from the drive button bar and from the drives list.
This section contains the settings of the built-in Double Commander tools (editor (F4), viewer (F3) and file comparison tool) and commands for launching the terminal.
You can specify external programs for edit, view and find differences. These external programs will be used instead of the internal tools.
There are two groups of parameters in this section:
The first group allows you to specify an external program for viewing files. Double Commander will automatically add the full filename as the last launch parameter each time the viewer is called.
Additionally: Execute in terminal and Keep terminal window open after executing program can be useful if you are using a console program and/or if the program's terminal output is important (or just temporarily for debugging).
The next group of parameters is Internal viewer options, however almost all parameters and switches are available in the window of built-in viewer.
Number of columns in book viewer – see description of this mode here.
There are also several parameters available that can only be changed manually in the doublecmd.xml configuration file.
The first group of parameters allows you to specify an external program for editing text files. Double Commander will automatically add the full filename as the last launch parameter each time the editor is called.
Additionally: Execute in terminal and Keep terminal window open after executing program can be useful if you are using a console program and/or if the program's terminal output is important (or just temporarily for debugging).
Internal editor options:
Auto Indent – Allows to indent the caret, when new line is created with Enter, with the same amount of leading white space as the preceding line.
Delete trailing spaces – Auto delete trailing spaces, this applies only to edited lines.
Caret past end of line – Allows caret to go into empty space beyond end-of-line position.
Show special characters – Shows special characters for spaces and tabulations.
Use spaces instead tab characters – Converts tab characters to a specified number of space characters (when entering).
Tab indents blocks – If enabled, Tab and Shift+Tab act as block indent, unindent when text is selected.
Smart Tabs – When the Tab key is used, caret will go to the next non-space character of the previous line.
Group Undo – If enabled, all continuous changes of the same type will be processed in one call to the undo or redo command, instead of undoing/redoing each individual text change.
Tab width – The width of the tab character (in number of characters). If Use spaces instead tab characters is enabled, then the Tab key will insert the specified number of space characters. This setting does not apply if the Smart Tabs option is enable.
Block indent – sets the number of characters by which the indent will increase or decrease when using the corresponding commands.
Right margin – Line length marker, thin vertical line at the given position: lines will not be truncated with a forced line break, it is just a visual hint. Useful in cases where there is a recommendation to limit the length of strings (for example, 80 or 120 characters).
2.3.2.1. Tools > Editor > Highlighters
The SynEdit component is used for the built-in editor, some settings of syntax highlighting rules that are part of SynEdit are available in this section.
At the top of the window there is a drop-down menu with file types (plain text, programming and markup languages) and a field for the list of file extensions. Buttons:
Save – will save the changes in the list of file extensions.
Reset – will reset the list to the default value.
In the left part of the window there is a list of available elements for the selected file type, in the right part there is a preview area.
You can change the text and background colors and font style (underline, bold, italic and strike out) used for keywords, strings, numbers, operators, and so on. For the default text, only the text and background colors are available.
Text-mark is used to add a border around the element: you can choose the color, the type of border and the type of line.
Use (and edit) global scheme settings and Use local scheme settings are for default text only: you can change the colors for all file types at once, or only for some.
All settings are saved in the colors.json file.
Note: Possible ways to change (fix or improve) parsing of files (syntactic analysis), keyword lists, and so on:
In addition, Double Commander also uses the SynUniHighlighter component for syntax highlighting, see the FAQ for details.
Almost all parameters and switches are available in the window of built-in differ, there are only two groups of parameters in this section.
The first group allows you to specify an external file comparison program. Double Commander will automatically add the full filenames as the last launch parameters each time the differ tool is called.
Additionally: Execute in terminal and Keep terminal window open after executing program can be useful if you are using a console program and/or if the program's terminal output is important (or just temporarily for debugging).
Position of frame panel after the comparison – defines the order in which the filenames are passed to the comparison program (built-in or external):
Active frame panel on left, inactive on right – The file from the active file panel will be opened in the left panel of the comparison program, the second file will be opened in the right panel.
Left frame panel on left, right on right – The file from the left file panel will be opened in the left panel of the comparison program, the second file will be opened in the right panel.
If two files are selected in the active panel, the first file will be opened in the left panel of the comparison program.
This section contains terminal launch parameters:
The first two items are for running commands in the terminal: to indicate the position of commands to run on the command line, use {command} in the parameters field.
Default values:
Windows: cmd.exe
macOS: Double Commander will automatically detect the program specified in the system settings.
Linux and other Unix-like systems:
For Debian and Debian-based distributions (antiX, Devuan, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and others), x-terminal-emulator will be used: this is a symbolic link to the terminal used in these systems by default.
Otherwise, Double Commander will try to get the value from the settings of the desktop environment: Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE, LXDE, LXQt, MATE or Xfce.
If automatic detection failed, Double Commander will use xterm.
You can select fonts for the editor (F4), viewer (F3), file panels (Main Font) and other elements of the Double Commander interface, and also their size. The bottom line for each allows you to see how the display of the selected font looks. One important note: the fonts for the editor and viewer must be MONOSPACE. The figure below illustrates a proportionally spaced font in the window above (notice the strange spacing) and a monospace font in the window below which appears correctly spaced. Also, with some proportional fonts the characters may overwrite each other and look quite strange.
Normal (proportional) font above, monospaced below.
Also you can use Ctrl+mouse wheel to change the font size, this function works for the following interface elements or part of Double Commander:
file list in left and right panels;
current directory (address) bar;
function key buttons bar;
TreeView menu;
search results in find files dialog;
internal editor;
internal viewer (if viewer shows text then this action will change font size, if image then action will work as zoom in/zoom out commands).
This section contains color settings that are not included in other settings sections. The parameters are grouped by category.
1. Dark mode – enables or disables dark mode support (only Windows 10 1809 and newer). State:
Auto – system settings will be used.
Enabled – enable forcibly.
Disabled – disable forcibly.
2. Viewer – color settings that are used by the built-in file viewer (see description of viewing modes here):
Book Mode – for the "Book" viewing mode, you can set the text color and background color.
Image Mode:
Background 1: – sets the background color of the window when viewing images.
Background 2: – if Show transparency is enabled, the internal viewer indicates transparency using a checkerboard pattern as background and Background 2 defines the color of the squares. If not set, the viewer will automatically calculate the value: for a dark background, light squares will be used and vice versa.
3. Differ – for the internal Differ tool: you can change the colors for added, deleted and modified lines, and the color for different characters in binary mode.
4. Log – options that set the text colors in the log window for informational messages, error messages, and messages about successful operations. Also, these colors are used in the window with the result of verifying checksums.
5. Synchronize Directories – for the internal directory synchronization tool:
Left: – files selected for copying or deleting on the left.
Right: – files selected for copying or deleting on the right.
Unknown: – files with the same names, but not identical.
6. Drive Free Space Indicator – here you can change the appearance of the drive free space indicator:
Double Commander can display a gradient (from green to red) or simple monochrome indicator, in the second case you can choose the color and background. Indicator Threshold Color will be used if the free disk space is less than 10%.
The indicator example is clickable, so you can see how it will look.
This section contains settings for the appearance of file panels:
The color settings here are global settings for both file panels. These settings can be overridden by creating a customised column style which can have its own color settings, and more, for each tab in the panel! See Files views > Columns > Custom columns for details on how to do this. You should adjust the current style of the columns (Default by default) or create your own style and apply it for any tab.
Here you can choose colors that will be used to process the file panels: Text Color, Background, Background 2, Mark Color, Cursor Color, Cursor Text, Inactive Cursor Color, Inactive Mark Color, and also Cursor border (if you are not using a frame cursor). With the two background options you can make an alternating stripe in the panels, as in some screenshots.
Use Inverted Selection – inverts colors of marked text and marked text under cursor.
Use Inactive Sel Color – enables the display of the cursor also in the inactive panel.
Use Frame Cursor – Double Commander will use a frame instead of a solid rectangle.
Allow Overcolor enables the ability to use a color other than the default color for file names (see section Colors > File types).
In the Current Path parameter group, you can change the text color and background color of the current directory bar for the active and inactive file panel.
Also here you can decrease the brightness of the inactive panel.
There is a preview area at the bottom of the window, so you can see all the changes at once.
The Reset to DC default button will reset all parameters to their default values.
The grid color can also be changed, but only manually. You need to close the application, open the colors.json file and replace the value of the GridLine key in the FilePanel object. (Don't forget that the colors in colors.json are stored in two profiles: "Light" for light themes and "Dark" for dark themes.)
About color format: Double Commander stores color values in the $BBGGRR format as a decimal number. For example, if you want to use the indigo color #4B0082 ($RRGGBB), then do the rearrangement, you will get 82004B and now you need to convert this hexadecimal number to decimal. Or you can temporarily add a color for some type of file (see below), find it in colors.json by name or mask, copy the value and delete.
Here you can specify file types that should be given a different color. The Allow Overcolor parameter must be enabled (enabled by default).
In line Category name you may write a description of the file, what it does or what program it opens.
In line Category mask put a wildcard mask to match file types (symbol "*" means match any number of characters, symbol "?" means any one character). You may put multiple file types here using a semicolon ";" without spaces between them. Also you can use search templates (
), including search with content plugins.
In line Category attributes you can put file attributes, and DC will match any files which have matching attributes (not available if using a search template). File attributes are specified by the following templates:
Windows: [d or l]rahs[c or e]tp
Unix/Linux: [b, c, d, f, l or s]rwxrwxrwx
i.e. the template must match the attribute text string in the file list. Description of values:
| Attributes in Windows | |
|---|---|
| Attribute letter | What it stands for |
a | archive |
c | compressed (NTFS compression) |
d | directory |
e | encrypted (EFS encryption) |
h | hidden |
l | symlink |
p | sparse |
r | read only |
s | system |
t | temporary |
| Attributes in Unix/Linux (File Types) | |
|---|---|
| File Types letters | What it stands for |
b | block device |
c | character device |
d | directory |
f | named pipe (FIFO) |
l | symlink |
s | socket |
The second part of the Unix/Linux template displays permissions: read (r), write (w), execute (x). The values are grouped in groups of three in the following order: user (owner), user's group, all others.
If attribute should not be set, it must be replaced with the "-" symbol, unnecessary attributes should be hidden: symbol "*" means match any number of characters, symbol "?" means any one character. For example, ?r* (Windows) or ?r-* (Linux) will find all read-only files and folders.
You can use a color from the list or specify yours using the ".." button.
Do not forget to click "Apply" button after customization.
Double Commander checks the list from top to bottom until the first match: a rule higher in the list will overlap any rule below.
Here you can set the action on pressing some keys in the active file panel: Letters, Alt+Letters, Ctrl+Alt+Letters. You can choose one of the following actions: do nothing, set focus to command line and enter command, run
Left, Right arrows change directory (Lynx-like movement) – right arrow opens directory or runs a program under cursor, left arrow opens parent directory.
In this section you can set keys to launch commands and also specify parameters for these commands.
Shortcut files – A drop-down menu containing a list of files with a set of hotkeys. They are stored in the directory with program settings files.
On the right is the file related menu button:
Actions with the current file: Save now, Rename, Copy and Delete.
Restore DC default.
Commands for switching to the previous and next categories.
Commands for switching the sort order of the command table (see below).
Categories – shows the category of hot key combinations: Main, Copy/Move Dialog, Differ, Edit Comment Dialog, Editor, Find files, Multi-Rename Tool, Synchronize Directories, Viewer.
Filter – enables you to search the internal commands more quickly.
Sort order – switchs the sort order of the command table:
By command name.
By shortcut key (grouped) – If multiple hotkeys are assigned, they will be listed separated by semicolon ";".
By shortcut key (one per row).
Commands – list of available internal commands in Double Commander. The list is shown as a table with three columns:
Command (name of internal command).
Hotkeys (assigned shortcuts).
Description (a short description).
The table at the bottom of the window shows assigned keyboard shortcuts, parameters, and interface elements (see below) for the selected command.
Add hotkey – will open a window for adding hotkeys.
Edit hotkey – will open the same window, but with the hotkey and other options already set.
Delete hotkey – will delete the hotkey selected in the list.
A window for adding hotkeys:
Shortcuts – new shortcut displays here. Click in the box and press combination on keyboard to enter new hot key. If the new combination is already being used for another command, Double Commander will show a warning.
Parameters (each in a separate line): – allows to set some parameters for the command. Most parameters must be added as parameter=value (unless otherwise stated), without quotes and each in a separate line.
Only for these controls – The hotkey will only work if the selected interface element(s) has focus: command line, files or quick search panel.
The following buttons are located on the right side of the window:
The F1 button will show a menu with a list of free available keyboard shortcuts, grouped by alphabet and modifiers.
The "+" button will add another field for the keyboard shortcut (up to five).
The "-" button will delete last shortcut from list.
You can set multiple hotkeys for an internal command in two ways: use the Add hotkey button and then the "+" button several times or the Add hotkey button several times. The second way allows to use the selected command with different parameters.
The first group of parameters is Selection:
Selection by mouse – enables the ability to select and unselect files and folders with the mouse.
By clicking on icon – allows to select files with one mouse click on their icons. Selection by clicking on icon in thumbnail view works when you click on left part (1/4 or 25%) of image.
Mode – sets the left or right mouse button.
See the Selecting files subsection for details.
Scrolling – the ability to use the mouse wheel to scroll the list of files in the panels.
Line by line with cursor movement – cursor will move up or down the panel before scrolling takes place.
Line by line – the cursor remains on the file and scrolling takes place immediately. Also you can specify the number of lines.
Page by page – the same as previous, but scrolling is by pages rather than by lines (much faster scrolling).
Open with – will determine what will launch the action when you are using the mouse button on an element from the displayed file list in a panel:
A double click is necessary to launch the action (default).
A single click opens files and folders.
A single click only opens folders. For files, a double click is needed.
The text cursor no longer follows the mouse cursor – is used for the last two values. If single click is enabled, by default the text cursor will follow the mouse cursor: this helps to avoid accidentally opening files or folders. You can disable it if you don't need it (or don't like it).
This section contains settings related to drag & drop.
Show confirmation dialog after drop – helps to avoid accidental errors when using drag and drop files inside the active file panel or between panels: Double Commander will show a confirmation dialog as for normal copying or moving files.
The next feature is available in Windows only: you can drag and drop text selected in a web browser or word processor (for example, LibreOffice Writer or Microsoft Word) to the panel and save it. Here you can choose file format (RTF, HTML or plain text file), encoding and enable automatic name generation.
In this section, you can set various file sorting options and date/time and size formats.
Sort method – sets the sorting method in the file panels:
Alphabetical, considering accents – This method will sort alphabetically, taking into account the peculiarities of the system language and regional settings: also additional characters will be taken into account (for example, umlaut and other diacritical characters in Germanic languages or the letter "ё" in Russian).
Alphabetical with special characters sort – Like the previous method, but additionally the list will be sorted by special characters and punctuation marks before letters.
Natural sorting: alphabetical and numbers – This method will sort digits as numbers: for example, "3" will be show before "20" because 20 is larger than 3.
Natural with special characters sort – Like the previous method, but also with sorting by special characters and punctuation marks.
Case sensitivity – complements the selected method:
not case sensitive;
according to locale settings (aAbBcC);
first upper then lower case (ABCabc).
Sorting directories – sets the position of directories in the file list:
sort by name and show first;
sort like files and show first;
sort like files.
Insert new files – sets the position of the new file in the list:
at the top of the file list;
after directories (if directories are sorted before files);
at sorted position;
at the bottom of the file list.
Move updated files – sets the position if the file property currently used for sorting was changed (modification date, size, etc.):
don't change position;
use the same setting as for new files;
to sorted position.
The first parameter in the Formatting group is Date and time format. You can choose one of the existing templates from the drop-down list or set your own using date and time formatting characters.
Formatting characters are presented below (based on Free Pascal documentation). Some values depends on your regional settings!
As example we will use 2021.01.24 09:06:02 (i.e. yyyy.mm.dd hh:mm:ss) and the USA region.
| Possible characters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characters | Description | Example |
c | short date format and long time format if the time is not zero | 1/24/2021 9:06:02 |
f | same as c, but adds the time even if it is zero | 1/24/2021 9:06:02 |
d | day of month | 24 |
dd | day of month (leading zero) | 24 |
ddd | day of week (abbreviation) | Sun |
dddd | day of week (full) | Sunday |
ddddd | short date format | 1/24/2021 |
dddddd | long date format | Sunday, January 24, 2021 |
m | month or minutes if preceded by h or hh specifiers | 1 |
mm | month or minutes if preceded by h or hh specifiers, with leading zero | 01 |
mmm | month (abbreviation) | Jun |
mmmm | month (full) | January |
yy | year (two digits) | 21 |
yyyy | year (with century) | 2021 |
h | hour | 9 |
hh | hour (leading zero) | 09 |
n | minute | 6 |
nn | minute (leading zero) | 06 |
s | second | 2 |
ss | second (leading zero) | 02 |
z | milliseconds * | 1 |
zzz | milliseconds (leading zero) * | 001 |
t | short time format | 9:06 |
tt | long time format | 9:06:02 |
am/pm | use 12 hour clock and display am and pm accordingly (also AM/PM, a/m or A/M); for example, t AM/PM | 9:06 am |
/ | insert date separator | / |
: | insert time separator | : |
"text" | literal text; for example, yyyy "AD" | 2021 AD |
| * Windows only | ||
The next parameters sets the file size format:
File size format – will be used in the file panels.
Header format – will be used in the drives list and free space label.
Footer format – will be used in the status bar of the file panels.
Operation size format – will be used in the file operations dialogs: copying, moving, calculating checksums and so on.
Also on the right you can set the number of digits after the decimal separator (i.e. separator for integer and fractional parts of a number): 0, 1, 2 or 3.
File size units: bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes or float (Double Commander will choose the unit automatically based on the size).
"Personalized" in the name means that Double Commander will use Personalized abbreviations from the list below. The Default button will reset their to the default values for the selected language (specified in the corresponding language file).
2.8.1. Files views > Files views extra
Marking/Unmarking entries:
Windows style filter when marking files ("*.*" also select files without extension, etc.) – By default, the mask "*.*" matches the name of any file that has an extension, for any file names use the mask "*". If enabled, the mask "*.*" will match any file.
Default attribute mask value to use – will be used for the following commands:
Select All (cm_MarkMarkAll),
Unselect All (cm_MarkUnmarkAll),
Invert Selection (cm_MarkInvert),
Select a Group (cm_MarkPlus)
and Unselect a Group (cm_MarkMinus).
For example, if you want these commands to work only with files, specify d-.
The Add button will open the file attributes selection window, you can use it or enter them manually. For more information about file attributes and their use, see here.
Use an independent attribute filter in mask input dialog each time – If enabled, the attribute filter will be added to the Select a Group (cm_MarkPlus) and Unselect a Group (cm_MarkMinus) command dialogs.
When selecting files with <SPACEBAR>, move down to next file (as with <INSERT>) – moves the cursor down on selection with the Space key. Default keys are Shift+Down or Shift+Up.
Show square brackets around directories – helps to visually distinguish directories from files when icons are disabled. Also you can use any symbols instead them, see description of <FolderPrefix> and <FolderPostfix> parameters here.
Show system and hidden files – If enabled, Double Commander will show files and folders which have the "hidden" or "system" attribute (Windows) or the name with a dot character in the beginning (Linux and other Unix-like systems). This can also can be changed from the main menu.
The parameters Load file list in separate thread and Load icons after file list are designed to speed up the display of the list of files in the panel, i.e.the application window will hang less when opening large directories.
Don't load file list until a tab is activated – When launched, Double Commander will not load the list of files of inactive tabs that were opened in the previous session.
Highlight new and updated files – If enabled, the names of files that are currently being created or modified will flash.
Enable inplace renaming when clicking twice on a name – is an additional ability to rename the file using the left mouse click (it does not depend on the the chosen key for selection with the mouse), as in Windows Explorer. After clicking, the mouse cursor must stay still for at least one second. In the mouse settings section, double click for files and folders or just files should be selected.
Enable changing to parent folder when double-clicking on empty part of file view – is an additional feature to simplify directory navigation. But not applicable if you are using a column set and the list of files in the current directory does not fit in the panel (i.e. you see a vertical scroll bar).
There are only two parameters here.
Show file extensions: directly after filename or aligned (with Tab). In the second case, file extensions will be shown separately, aligned to the right side of the columns.
Columns size: Double Commander will set the size automatically (the size will depend on the length of the filenames) or you can set the width of the columns (in pixels) or their count.
First group is Show grid:
Vertical lines – enables vertical grid lines in the panels.
Horizontal lines – enables horizontal grid lines in the panels.
The screenshots below illustrate this subtle grid effect. The screenshot on the left has the vertical and horizontal lines enabled and the screenshot on the right does not.
It is possible to change the color of the lines, see more details here.
Auto fill columns – If enabled, when resizing the window (or if free space exists), Double Commander will resize the column, which selected in the next option Auto size column: (first or last). The horizontal scrollbar will not be available.
Column titles alignment like values – If enabled, Double Commander will align the column header the same as the content (instead of left-aligned).
If the content of the column is larger than its width:
Cut text to column width – Sometimes column text can overlap into other columns. This option truncates any extra text at the column boundary.
Extend cell width if text is not fitting into column – If the text does not fit and the adjacent cell is empty, then the text will also occupy the adjacent cell.
2.8.3.1. Files views > Columns > Custom columns
In this section you can customize the panel appearance, columns, colors, fonts, etc. Double Commander is very configurable in this way.
There is a preview area at the bottom of the window, so you can see all the changes at once. You may move cursor and select files to get immediately an actual look and feel of the various settings.
File system – allows to switch to columns settings for WFX plugins (if installed plugins support it).
Columns view – a list of existing column styles. There is one default style Default.
Save – saves changes in the selected set of columns.
Save as – allows to save the selected column set (as is or with changes) with a new name.
New – creates a new column set based on the selected one. With the same name + current date and time.
Rename – will prompt to enter a new name.
Delete – deletes selected column set.
Below is a table with columns of the selected set, here you can set the number, name, content, place and size of columns. The count of lines in the table is equal to the count of columns in the set. Adding a new column: use the down arrow key or right-click in the empty area near the table and select Add column.
These are the parameters that determine the table for the column (click in the boxes to edit them):
Column – shows the indicator of the selected column.
Caption – specifies the name of the column which will be displayed in the tabstop headers bar. You can set any name you like.
Width – column width (in pixels) which will be set on program start. Note: the width depends on the column content, e.g. the file extension column will have a small width.
Align – sets the alignment of the content of the column. Variants are:
"<-" – align left;
"->" – align right;
"=" – align middle.
Field contents – sets the basic content of the column. When a cell is selected, the "+" button will appear on its right side, you can choose internal fields of Double Commander (submenu "DC") or fields of installed WDX plugins (submenu "Plugins"). List of internal fields:
GETFILENAME – file name and extension (text.txt).
GETFILENAMENOEXT – file name and no extension (text).
GETFILEEXT – file extension (from the dot to the end, e.g. txt).
GETFILESIZE – file or directory size. By default, the appearance will depend on the option chosen in the Files views section, but all possible size formats are also available.
GETFILETIME – file or directory modification date. The appearance will depend on the option chosen in the Files views section.
GETFILECREATIONTIME – file or directory creation date.
GETFILELASTACCESSTIME – file or directory last access date.
GETFILECHANGETIME – file or directory status change date.
GETFILEATTR – file or directory attributes. You can choose a string or numeric (octal) value. In Windows, an octal value can be used if Unix attributes are displayed in the file panel (for example, with the FTP plugin). For a detailed description of the string value, see here.
GETFILEPATH – path to the current item. Uses: usually, for search results.
GETFILEGROUP – displays the group of the file.
GETFILEOWNER – displays the owner of the file.
GETFILELINKTO – displays the path and file, that is, what is linked with this symlink.
GETFILETYPE – file type (as in Windows Explorer or MIME-type).
GETFILECOMMENT – file or directory description (comment) from descript.ion (see details here).
GETFILECOMPRESSEDSIZE – compressed file size (real size if using NTFS compression).
Move – allows to move lines (which equates to reordering the columns). Click twice in the Move box and you will see a type of spinner appear, clicking on the upper part moves the line up (column moves left).
Delete – allows to remove any line. To delete: click in the Delete box of the line. Then click again, this time a delete symbol appears. If you click a third time the line will be deleted from the table.
Next, you can change the appearance of the file panels.
Go to set default – opens the section Colors > File panels.
Use custom font and color for this view – allows to change the appearance of file panels only for this set of columns (and separately for each column, if needed). You can override the font for the file panels and the global settings from Colors > File panels:
Note: Cursor border and Use Frame Cursor can be applied only for the whole set.
Previous, Next – switches columns.
Customize column – shows the name of the custom column.
>> – button for choosing any color from the palette.
R – restores default value.
All – applies the modification to all the other columns.
Plugins are extensions that enhance the functionality of Double Commander.
In the beginning, a few general settings.
When adding a new plugin, automatically go in tweak window – See the description of the Tweak button below.
Plugin filename style when adding a new plugin – Here you can choose how the path will be set when adding plugins:
With complete absolute path.
Path relative to %COMMANDER_PATH%.
Relative to the specified path.
Also you can apply the chosen way to the already added plugins.
Lua library file to use – the full name of the Lua library, or only the file name if the file is located in the program directory or system directories for libraries. This path may be relative to the Double Commander executable file. (Lua scripts can be used for automation and as content plugins, see more details here.)
There are several types of plugins:
1. Packer plugins (WCX)
Packer plugins are used to unpack specific types of files, usually archive formats. Some plugins also support creating new archives and modifying existing archives.
There are plugins that allow to save a list of selected files or use batch processing: creating links,converting files, copying with specific conditions, etc.
Order matters: when choosing an appropriate plugin, Double Commander starts checking by extension from top to bottom. Use the By extension/By plugin button to switch list view and drag and drop.
2. Content plugins (WDX)
Content plugins are designed to get properties of a file or information about its content (for example, EXIF or ID3 tags). You can use this data in the file search or multi-rename tool, column set, tooltips.
Also Double Commander supports content plugins written in the Lua language (scripts are added in the same way as ordinary plugins). Examples can be found in the program folder (plugins/wdx/scripts).
3. File system plugins (WFX)
File system plugins uses their own file systems or provides access to other file systems and devices (local or remote). For example, FTP servers, network directories, mobile devises. Also it can be lists of files, running processes and services, or the Windows registry.
4. Lister plugins (WLX)
The built-in viewer displays plain text files, some image formats and console commands output, plugins allow to expand this list: electronic documents and databases, audio and video files, font files, content of archives, detailed information about some files, source code files with syntax highlighting.
Order matters: when choosing an appropriate plugin, Double Commander starts checking from top to bottom.
5. Search plugin (DSX)
Search plugins are Double Commander's own plugin type, these plugins use console programs to find files (for example, Locate, Everything or Recoll). The DSX plugins interface allows to send them search parameter values from the "Standard" and "Advanced" tabs.
Buttons:
Add – opens the file selection dialog. Alternatively, you can use the internal command cm_AddPlugin (also plugins can be installed automatically).
Disable – allows to temporarily disable the selected plugin.
Remove – removes the selected plugin from the list (but not plugin file!).
Tweak – the action depends on the type of plugin:
- WCX: change plugin path, set file extensions and supported functions;
- WDX and WLX: change plugin path, display name or detect string;
- WFX: change plugin path or display name.
Configure – opens the plugin's own settings window (if selected plugin supports this feature).
You can change the layout of the main window here. I suppose, all the available options are explained on the screenshot above (Layout). The screenshot below illustrates what DC looks like with all the layout options unselected.
2.10.1. Layout > Drives list button
In this section you can choose which additional information Double Commander will show in the drives list menu: drive label, file system and free space.
2.10.2. Layout > Tree View Menu
In this section you can enable the Tree View Menu and choose where it will be used.
The Tree View Menu is a way to display some of the Double Commander menus as a tree in a separate window: Directory Hotlist, Favorite Tabs, directory and command line history. This way of presenting content and a filter will help you quickly select the desired menu item.
Using the parameters of the corresponding internal commands, you can set the position of the Tree View Menu:
menu will be shown from the top left corner of active panel;
menu will be shown at the current mouse cursor position.
Parameters can be specified in the hotkey settings or add a button on the toolbar.
Also Double Commander can display main menu and toolbar as a tree (always in the center of its window), see the description of commands cm_ShowMainMenu and cm_ShowButtonMenu.
2.10.3. Layout > Tree View Menu Colors
Here you can customize the appearance of the menu to your preference, a preview will show all changes before saving.
2.11. Toolbar and Toolbar > Toolbar Middle
See the dedicated Toolbar help page about how to use and configure it.
2.11.2. Toolbar > Toolbar Extra
In this section you can choose how the path will be set when adding icons, commands and starting paths:
With complete absolute path.
Path relative to %COMMANDER_PATH%.
Relative to the specified path.
Also you can apply the chosen way to the already added paths.
This section contains settings related to file manipulation.
Show operations progress initially in – sets the initial display way and position of the file operations progress:
separate window;
minimized separate window;
operations panel: the special panel above the function key buttons bar will be used
(you can switch to display progress in a separate window by clicking on it with the mouse).
Drop readonly flag – If enabled, Double Commander will drop this flag in Windows, and add "w" attribute in Linux. This is handy if copying files from CD/DVD media where the files would retain the read-only attribute by default.
Select file name without extension when renaming – If enabled, renaming with the F2 key will select all characters in the file name up to the last dot, otherwise the entire file name will be selected.
Show tab select panel in copy/move dialog – If the target panel has more than one tab, on copy/move you can choose the destination tab:
Delete to recycle bin (Shift key reverses this setting) – If enabled, Double Commander will delete the selected files or the file under the cursor to trash (recycle bin) when you press F8 or Del and will delete permanently when you use Shift+F8 or Shift+Del. If unchecked, F8 or Del will delete them permanently.
Show confirmation window for – allows to choose the file operations for which Double Commander will show confirmation dialogs. The maximum secure behavior is chosen by default.
The following parameters are directly related to the execution of operations.
The Buffer size for file operations (in KB) and Buffer size for hash calculation (in KB) parameters set the size of the allocated memory for operations such as copying, moving, splitting or combining files, searching for files by content and calculating checksums. You should keep in mind that there is no universal value, but you can try to find a more suitable size.
Note: The first parameter is not used in the copy function in Windows, since the system function is used for copying.
Number of wipe passes – Here you can specify the number of rewrites to secure delete files.
Process comments with files/folders – If enabled and you have a file/folder with a comment attached and you copy or move it to another folder the comment will be copied or moved to the destination along with the file/folder.
Skip file operations errors and write them to log window – If a file operation error should occur the error message will appear in the log window below the panels rather than appearing in a popup dialog. This can be useful because the error window will suspend the operation.
Duplicated name auto-rename style – sets the file auto-renaming template if a file with the same name already exists in the target directory (i.e. when you choose Auto-rename source files or Auto-rename target files in the copy/move dialog): "Copy (x) filename.ext", "filename (x).ext" or "filename(x).ext", where "x" is a counter (2, 3, 4 and so on).
2.12.1. File operations > File search
See description on the Find files help page.
2.12.2. File operations > Multi-Rename
See description on the Multi-Rename Tool help page.
Show tab header also when there is only one tab – If this option is disabled and there is only one tab on the panel, a tab header won't appear (usually this is more visually attractive).
Tabs on multiple lines (Windows only) – If the folder tabs do not fit in one line, then they will be placed in several lines. Otherwise, buttons to scroll them will be shown on the right (GTK2: on the right and left).
Limit tab title length to – Tabs with long names will be limited to this length and the displayed name will be truncated if longer than this value.
Confirm close locked tabs – If enabled then it will prompt for confirmation that you wish to close locked tab. Otherwise, such a tab will be closed as usual tab.
Confirm close all tabs – If selected and a Close All Tabs command is executed this option will prompt for confirmation that you wish to remove all inactive tabs.
Close duplicate tabs when closing application – If enabled, Double Commander will check the list of opened tabs and close duplicate tabs (separately for each panel!), only the first of them will be saved (counting from the left).
Ctrl+Up opens new tab in foreground – this option changes the behavior of the command Open folder in new tab (cm_OpenDirInNewTab): if enabled then Double Commander will open a new tab for the directory under the cursor and will switches to this tab.
Open new tabs near current tab – If enabled, new tab will be created on the right next to the currently active tab. If not, new tabs will be added to the right after the last tab.
Reuse existing tab when possible – For locked tab with directory change in new tab: if the selected folder is already open on any tab, then this tab will be activated instead of creating a new tab.
Show tab close button (Unix-like systems only) – If selected, a small "x" button will appear on tabs allowing to click on it to close them.
Show locked tabs with an asterisk * – to distinguish between locked and unlocked tabs. Locked tabs will be marked by "*". Tab Downloads is locked:
Keep renamed name when unlocking a tab – When we change the state of a tab from "locked tab" on "normal tab", Double Commander returns the usual tab name (current folder name): this option allows to keep the changed name.
Activate target panel when clicking on one of its Tabs – If enabled, when you click the mouse on a tab on the other panel, the focus will automatically be transferred to it (it will become the active panel). Also the cursor position will be retained when switching between panels this way.
Always show drive letter in tab title (Windows only) – Show drive letter and a colon before the folder name, e.g. "c:plugins".
Tabs position – Place folder tabs at the top or bottom of file panels.
Action to do when double click on a tab: – You can choose one of the following actions:
do nothing;
close this tab;
access Favorite Tabs (save current tabs, load saved set or configure);
show the tabs popup menu with the same items as in the "Tabs" menu.
2.13.1. Folder tabs > Favorite Tabs
The list of saved tab sets is available in the "Favorites" menu and in the popup menu called by the cm_LoadFavoriteTabs command.
In this section you can manage them: change order, names, delete unnecessary, sort or group in a submenu.
Also you can export entries to the selected directory and import them. Each entries will be saved to a separate .tab file (if it necessary, tabs from such a file can be loaded using the cm_LoadTabs command).
Some typical actions are added in the context menu of entries.
2.13.2. Folder tabs > Folder tabs extra
This section contains additional settings for Favorite Tabs.
Enable Favorite Tabs extra options (select target side when restore, etc.) – By default, saved tabs will be restored in the same panel and they will replace all opened tabs, you can change it with:
Tabs saved on left will be restored to:
Tabs saved on right will be restored to:
When restoring tab, existing tabs to keep: – i.e. the Favorite Tabs will be added to the already open tabs.
The following values are available for each parameter: Left, Right, Active, Inactive, Both or None.
Keep saving dir history with Favorite Tabs – enables or disables saving the history of visited directories for each tab.
Also you can apply these parameters separately for each tabs set.
Default position in menu when saving a new Favorite Tabs – determines the order of adding a new set:
Add at beginning
Add at the end.
Alphabetical order.
You can also choose to automatically open the Favorite Tabs settings section after saving a new or resaving the current set:
Goto to Favorite Tabs Configuration after saving a new one.
Goto to Favorite Tabs Configuration after resaving.
Here you can choose the filename to log Double Commander's operations (copying or moving files, creating directories, launching external applications and so on). Also you can choose which operations will be logged.
If Include date in log filename is enabled, Double Commander will create a separate file for each day. In this case, you can set the number of log files: older files will be deleted automatically.
Location of configuration files – Here you can choose where to store all configuration files (also you can see the full path here):
The "settings" folder in the program directory (portable version).
User home directory.
As an indicator, Double Commander uses an empty doublecmd.inf file in the "settings" folder in the program directory: if the file exists, Double Commander will load configuration files from the "settings" folder and save them here, otherwise Double Commander will use the current user's folder. You can manually add the doublecmd.inf file and get a portable version, or delete it by switching the storage method to the user's folder.
If you launch Double Commander with the --config-dir parameter, then DC will just write Set on command line and show the full path to the configuration files.
To quickly navigate to the directory with configuration files, you can use the Special Dirs submenu in the Directory Hotlist menu or use the %DC_CONFIG_PATH% variable.
Buttons Edit and Apply – allow to open the doublecmd.xml configuration file and change the settings manually. Keep in mind that some settings require a restart of Double Commander to apply.
Note (or little trick): This way allows to apply settings immediately without restarting the DC (but not all!): for example, you can change and immediately apply the size of the icons in the file panels, but you will not be able to change the program language without restarting.
Save on exit – Here you can choose what Double Commander will save on exit. Checkbox Save configuration enables or disables saving:
Main window state – Size and position of the application window.
Folder tabs – List of tabs that are open in the left and right panels.
And history: list of all visited directories, commands that were used at the command line, file masks and history of search and replacement of text. The maximum number of entries in history is limited to 50.
You can choose how the list of settings sections will look:
Sort order of configuration order in left tree – You can choose classic (as in the source code of Double Commander and help) or alphabetical. In both cases, the Language section will be the first.
Tree state when entering in configuration page – expand the whole tree or collapse.
Directories – Here you can see a list of directories that Double Commander can use to store thumbnail cache, icon themes and syntax highlighting files for the internal editor. You cannot change them, it's just information.
This section contains the settings of the quick search/filter tool. Quick search is used in searching for filenames in the panel, quick filter will hide all filenames that do not match the conditions.
Exact name match:
Beginning (name must start with first typed character) – means that the typed text will match the "text*" mask, where "*" is any number of any characters.
Ending (last character before a typed dot . must match) – If there is a dot among the typed characters, the name must end with those characters. For example, if you typed "dx.l", the file mask will be "* wx.l *".
If nothing is checked, the typed characters can be located in any part of the file name.
I like to have the Beginning (name must start with first typed character) selected and then I can just type the first character of the filename I'm looking for and then the second character, etc. The file is quickly located in this manner.
Below you can set the case sensitivity and choose what you want to search: only files or directories, or both.
These options can be changed on the fly directly in the quick search/filter bar. Also you can toggle between search and filter.
Options:
Hide filter panel when not focused – The quick search/filter panel will hide automatically as soon as you move the focus to the file panel.
Keep saving setting modifications for next session – By default, all parameters that have been changed in the quick search panel will be kept in memory only until the program is closed, the option allows to change this behavior.
This section contains parameters for which there was no suitable place in other sections of the settings:
Show splash screen – If enabled, before displaying the main window, Double Commander will show a splash screen containing the program icon and version, compilation date, and the version of Lazarus, FPC, and operating system.
Show warning messages ("OK" button only) – shows warning messages if enabled. (For example, if Double Commander cannot set some property or attribute of a file due to file system restrictions in the target directory.)
Always go to the root of a drive when changing drives – If unchecked, Double Commander will go to the last open directory on this drive (in this case, you can go to the root directory of the drive by pressing its button twice).
Show current directory in the main window title bar – If enabled, Double Commander will display the name of the current folder and the active panel path in the main window title bar.
Default single-byte text encoding: – By default (NONE), the built-in file viewer and the built-in editor use automatic encoding detection, but you can specify one of the supported single-byte encodings as the default value. This parameter does not affect the automatic detection of multibyte encodings (UTF-8, UTF-16 and others). Special values are also available:
ANSI – default system ANSI encoding (depends on the system locale).
OEM – default system OEM (DOS) encoding (depends on the system locale).
Thumbnails – Here you can enable to save cache of thumbnails of images and set their size. The thumbnail cache directory can be found in the Configuration section. Double Commander uses PNG or JPEG (only for .bmp, .jpg and .jpeg) formats. The thumbnail name is the MD5 sum of the full name of the source file. The full name of the source file, its size and modification date will be added to the file.
The Remove thumbnails for no longer existing files button will help to remove obsolete thumbnails.
File comments (descript.ion) – Here you can set the default encoding for existing file comments (OEM, ANSI or UTF-8) and the encoding for new files (UTF-8 BOM, UTF-16 LE or UTF-16 BE).
The next group of parameters is used for import from Total Commander and export Directory Hotlist and toolbar: the path and name of the Total Commander executable file and the main configuration file, as well as the directory where the toolbar files are located.
Allows Double Commander to refresh panels automatically, same as the Ctrl+R manual refresh command does.
Refresh file list – specifies what events Double Commander should react to and update the list of files and status bar:
When files are created, deleted or renamed.
When size, date or attributes change.
If it possible, Double Commander makes the appropriate change to the list of files, otherwise it completely rereads the list of files. If there are a large number of changes (if more than a quarter of the files are affected or the total number of changes exceeds 100), the list of files will be reread completely.
Note: This function may not work inside mounted network directories.
If both options are disabled, Double Commander will not watch changes made by third-party applications, and after changes made in the program in the file system, it will reread the entire list of files.
In virtual file systems (WFX plugins, GVfs), Double Commander rereads the entire list of files when you create, delete, or rename a file.
Also you can disable auto-refresh:
When Double Commander window is in the background or minimized.
For the specified paths and their subdirectories, just list them separated by semicolons ";" without spaces (e.g. /home;/media/cdrom).
The first option enables the display of the file type icons to the left of the name:
All associated + EXE/LNK (slow) – Same as All, but additionally extracts icons from .exe files and shortcuts.
All – Icons for all file types associated with any program will be displayed (from system settings and Double Commander file associations). Also DC will show the folder icon specified in the desktop.ini (Windows) and .directory (Linux) files.
Only standard icons – Only the icons listed in the pixmaps.txt file and the icons from the file association settings will be displayed. In this case, you can use icons only from the Double Commander icon theme (see directories pixmaps/dctheme/XxX/mimetypes in the program folder) or specify the full (with path) file name. Creating an icon theme is described in the FAQ.
No icons.
Show overlay icons, e.g. for links – If enabled, Double Commander will show overlay icons such as arrows for .lnk files and links.
Dimmed hidden files (slower) – If enabled, Double Commander will show icons for hidden files with 50% transparency.
Disable special icons – You can disable the loading of special icons (overlay icons, icons from .exe/.lnk files) for the specified directories and their subdirectories, just list them separated by semicolons ";" without spaces.
Icon size – You can choose from the following sizes:
File panel – 16x16, 24x24, 32x32 or 48x48.
Disk panel – 16x16, 24x24 or 32x32.
Main menu – 16x16, 24x24 or 32x32.
Show icons on buttons – If enabled, Double Commander will show icons on the buttons of the dialog windows (OK, Cancel, Start, Add To Queue and so on).
Show icons for actions in menus – If enabled, Double Commander will show icons in the main menu.
In the last parameter, Icon theme, you can choose an icon set from the drop-down menu. Double Commander does comes with one DCTheme icon theme, but you can create and add your own, see the FAQ for details.
Note: In Unix-like systems, Double Commander will primarily use the system icon theme, if some icons does not exist, it will use its own.
Ignore specific files and folders (one per line): they will not be displayed in panels.
You can use full path to file or filename.
Supports the wildcards "*" and "?" (symbol "*" means match any number of characters, symbol "?" means any one character).
When a mask is ended with a directory separator, it will match only directories.
Save in: – the ignore list location (by default it's ignorelist.txt near doublecmd.xml).
Add selected names with full path – will add all files/folders which selected in the active panel (if exists) or file under cursor with full path.
Add selected names – will add names of all files/folders which selected in the active panel (if exists) or file under cursor. This means that they will be hidden everywhere.
Note: These two buttons will not add a directory separator to the end of the folder names.
You can use the internal command cm_SwitchIgnoreList to turn this option on and off, add a button on toolbar or hotkey.
Please see the dedicated Archive handling help page about how to use and configure it.
This section contains the settings for tooltips when the mouse cursor is hovering over a file.
Show tooltip for files in the file panel – enables the ability to use tooltips.
File types – contains a list of file groups. Double Commander checks the list from top to bottom until the first match: a file group higher in the list will overlap any file group below.
Buttons:
Apply – will save the settings for the selected file type.
Add – will add a new file type and ask for a name, you may write a description of the file, what it does or what program it opens.
Copy – will copy the selected file type with a new name.
Rename – will prompt to enter a new name for the selected file type.
Delete – will delete the selected file type.
The Other... button is a menu:
Discard Modifications – will reset all unsaved changes in the selected file type.
Sort Tooltip File Types – will sort the file types alphabetically (first upper then lower case).
Export... and Import... – allow to export tooltips to a DC Tooltip file and import them from such files (in whole or in parts).
Below you can configure the content of the tooltip for the selected file type.
In line Category mask put a wildcard mask to match file types (symbol "*" means match any number of characters, symbol "?" means any one character). You may put multiple file types here using a semicolon ";" without spaces. Also you can use search templates (), including search with content plugins.
In the Category hint field, you can enter any text and use the WDX plugins fields to get information (the ">>" button).
The remaining parameters are general tooltip parameters.
Tooltip showing mode – determines what type of tooltips Double Commander will show and how to combine them, if both types:
Combine DC and system tooltip, DC first (legacy).
Combine DC and system tooltip, system first.
Show DC tooltip when possible and system when not.
Show DC tooltip only.
Show system tooltip only.
The content of the system tooltip depends on the operating system:
Windows: File name and the same as in Windows Explorer. If it was not possible to obtain information, then Double Commander will show the same as in Linux and other Unix-like systems.
Linux and other Unix-like systems: File name, modification date and size.
The first line of the tooltip always contains the file name, and if you did not specify anything in the Category hint field, then the DC tooltip will contain only the file name.
Tooltip hiding delay – sets the duration of displaying the tooltip: system default, 1 sec, 2 sec, 3 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, 30 sec, 1 min and never hide (the tooltip will be hidden when you move the mouse cursor to another file or outside the file panel).
In the screenshot at the beginning of the section description, you can see an example of a tooltip with the textline.wdx plugin that shows the contents of the selected lines of a text file (in this case, the first, second and third lines), the Combine DC and system tooltip, system first mode is selected.
This item opens the configuration file associations. All association sets are contained in the file extassoc.xml.
Here you can customize file associations and set commands or scripts for chosen file types. Commands will be added to the context menu of files. Double Commander also allows to simply set (or replace) icons for file types, without adding any actions.
File types – contains a list of extensions. Each group can contain many file extensions, and such a group can be associated with various programs.
Add – adds a new group. You should enter a group name.
Remove – deletes a group.
Rename – allows to set a new name for the group.
Icon – you can set the path to an icon for this group. Also you can use MIME-type icons: for example, if you want to use text-x-pascal.png from Double Commander icons theme (or from system theme in Linux and other Unix-like systems), just insert text-x-pascal. Double Commander supports frequently used image formats, additionally in Windows you can use icons from binary executable files (.exe, .dll).
Extensions – here you can set the extensions (without dot) for the selected group. You can add multiple extensions using a vertical bar "|" (without spaces between them). Special values:
file – any file;
folder – any directory;
default – used when extension specific association does not exists.
Insert – adds a new extension to the current position in the list.
Add – adds a new extension to the end of the list.
Remove – deletes an extension from the group.
Actions – here you can set commands for the group.
Insert – adds a new action to the current position in the list.
Add – adds a new action to the end of the list.
Remove – deletes an action from the list.
Up, Down – moves the action. The actions (if more than one) can be reordered.
Action name: – sets type of action. Variants:
From popup menu
Open – action will be run after pressing Enter or double click.
View – action will be run after pressing F3.
Edit – action will be run after pressing F4.
Other actions displayed in the file context menu (submenu "Actions").
Command – any command from Desktop Environment. Several macros are also available (names are case sensitive!):
{!DC-EDITOR} – call internal editor;
{!DC-VIEWER} – call internal viewer;
{!EDITOR} – call editor (internal or external, depends on the configuration);
{!VIEWER} – call viewer (internal or external, depends on the configuration);
{!SHELL} – run in terminal and stay open at the end.
{!TERMSTAYOPEN} – run in terminal and stay open at the end;
{!TERMANDCLOSE} – run in terminal and request to close it at the end.
"View" actions with the {!DC-VIEWER} macro will be taken into account for quick viewing, other macros and commands will be ignored.
{!TERMSTAYOPEN} and {!TERMANDCLOSE} have been added for unification and the ability to use the variables %t0 and %t1, {!SHELL} has been kept for backwards compatibility.
As a command, you can use the internal commands of Double Commander. The parameters of the internal commands are specified one per line, so you can specify only one here. Also, using the internal command cm_ExecuteScript, you can run Lua scripts, in this case you can get the names of the selected files using cm_CopyFullNamesToClip or cm_SaveSelectionToFile.
Parameters – command parameters including variables:
any variable from "percent" variables.
<?command?> – runs "command" in the system shell and feeds the output to the command above.
At a minimum, you must specify a file name, usually %p or %p0 for the file under cursor.
Start path – command start directory. This directory will become the working directory of the program being launched, and if you do not need to explicitly specify it, then just leave this field empty: in this case, the working directory will be the current directory of the active file panel (regular files) or the system directory for the temporary files (files from archives and WFX plugins).
All available actions will be displayed in the "Actions" submenu in the context menu:
2.23.1. File associations > File associations extra
Offer to add selection to file association when not included already – When accessing file association, offer to add current selected file if not already included in a configured file type. This is a quick way to add an "Open with" action: Double Commander will prompt you to specify a type name and an executable file, everything else will be done automatically.
Extended context menu – allows to add some items to the "Actions" submenu:
Default context actions (View/Edit) – Commands for opening a file in the viewer and editor. Built-in tools or external applications will be used (depending on the settings), internal file associations will be ignored.
Run using macros {!SHELL}, {!TERMANDCLOSE} and {!TERMSTAYOPEN} (see details here):
Execute via shell
Execute via terminal and close
Execute via terminal and stay open
File association configuration – opens the File associations settings section.
Below you can choose how the path will be set when adding icons, commands and starting paths:
With complete absolute path.
Path relative to %COMMANDER_PATH%.
Relative to the specified path.
Also you can apply the chosen way to the already added paths.
Please see the dedicated Directory Hotlist help page about how to use and configure it.
2.24.1. Directory Hotlist > Directory Hotlist Extra
In this section you can choose how the path will be set the path and target path:
With complete absolute path.
Path relative to %COMMANDER_PATH%.
Relative to the specified path.
Also you can apply the chosen way to the already added paths.
Created by Rustem (dok_rust@bk.ru)
English version by Rod J (rodmac_shiels@hotmail.com)
Main settings of Double Commander are saved/restored to/from an XML file named doublecmd.xml.
The location of this doublecmd.xml file may be in different places:
We follow this link if we want to specify it by with the command line paramter --config-dir.
Other than that, we do Configuration > Options... > select in the tree 
> set the option Location of configuration files.
Another way to quickly find out where is located the doublecmd.xml the current instance of Double Commander is using is by accessing the Directory Hotlist. At the end of it there is a sub section called "Special Dirs". Then we select "Go to Double Commander special path" and then "%DC_CONFIG_PATH%". We will find there the doublecmd.xml that application is currently using.
The large majority of possible settings in Double Commander may be set via the application itself through the various option categories.
We simply click from the main menu bar Configuration > Options and the various settings we'll configured there will be saved to the doublecmd.xml file when we close the application. Then, they will be restored on the next usage of the application.
So generally, we don't have to manually edit the content of the configuration file.
But there are some very rare specific settings that required to be edited manually from the configuration file if we want to tweak the application.
WARNING: We will not edit that file WHILE Double Commander is running! Not only because anyway their values are read only when we're starting the application, but also because if we edited the file while DC is running, when we'll close the application the values we would have wrote will be overwritten by the application re-saving its current context for next session. If we need to edit the doublecmd.xml file, we need to make sure we close Double Commander, then we edit file, and then we re-launch the application.
There is an alternative solution, see more details here (but to apply changes to some parameters, you may still need to restart the application).
The following table gives us these rare specific settings that we need to manually edit the file if we need to change them.
| Setting required to be changed manually if necessary | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tag | Description | ||||||||||||||||||||
<Mode> from <AutoRefresh> |
The ability to delete watched directories. A "watched directory" is a directory that Double Commander has a kind of hook on it so it can monitor any modification in it. This way, it can refresh the displayable content of it if it's content changed. This setting allows to control how Double Commander will react if we attempt to delete one of these "watched directory" currently displayed in a panel, even in a non-activated tab.
<Mode>1</Mode>
|
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<ActiveRight> from <Behaviours> |
The right panel will be active when Double Commander starts.
<ActiveRight>True</ActiveRight>
|
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<ConfirmQuit> from <Behaviours> |
Confirm closing Double Commander (True) or not (False). False by default. |
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<gBorderFrameWidth> from <Colors> |
We may configure DC so it will draw a rectangle around the active entry as we we cycle through them in a panel.<gBorderFrameWidth> allows us to configure the width of the lines used to draw a rectangle around the current active entry.To view that rectangle, we should go in Configuration > Options... > Colors > File panels and check the option Use frame cursor. Example: <gBorderFrameWidth>1</gBorderFrameWidth>
|
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<FindWordAtCursor> from <Editor> |
Internal editor and differ tool: if nothing is selected, the search and replace dialog will use the word under the cursor (True) or text from the search history (False). True by default. |
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<AutoExtractOpenMask> from <FileOperations> |
Suppose we've "entered" into a compressed file and browsing its content in the active panel. The files with the specified extension of this setting will be automatically unpacked from the archive when we press Enter or double-click on them instead of showing the properties window. Example: <AutoExtractOpenMask>*.txt;*.mp3;*.mp4</AutoExtractOpenMask>
|
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<LongNameAlert> from <FileOperations> |
Warn if target path is longer than maximum length for a path (some programs will not be able to access a file/directory with such a long name). In Windows this value (MAX_PATH) is defined as 260 characters. True by default. |
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<NtfsHourTimeDelay> from <FileOperations> |
Ignore time difference of exactly one hour between entries when comparing their date and time. This takes place when using internal commands cm_CompareDirectories or cm_SyncDirs. It is useful when comparing items located on a NTFS partition to another one not on such partition. Since the time stamp of a file changes on a NTFS partition when daylight savings period occurs and not when the same exact file is from a FAT32, we want the two files to be consider identical even if we visibly see a one hour difference between the two.
<NtfsHourTimeDelay>True</NtfsHourTimeDelay>
|
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<CopyAttributes> from <FileOperations><Options> |
Windows: if True, the attributes of the source file will be copied when copying/moving files; if False, the attributes of the source file will also be copied and Double Commander will set the "archive" attribute.Linux and others: use the Copy attributes parameter in the copy/move dialog window. True by default.
|
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<CopyTime> from <FileOperations><Options> |
Windows: if True, the timestamps of the source file will be copied (creation date, modification date, last access date) when copying/moving files, otherwise, only the modification date will be copied and the current date will be used for others.Linux and others: use the Copy date/time parameter in the copy/move dialog window. True by default.
|
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<CopyXattributes> from <FileOperations><Options> |
Copy filesystem extended attributes when copying/moving files or not. Windows: if True, compressed and encrypted attributes will also be copied.Linux and other Unix-like systems: if True, Double Commander will copy filesystem extended attributes (xattr, i.e. the named attributes).True by default.
|
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<ExtraLineSpan> from <FilesViews> |
This setting allows to add some extra pixels to the height allowed for each element displayed in the file panels. The value is interpreted directly in pixels. Default value is 2. Example: <ExtraLineSpan>2</ExtraLineSpan>
|
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<FolderPrefix> and <FolderPostfix> from <FilesViews> |
By default DC shows square brackets around directory names (it's optional parameter in Files views > Files views extra), but we can use any symbols instead them. Note: In XML some special symbols are reserved as part of markup and we can not use them as is. There are five predefined entities: < should write as <, > as >, & as &, ' as ' and " as ".
|
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<AutoSaveWidth> from <FilesViews><ColumnsView> |
When we manually change the column width with the mouse help, by default DC changes it for both panels and saves a new value for the next launches. If we want to disable this behavior and use new value only in the current session, we should replace True with False, i.e. use <AutoSaveWidth>False</AutoSaveWidth>.
|
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<LongInStatus> from <FilesViews><ColumnsView> |
If the columns view is set and there are no selected files, the status bar displays the file name under the cursor (True) or the number of files (False, by default).If True, the status bar will also show the number of files when the cursor is on the ".." item. For links, target objects will additionally be displayed. |
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<TitleStyle> from <FilesViews><ColumnsView> |
Changes the look of tabstop headers bar. Default value depends on your OS.
<TitleStyle>2</TitleStyle>
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<Quality> from many tags <Fonts> |
Determine what type of font rasterization that will be used. In other words, it determine the font quality. There are many tags where it's applicable individually.
<Quality>1</Quality>
|
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<CustomIcons> from <Icons> |
Windows only: this option will help to determine if the icons used for drives, folders or archives will be the default ones from the system or if it will be custom ones that we may set ourselves. The CustomIcons option will be set to a single number representing the sum of the numbers from the following table depending on what are our preferences:
If we want... ...everything from the system: 0 + 0 + 0= 0 so <CustomIcons>0</CustomIcons>...everything custom: 1 + 2 + 4 = 7 so <CustomIcons>7</CustomIcons>...drive custom, other system: 1 + 0 + 0 = 1 so <CustomIcons>1</CustomIcons>etc... If we wish to use custom icons, here is the location for each items:
|
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<DiskAlpha> from <Icons> |
Option to set the transparency level of unmounted drive icons.
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<ToolSize> from <Icons> |
Size of toolbar icons in the internal editor, viewer and differ tool, supported values: 16, 24 or 32. | ||||||||||||||||||||
<ShowColonAfterDrive> from <Layout> |
Windows only: show colon after letters of disks in the drives button bar and in the drives list. False by default. |
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<UppercaseDriveLetter> from <Layout> |
Windows only: use uppercase letters in the drives button bar and in the drives list. False by default. |
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<SystemItemProperties> from <Miscellaneous> |
Linux/FreeBSD: the True value allows to use the file properties dialog window of the file manager, which is specified as the default program in the desktop environment settings (if it possible), otherwise, Double Commander will use its own properties window. False by default. |
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Attribute Save from <SyncDirs><Asymmetric> |
Synchronize directories: save or not asymmetric mode by default. If we want to save state of mode then <Asymmetric Save="True">
or <Asymmetric Save="False"> otherwise (by default).
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Attribute Save from <SyncDirs><FileMask> |
Synchronize directories: by default, the program saves the last used file mask as the default mask for the next run of the synchronization tool (if it is not a search template),
to disable this behavior, we can replace True with False<FileMask Save="False">and DC will suggest the value of <FileMask> every time by default ("*" by default, i.e. all files). |
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<DateTimeFormat> from <SyncDirs> |
This setting allows to specify the preferred date and time format in the directory synchronization tool. Date and time formatting symbols are described here. Default value is yyyy.mm.dd hh:nn:ss. |
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<AutoCopy> from <Viewer> |
For the internal viewer, enables (True) or disables (False) automatic copying of the selected text to the clipboard. True by default. |
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<ExtraLineSpan> from <Viewer> |
For the internal viewer, this setting allows to add some extra pixels to the height allowed for each line. The value is interpreted directly in pixels. Default value is 0. Example: <ExtraLineSpan>2</ExtraLineSpan>
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<ImageExifRotate> from <Viewer> |
Double Commander is able to recognize the EXIF metadata format that might be encoded into a JPEG image file. Inside that metadata, there is an orientation flag that may be used to display the picture into the same orientation as it was taken like if was in portrait, landscape, upside-down, mirror, etc. The ImageExifRotate tag configures Double Commander to indicate if we want the viewer to display the image using that information or not.
<ImageExifRotate>True</ImageExifRotate>
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<JpegQuality> from <Viewer> |
For the internal viewer, the quality value that Double Commander will use by default when saving to JPEG format (the commands Save and Save As...). 80 by default. | ||||||||||||||||||||
<LeftMargin> from <Viewer> |
For the internal viewer, this option allows to add space between the left border of the window and the text border. The value is interpreted directly in pixels. Default value is 4. Example: <LeftMargin>4</LeftMargin>
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<MaxTextWidth> from <Viewer> |
For the internal viewer, configure the maximum number of characters to be displayed on one text line prior to wrap it up to the next one. The valid range goes from 80 to 16384 and default value is 1024. Example: <MaxTextWidth>1024</MaxTextWidth>
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<SynEditMask> from <Viewer> |
For the internal viewer, this option allows to manage the list of file extensions for code view mode (of course, within the available list). We can specify file masks (separated by semicolons ";" without spaces) that will automatically open in this mode instead of plain text, or the name of a search template to exclude. We can also disable automatic opening of files in this mode by setting an empty string. The default value is "*". | ||||||||||||||||||||
<TabSpaces> from <Viewer> |
For the internal viewer, set the width of tab stops to use. The valid range goes from 1 to 32 and default value is 8. Example: <TabSpaces>4</TabSpaces>
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Confirmation window for copying or moving files with the ability to change some parameters. This windows for both operations differ in only a few parameters, so they will be described together.
Can be called with the F5 (copy), Shift+F5 (copy in the same directory) and F6 (move) keys, with buttons on the function key buttons bar or with internal commands (cm_Copy, cm_CopySamePanel and cm_Rename). Also this dialog window appears when we drag and drop files (if Show confirmation dialog after drop is enabled).
The window displays an editable field with the target directory and a file mask (or a file name, if only one), we can manually change the target path and file name. With F5 or F6 we can toggle the selection in the following order: base file name, file name, extension, path, all. If the target directory is not specified (cm_CopySamePanel or manual editing), the files will be copied to the source directory.
File mask determines how files will be renamed when copying or moving (symbol "*" means match any number of characters, symbol "?" means any one character). For example, we can specify *.*.bak, to add an extension .bak to all copied files. Or, for example, use ????.* and trim the names to the first four characters. Using *.ext, we can replace the extensions of all copied files with ext. If the mask is not applicable, the names will remain as is.
Several buttons:
Start and Cancel – start or cancel the operation.
Add To Queue – adds a task to the queue of file operations. This is convenient if we have several tasks running at the same time: we can change the order of operations in the queue, stop or pause a task. The window with the list of file operations can be called in two ways: use the Operations Viewer item in the Show menu or Alt+V (internal command cm_OperationsViewer).
Options – expands additional options.
The first group of options determine the action to be taken when resolving a name conflict or when it is impossible to set file properties:
When file exists – If a file with the same name already exists in the target directory. Actions: Ask, Overwrite, Overwrite Older, Skip.
When directory exists – If a folder with the same name already exists in the target directory. Actions: Ask, Merge, Skip.
When cannot set property – What to do when cannot set file time, attributes, etc., for example, due to file system limitations in the target directory. Actions: Ask, Don't set anymore, Ignore errors.
Ask (by default) provides more possible actions (see below).
The next group is a filter, the ability to specify which files to copy or move (file masks, age and so on). Here we can see the selected template and:
The Choose template button () opens a window with a list of saved templates and with the ability to add a new one.
Exclude empty directories – If enabled, only non-empty directories will be copied or moved. Works only with templates.
The list of the following parameters will vary depending on the type of file operation and operating system family.
Verify – If enabled, Double Commander will compare the source file and the copied file in the target directory: a byte-by-byte comparison (Windows) or BLAKE2 checksums (Linux and others). Double Commander will try to minimize the disk cache effects; if the file system does not support direct access to the file (for example, tmpfs), the program will report the verification failure. Keep in mind, this function significantly reduces the speed of the operation. Not available in macOS.
Check free space – Before copying the file, Double Commander will check if there is enough free disk space in the target directory.
Reserve space – If enabled, Double Commander will use pre-allocation of disk space, this will reduce the chances of file fragmentation. Also this is a faster way to create files. In Windows, Double Commander always reserves space.
Follow links – If enabled, Double Commander will consider symbolic links to folders as regular folders and copy their contents; instead of file links, the target files of this links will be copied. The indeterminate checkbox state (three-state): the program will ask each time what it should do.
Correct links – If enabled, Double Commander will check the links and, if necessary, correct their target path based on the target directory. If a relative path is specified, then the corrected path will also be written as relative.
Copy attributes – If enabled, the attributes of the source file will be copied, otherwise, the default values for the current user will be used, usually 664 (files) or 775 (folders). Also see description of <CopyXattributes>. For Windows: see description of <CopyAttributes>.
Drop readonly flag – If enabled, Double Commander will add "w" attribute (Linux).
Copy date/time – If enabled, the modification date of the source file will be copied, otherwise, the current date will be used. For Windows: see description of <CopyTime>.
Copy ownership – If not enabled, the owner will be the user on whose behalf the program is launched.
Copy permissions – allows to copy permissions specific to the NTFS file system, otherwise, the rights of the current user will be used (the user on whose behalf the program is launched). Windows only.
Copy on write – Support for one of the features of the Btrfs filesystem: by default, Btrfs uses the copy-on-write (COW) principle for all local files. Not available in Windows.
Note: When copying files from archives, only the When file exists parameter will be available. When copying files from file system plugins (WFX), several parameters will be available: When file exists, Copy date/time and Work in background (separate connection). The last parameter prohibits the file operation progress window from blocking the main window of Double Commander.
Save these options as default – will set the current values as defaults for the next copy/move operations.
An additional way to copy or move files: we can use the Copy and Paste or Cut and Paste commands using the keyboard (Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V or Ctrl+X/Ctrl+V by default) or the corresponding items in the context menu.
In this case, the operation will start without a confirmation dialog. Double Commander will use the operation settings saved as the default settings, except for the Verify parameter (see description above).
If a file is copied and pasted into the active panel (in the same directory), duplicate files will be created with automatic renaming using the template from the file operations settings.
This dialog box shows the details of the progress of the operation: two progress bars (for the currently processed file and the general), progress in percentage (in the title), the total number of files and the number of processed files, the full name of the current file and the name in the target directory, size, speed and remaining time.
Buttons:
Pause/Continue – allows to pause or continue the operation.
Cancel – will cancel the operation and close the dialog box.
To panel – will minimize this dialog box to the operations panel.
View all – will call the Operations Viewer window.
If a file with the name of the file being copied already exists in the target directory, Double Commander will provide several actions. The choice of the action to be used automatically (without user involvement) will not be saved for subsequent calls of the copy/move operation.
If there is a folder with the same name:
Merge – The contents of the folder will be copied to the folder of the same name in the target directory.
Merge All – The same as the previous one will be used in subsequent name collisions automatically.
Skip – Double Commander will not copy this folder.
Skip All – The same as the previous one will be used in subsequent name collisions automatically.
If there is a file with the same name:
Overwrite – The contents of the file in the target directory will be replaced by the contents of the file from the source directory.
Overwrite All – The same as the previous one will be used in subsequent name collisions automatically.
Overwrite All Older – Only files that are older by modification date will be automatically replaced.
Skip – Double Commander will not copy this file.
Skip All – The same as the previous one will be used in subsequent name collisions automatically.
Rename – Double Commander will show a dialog box with an input field and we can change the file name from the source directory manually on the fly.
Resume – If the target file is smaller than the source file or is empty, then the difference will be added to the end of the target file. It can be more convenient and faster, if, for example, downloading or copying was aborted due to a program crash and the source file was taken from another place. This function is not available when Reserve space is enabled.
Other – menu with additional actions:
Compare by content – calls the Compare by Contents command.
Append – The contents of the file will be appended to the end of the file in the target directory.
Overwrite All Smaller – Only smaller files will be automatically replaced.
Overwrite All Larger – Only larger files will be automatically replaced.
Auto-rename source files – Double Commander will automatically rename the files that we copy using the template from the file operations settings.
Auto-rename target files – The same as the previous one, but the files that are located in the target directory will be renamed.
The Cancel button will abort the operation.
Additional options related to copy/move operations are presented on the File operations settings page.
Introduction to Directory Hotlist
A Directory Hotlist is a usable list of the directories you use most often.
It creates nothing on the disk, it's simply a list of shortcuts, to quickly access the "hot" directories.
By using them to jump to a directory, you won't play the monkey jumping continuously from one branch to another in the tree.
Also, for the important directories you don't want to forget, it's good to have an area with shortcuts pointing to them.
Even if you don't go into them often, you'll save time when you need them, because you won't have to search for them.
Double Commander allows to specify a directory in the local file system, a network path, or a WFX plugin (as "wfx://PluginName").
From the main panel, you may see the Directory Hotlist as a popup menu.
Click on one of the entries and it will immediately bring you to the associated, defined directory.
You won't have to browse from folder to folder to reach that target.
The following are common actions related with the Hotlist
From the menu bar you select "Commands" and then "Directory Hotlist".
It appears like a popup menu where you click the item and it brings you to the directory defined by the entry you've set.
You may click the button with a star on it on top right of the active file panel.
You may add a toolbar button associated with the internal command cm_DirHotList.
You may set a hotkey for the cm_DirHotList command (Ctrl+D by default).
You may use double click or middle mouse click on the current directory bar of the active tab.
From the menu bar you may select "Configuration" and then "Directory Hotlist".
The tree you see there will show the same thing as what you will see in your popup Directory Hotlist from the main panel.
But instead of seeing it on the form of a popup menu, you see it as a tree with many functions to edit, move, etc. as you can see in this help document.
At the bottom end of the Directory Hotlist popup menu, there is always a menu shortcut to bring you to the Directory Hotlist configuration screen.
You may add a tool button with internal command cm_ConfigDirHotList.
The simplest way is this:
Later, we'll see there are many more ways to add an entry to the Directory Hotlist.
By default, when adding a directory to the Directory Hotlist, the entry name will be the name of the last directory name.
But if you want, you can rename it. Simply select the field "Name" and then type an easy remembered reference name.
In this example, the folder name is "doc" but the name given to the entry is "Documentation"
This is also how you will see it in the Directory Hotlist popup menu.
The ampersand character "&" in a name has a special meaning, we can use it to quickly select a directory in the menu using the keyboard, just add an ampersand in front of one of the letters. To use this symbol as is, we must double it ("&&").
Not only you can add the directory to switch to, but you may also select the "Target Directory", the one that will be in the inactive panel when in the main window.
So for common repetitive actions over time when you need to copy stuff from directory "A" to directory "B", from which ever folder you might be before, you will simply select it from the Directory Hotlist menu item and it will set both side to the defined directories, ready for the action.
To define the target directory to be when selecting the Directory Hotlist entry, simply set the field "Target".
The following example shows the "Directory A" with "Directory B" as target as suggested here.
At the end of the "Path" and "Target" fields for an entry, you have drop box.
Use this drop box when you want to predetermine what needs to be the sort order of the panel when selecting the Directory Hotlist entry.
So if you set it to "Date 9-0", when you will use the Directory Hotlist, it will not only move the active path to the one defined, but no matter how the panel was sorted before, it will sort it in reverse chronological order.
Let this field to "none" if you don't want selecting a new path from the Directory Hotlist change anything.
Certainly you may work with absolute path and it will work fine on THIS machine.
But let's suppose you have Double Commander with numerous other tools on your Swiss-knife USB memory stick.
You may want to have relative paths for portable installations.
I mean here relative to the Double Commander path, for example.
So you may have this path "E:\PortableApps\Notepad++Portable\Data\Config\" and it works fine.
But you may also make it relative to current "Double Commander" current path and have this "%commander_path%\..\..\Notepad++Portable\Data\Config\".
To help you to figure what to type (in other words how many "..\" to use!), on right side of the "path" and "target" field, you have a little button that brings up a popup menu with various related little tools to edit and arrange the path the way you wish.
But this is just one of the possible use of that button.
Here is a complete summary of what you'll find there:
In time, the Directory Hotlist may grow longer and un-ordered.
You may re-arrange the order simply by dragging-and-dropping the selected entry to a new position that makes more sense to you.
By using the Ctrl key on the keyboard, you may select and move more than one at the time as well.
If you have a very long list of directories, the drag-and-drop method might not be suitable because source and destination are too far apart.
If so, you may select the ones you want to move, then click the "Miscellaneous" button to invoke the popup menu and select "Cut selection of entries".
Then you scroll the list to see the target position you want to place the selected entries.
Then you click again the "Miscellaneous" button and select "Paste what was cut" to paste the entries you've first selected.
By using the Ctrl key, you may select more than one entry at the time to cut-and-paste.
If you're a fan of Directory Hotlist, like the author of these lines, having a one-dimensional list of Directory Hotlist will not be enough!
So, Double Commander to the rescue. You may create and organize sub-menus in your Directory Hotlist.
More than that, you may have submenus inside another submenus.
This means you may really configure yourself a well organize Directory Hotlist.
To add a submenu, use the "Insert" (add to the current position) or "Add" (add below) button. You can also use hotkeys.
It will create a submenu named "Submenu name" with inside one entry name "Hotdir name".
Obviously, with the fields below you may give a significant name to the submenu.
From there, you may add new entry, move other entries inside that new submenu, etc.
Please note you may move or cut-and-paste a submenu, which make your life simpler when rearranging your Directory Hotlist.
Having many entries one after the other is nice but by adding some separators to create categories may bring order to your listing.
So to add a separator, use the "Insert" (add to the current position) or "Add" (add below) button. You can also use hotkeys.
In the configuration Directory Hotlist tree, it will show you a line with dots but once in the main panel with the Directory Hotlist popup, you'll see a nice menu separator.
As described above, with the drag-and-drop and the cut-and-paste, you can certainly re-arrange the Directory Hotlist entries the way you wish.
But if you agree to work with alphabetical name, you may use the included sort functions.
The idea of the sort is simple: place the current selection where you want to sort and then select the sort function you want by pressing the "Sort..." button that will bring up a popup menu.
The five available choices gives you all the latitude you may wish on this matter:
Like written earlier, any sort will not move an item to go over a separator.
Just to make sure you see the meaning of not crossing a separator when doing a sort, see the following example.
The "Root" folder will always remain above the other after the sort *because* there is a separator there.
The separators are really useful for this matter.
Not only it makes things more clear, it is useful as delimiter when doing sort!
Here follows less frequent actions related with Directory Hotlist but still useful to know.
As your Directory Hotlist grows in quantity of directory shortcuts, you may want to backup it "just in case" an accident happens to don't lose these valuable links.
To do that, on right of configuration screen you have a button named "Backup". Press on it and in the menu select "Save a backup of the current Directory Hotlist".
It will then save the current list into a file into a "Backup" folder present into the Double Commander defined config directory. The filename will include the current date and time. Please also note the extension of the file which is ".hotlist".
To restore, select "Restore a backup of Directory Hotlist" in the same menu. From the file requester that will appear, select the backup you want to restore.
When you restore a backup, it will first erase the current Directory Hotlist and then add the ones from the backup file.
If you just want to restore just certain entries from the backup file, you may do "Import" and point the backup file. Double Commander will then prompt you to indicate which entries from the backup file you want to restore.
If you have more than a computer, or if you have a fellow accessing the same servers as you, you may want to be able to export your Directory Hotlist, or part of it, so on the other computer you'll have the same directory shortcuts without having to enter them one by one.
To do that, first click the button "Export" and then select "...to a Directory Hotlist file (.hotlist)".
It will then prompt you to enter the filename and file location of the export file you want to create.
Then you will be asked to select what you want to export.
You may export the whole tree or you may select the entries one by one.
You may select a whole submenu also by selecting the submenu name without having to select the entries inside.
Please use Ctrl key on the keyboard while clicking to select the different entries you want to export.
Then, on the other computer, you will click the "Import" button and then select the menu item "from a Directory Hotlist file (.hotlist)".
From the file requester, point the file to import.
Similar as with the export, you may import the whole thing but you're also offered to select specific entries you want to import.
The entries you import will be added at the end of yours.
Double Commander may also export/import Directory Hotlist to/from the one of Total Commander.
Let's suppose you want to import some entries from Total Commander, here is what to do.
From the Directory Hotlist configuration screen, click the "Import..." button and select "...from "wincmd.ini" of TC".
Then select in the file requester the location of the "wincmd.ini" file of your Total Commander.
If you don't know where is that file, in Total Commander, click the "Help" menu and then click "About Total Commander...".
The location of the .INI file will be written there.
Then will appear a tree with the directory entries that has been read from the Total Commander .ini file.
From that tree you may import ALL the entries or you may select them one by one, as you wish.
Please use Ctrl key on the keyboard while clicking to select the different entries you want to import.
The entries you import will be added at the end of yours.
Then, as a reverse operation, you may export all or part of your Double Commander Directory Hotlist to the Total Commander's one.
To do that, click the "Export..." button and select one of the two possible exportations to Total Commander.
If you know what you're doing and accept to replace the whole entries of Total Commander's Directory Hotlist, you may select "to a "wincmd.ini" of TC (erase existing)".
And again here, you may select if you want to export the whole thing or just select the ones you want to export.
Please use Ctrl key on the keyboard while clicking to select the different entries you want to export.
Maybe you should have Total Commander closed when you do that and then re-open Total Commander after and see what've got.
Total Commander does not offer you easy ways to structure and sort easily your entries of the Directory Hotlist as Double Commander does.
So you may import your Total Commander's Directory Hotlist to Double Commander, then re-arrange it, sort it, structure it, etc. and then export it back to Total Commander!
*Note: Effort and tests has been made to make sure application will not corrupt the Total Commander configuration .INI file.
But certainly backuping it prior to export to it some entries would be a good practice and is encouraged.
Obviously you're doing this at your own risk!
...a risk to discover a nice program like Double Commander!
With time, it might happen you Directory Hotlist would have entries pointing to directory that would not exist anymore.
To find these entries, in the Directory Hotlist configuration screen, click the button labeled "Miscellaneous".
Then select "Scan all hotdir's path to validate the ones that actually exist".
This will allow make the application to scan the all the directories your shortcuts are pointing.
If one is missing, a missing icon will be shown on left of the entry.
Submenu branch with at least one missing entry will also shows a special icon showing an entry is missing.
So from there you may either erase the entries since their pointing directory that don't exist anymore or keep them.
Why keeping them? Simple. In a context where Double Commander would be used on a USB memory stick to a computer to another, it might be totally normal to have directories that won't exist on a computer that were existing on the previous one.
But if so, how does the "Scan all hotdir's path to validate the ones that actually exist" function will help you?
It's because by doing this, it will also remove these entries from the Directory Hotlist popup menu from the main panel.
These entries referring to non-existing folder won't be shown!
They won't be erased permanently from the Directory Hotlist internal list.
They will simply not be shown from the popup menu for the session.
See the result of the previous example.
When setuping your Directory Hotlist for a new situation, it might happen you would like to add many directories at once to the Directory Hotlist.
There are two ways you can do that.
First method: directly from the main frame with the selection
This is easy: you simply select the directories you want to add, you invoke the Directory Hotlist popup menu and you select at the end of it "Add x selected directories".
The directories will be added to the configured addition position.
If you're configured to add via the "smart" method, it's nice to see how well they are placed!
Second method: similar to first one but with the Directory Hotlist configuration window and main panel shown simultaneously
This is also easy: you first invoke the Directory Hotlist configuration window.
Then you place your selection where you want the new directories where you want them to be added.
You then press the "Insert" (add to the current position) or "Add" (add below) button and click "Current selected or active directories of active frame".
You will see them added or inserted and ready to be sorted, renamed and arranged to your wishes.
That one is almost an hidden feature.
As presented in point 2.7 of this page, you might have configured the Directory Hotlist entry to also switch the directory of the inactive frame to switch to a specified target directory.
But sometimes, it might be desirable to don't have the target folder to switch but only the main active frame.
You may avoid this by this little trick: having the Ctrl key on the keyboard pressed when you click the shortcut in the Directory Hotlist popup menu.
If the Ctrl key is hold press at the moment you click the shortcut, only the active frame will switch, the target won't.
That one also is almost an hidden feature.
As you are in browsing in the Directory Hotlist popup menu, it happen you see a typo you wish to correct or something that is not organize the way you want.
Certainly you can then click lower to go in the configuration, search in the tree where it was, and then proceed to your correction.
But there is a little trick to do better, quicker and simpler.
While in the Directory Hotlist popup menu, have the Shift key on the keyboard pressed when you click the menu item where you wish to directly go in the configuration window to configure to your taste.
If the Shift key is hold press at the moment you click the shortcut, DC will bring you to the configuration screen with the selection ready to be edited to your wish.
You won't have to search for it in the list!
In the Directory Hotlist configuration screen there is a checkbox called "In popup, show[path also]".
This option, when checked, will instruct Double Commander to show directly in the popup entry the complete path where the shortcut is pointing.
So you'll see not only the hotdir name you gave, but it will show also the full path where it will jump if you click.
That one might be annoying since it adds a lot of text on screen and we might be tired to see this.
But in some circumstances, especially with the special dirs regarding the windows defined directories and also the environment variables pointing directories.
It's nice to have a direct overview to where each one is pointing.
In the "Special Dirs" section of the Directory Hotlist popup menu, you'll see you can have environment variables.
It's not necessary ALL the variables that are in fact a directory.
In the Directory Hotlist Configuration, you may check the option "Show only valid %env_var%".
When this option is checked, DC will try to eliminate from the menu the environment variable that looks like a valid path, at least for the beginning of it.
It will not necessary search and validate if path is actually present to don't slow down for no real need, but will quickly eliminate the obvious non-pertinent ones.
There are maybe some other little possibilities and function with the Double Commander Directory Hotlist feature that are present in the application and not describe here.
It's hard (and sometimes annoying even if still necessary) to keep up to date a help file like this.
But certainly you'll figure most of it and this help section at least cover the most important points of the matter.
A: Double Commander is a cross-platform, twin-panel file manager. Details see here.
Q: What's new in this version?
A: List of changes can be found on the Wiki page. But the project is now under development, so later nightly builds contain many new features and improvements.
Q: Is it a Total Commander for Linux?
A: No, this is another program from other developers. It now supports Windows, GNU/Linux operating systems with toolkits GTK and Qt (depends on Lazarus, so at the moment, GTK2 and Qt5) and macOS, also Double Commander is available in the FreeBSD Ports collection.
Q: What is the difference between this program and my favorite file manager (Total Commander)?
A: The goal of the project is to create a program close to TC in operation and with maximum compatibility via the plugins and configuration files. However, Double Commander has some important advantages: it's free to use, works with different operating systems, and is open source.
Q: How can I contact the developers of Double Commander?
A: The project's official forum or GitHub.
Make sure you are using the latest version of the program and it's a good idea to check the development (alpha) version before reporting a bug or requesting a new feature.
Also see #117.
Q: Which version do I download?
A: If you have KDE, LXQt or Fly – download a Qt-build; in other cases (Cinnamon, GNOME, LXDE, MATE or Xfce) a build for GTK toolkit. But this is not strict rule.
Q: Where is the project repository?
A: Repositories for some GNU/Linux distributions:
Also portable versions are available (see details here).
Q: Plugins from Total Commander do not work?!
A: They work, but not all of them. Plugins from TC compiled for Windows can only be used with Windows version of Double Commander.
But if the plugins have open source code, you can try to build them for GNU/Linux (or maybe ask the plugin developer to do it :)).
There are a number of plugins for Linux and cross-platform plugins (see Wiki, repositories plugins, doublecmd-plugins and others),
as well as several topics on the official forum (for example, one, two).
Q: Can I get access to network resources like in Nautilus or Thunar?
A: Yes, DC can use GVfs. GVfs supports many protocols: NFS, SMB, FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, MTP, mobile phones (Windows, Android, Apple), media players and other.
First, packages gvfs, gvfs-backends and gvfs-fuse should be installed. Keep in mind that some distributions have not packages gvfs-backends and gvfs-fuse, because they are part of package gvfs, or it can be several packages with names gvfs-backends-* or gvfs-*.
Now insert GVfs path in the address bar: click by right mouse button at address bar to edit it (or call internal command cm_EditPath).
For example, access to
ftp://ftpuser@ftpserversmb://servername/sharename/davs://servernameWell, for access to FTP (for SSH+SCP too) and SMB you can use default WFX plugins FTP and Samba.
A: Add a library of general system tray support: for example, package libappindicator1 in Debian/Ubuntu or libappindicator-gtk2 in Arch Linux.
Q: How can I change color settings for the panels?
A: To change the color, you must go to Configurations > Options... > Colors > File panels. These are global settings for both panels and can be overridden, see Configurations > Options... > Files views > Columns > Custom columns.
Q: What are buttons R and All in the color settings?
A: They are as follows:
R – restore color to the default.
All – apply selected color to all columns.
Q: Some text in a column overwrites another column's text!
A: Configurations > Options... > Files views > Columns, set checkbox "Cut text to column width".
Q: How to associate my own icons with some file types?
A: You should do the following: Configurations > Options... > File associations.
Q: How to create a splitter on the buttons panel?
A: Add a button from the category separator.
Q: Does DC has other icon themes?
A: Now we know only one small theme DoubleMac, but the installation instruction is outdated (see below).
You can make icon theme yourself, it's easy (we will use the name "MyDCTheme" as an example).
How to make:
- open DC folder and see directory structure of "pixmaps/dctheme";
- make copy of "dctheme" with name "mydctheme";
- open "mydctheme/index.theme" and change the theme name: replace "Name=DCTheme" on "Name=MyDCTheme";
- now replace icons.
Notes:
1. Don't use the default icon replacement! Your icons will be replaced after DC update.
2. If you want to keep some existing default icons then just delete them in "mydctheme" and DC will use them from default theme.
3. Some nonstandard icon sizes (such as 40x40, 60x60 and so one) uses for HiDPI monitors.
4. Also see <CustomIcons>.
How to install:
1. Portable version
Copy (or move) your "mydctheme" folder to the "pixmaps" folder near doublecmd.exe, restart DC, go to "Configuration" in the main menu > Options... > Icons > Icon theme, choose your theme and restart DC again.
2. Installed version
Go to "Configuration" in the main menu > Options... > Configuration > Directories > Icon themes:, here you will see the list of possible directories.
Don't use /usr/share/doublecmd/pixmaps, C:\Program Files\Double Commander\pixmaps or other system directory: this requires root/admin rights, also this would be a intervention to the packages manager's work in Linux or DC installer for Windows.
DC usually suggests the following additional path (besides the "pixmaps" folder near doublecmd.exe):
If the directory doesn't exist, create it.
Now restart DC, go to "Configuration" in the main menu > Options... > Icons > Icon theme, choose your theme and restart DC again.
Q: How to make function keys and address bar bigger?
A: The size depends on the font size, three ways exists:
1. Simple and fast: you can use Ctrl+mouse wheel, it works for the following interface elements or part of DC:
- file list in left and right panels;
- current directory (address) bar;
- function key buttons bar;
- TreeView menu;
- search results in find files dialog;
- internal editor;
- internal viewer (if viewer shows text then this action will change font size, if image then action will work as zoom in/zoom out commands).
2. Go to "Configuration" in the main menu > Options... > Fonts.
Note: All possible are available in version 1.0.0+ only, for 0.9.x and below additionally see the third item.
3. Close DC > open doublecmd.xml > find tag <Fonts></Fonts> and change <Size> of the interface element manually.
Q: File panels: how to change the height of elements (strings) and the intervals between them?
A: The view depends on the following parameters:
<FilesViews>)A: You should do the following: Configurations > Options... > File views > When selecting file with spacebar, move down to next file (as with insert).
Q: Is there an ability to create a file operations queue?
A: A file operations queue was implemented in version 0.4.6 alpha, and was added to the next stable release.
Q: Ctrl+A doesn't work, how to enable it?
A: You should do the following: Configurations > Options... > Keys > Hot keys > In the category "Main", scroll to see command cm_MarkMarkAll and set Ctrl+A shortcut key for it.
Q: When all files are selected in a directory, there is no way to deselect them using a mouse.
A: Several ways:
Q: How to create my own context menu in this program?
A: Add button to the toolbar of the category "menu". See this section for an example.
Q: How to customize the context menu, for example, add the item "Open With"?
A: This can been incorporated into Double Commander; however, it's easy to add a command to the "Actions" submenu of the context menu. Here is an example of how to open any directory with root privileges:
Dir in the popup.folder in the popup.Open as rootpkexec doublecmd %pA: See description of <AutoExtractOpenMask>.
A: Yes, it is possible: go to Configurations > Options > File operations and enable "Process comments with files/folders".
Q: Editor and browser windows appear in random positions, when Compiz is enabled.
A: Edit Compiz settings: place windows > windows with fixed positions and window rules > fixed size windows.
(class=Doublecmd) & (title=/)
A: You should use monospace fonts in the viewer and editor.
Note: "Monospace" is a font alias and the value may not be from the monospace font family. If you have a problem, try specifying a real monospace font in the Double Commander settings.
Q: Viewer does not work with a few images, but works with most.
A: A component used to view the images did not support some JPEG files.
Q: On some text files lines go beyond the window's edge.
A: Enable "Wrap text" option in the viewer (in the "View" menu). Internal editor does not support wrap lines.
Q: Can you add column editing feature (like in Notepad++, UltraEdit etc)?
A: Internal editor supports column and line selection modes and multi-carets, see keyboard shortcuts here.
Q: How can I use regular expressions to search in UTF-8?
A: This feature has been added to version 1.0.0. Needs PCRE2 library with support 8-bit code units and Unicode support enabled (usually enabled by default):
Linux: needs libpcre2-8.so.0. For example, package libpcre2-8-0 in Debian/Ubuntu or pcre2 in Arch Linux.
Windows: needs libpcre2-8.dll (by default, the Double Commander distribution contains this DLL).
macOS: needs libpcre2-8.dylib.
Q: How to change the syntax highlighting scheme in the internal editor or add new ones?
A: DC uses two components:
1. SynEdit with built-in syntax highlighters. If you want to change any highlighter, you should change the DC or Lazarus source code. But you can easily change the colors used and the file extension lists: go to "Configuration" in the main menu > Options... > Tools > Editor > Highlighters. Do not forget to save customizations for each file type.
2. SynUniHighlighter for custom syntax highlighting schemes (.hgl) and you can try to find or create this files yourself (see below).
This files are usual XML-based files, you can open them in a text editor and read/change. In the beginning of this files is the <General> tag (inside <Info>):
1) Old format: <General> has tags
- <Name>: name for the Syntax highlight menu;
- <FileTypeName>: list of supported file extensions.
2) New format: <General> has attributes
- Name: name for the Syntax highlight menu;
- Extensions: list of supported file extensions.
(DC supports both formats.)
How to create or edit:
Use UniHighlighter Editor or HglEditor (download). Both programs were written for Windows, but you can use Wine. HglEditor will save HGL-file in the new format.
Two packs of various highlighters are also available.
In the Tools > Editor > Highlighters section, you can change the text and background colors and font style.
How to add:
1) Portable version
Copy (or move) your HGL-file(s) to the "highlighters" folder near doublecmd.exe and restart DC.
2) Installed version
Go to "Configuration" in the main menu > Options... > Configuration > Directories > Highlight:, here you will see the list of possible directories.
Don't use /usr/share/doublecmd/highlighters, C:\Program Files\Double Commander\highlighters or other system directory: this requires root/admin rights, also this would be a intervention to the packages manager's work in Linux or DC installer for Windows.
DC usually suggests the following additional path (besides the "highlighters" folder near doublecmd.exe):
If the directory doesn't exist, create it. Now restart DC.
Additional features:
1) Other submenu
Additional Syntax highlight menu item: if menu is too long then you can move some items to the Other submenu.
Just add new attribute Other and value 1 to the <General> tag and restart DC.
For example, before
<General Name="AutoIt v3*" Extensions="AU3"/>
and after
<General Name="AutoIt v3*" Extensions="AU3" Other="1"/>
Q: I didn't find a suitable date format for file panels in the list! How to add my own?
A: Date and time format is easy configurable: go to Configurations > Options > Files views > Formatting > Date and time format and use this table.
Q: I want to see the filenames in the "Name" column with extensions, can I do it?
A: Yes, it's possible. Go to "Configuration" in the main menu > Options... > Files views > Columns > Custom columns,
now create a new column set or change existing default set: by default, DC uses GETFILENAMENOEXT field for name, use GETFILENAME instead.
Q: Is it possible to sort folders by clicking on column header ("Date", "Size" and so on)?
A: Yes, you can enable this feature: go to "Configuration" in the main menu > Options... > Files views > Sorting > Sorting directories and use "sort like files and show first" or "sort like files".
Q: How to see the target objects of symbolic links?
A: In addition to the file properties dialog, you can use GETFILELINKTO in a set of columns or a tooltip. In the last case, you should create a search template and specify l+ in the attributes.
Also you can use Lua and write in the log window.
Q: What does the message "This is not a valid plugin!" mean?
A: This usually means a problem with dependencies: not all required libraries are available in your system. If there are no details in the description of the plugin, could not contact the author or find a solution using search engines, then try the following:
ldd pluginname | grep "not found"), GNU Binutils or AnyELF plugin.If this is a WDX plugin written in Lua:
1. The Lua library is not available: see DLL required.
2. The script requires an additional module: see the description of the script or contact the author.
3. Error in the script. For debugging, you can use Lua in a terminal or advanced code editor/IDE (for example, ZeroBrane Studio).
If you use the Double Commander functions: create a button with internal command cm_ExecuteScript and use available functions (DC.LogWrite, Dialogs.MessageBox, Clipbrd.SetAsText or save the results to a file).
A: This server requires session reuse support and the FTP plugin supports it, but requires a library that supports SSL and TLS protocols (see the description of the plugin). Put the libraries near doublecmd.exe or in the PATH (Windows) or install the appropriate package (Linux and other Unix-like systems).
A: Requires a library that supports SSL and TLS protocols (see the description of the plugin). Put the libraries near doublecmd.exe or in the PATH (Windows) or install the appropriate package (Linux and other Unix-like systems).
Search tool capabilities are grouped by tabs, we can switch between the tabs using Alt+1...Alt+4 key combinations.
In addition, some functions can be accessed from the main menu of this window.
On this tab we can search for files by name and their content.
The Start in directory field specifies the directory to start the search, by default will be use the current directory of the active panel.
Additional options for specifying file search locations:
Opened tabs – only directories of opened tabs will be used (tabs of active and inactive panels).
Selected directories and files – if enabled, the search will be conducted only among selected files and folders in the active panel. If there are selected files/folders in the file panel, this option will be enabled automatically.
Follow symlinks – if a symbolic link to a directory is found, the target directory will be read and used, otherwise this symbolic link will be considered a regular file.
Exclude subdirectories – a list of directories to be excluded from the search, here we can specify folder names and relative or absolute paths.
Search subdirectories can have:
current dir only,
select number of levels (from 1 to 100),
all (unlimited depth).
This setting controls the depth of the search in the filesystem tree. If set to "current dir only", the search will only be conducted in the directory specified in the "Start in directory" field (not in any subdirectories).
The File mask field sets the mask for the search. Or we can just specify the file name or part of it.
Additional options:
Search in archives – if enabled, Double Commander will try to additionally read the contents of all archives in the search directory(ies). The list of supported formats depends on the added packer plugins.
Search for part of file name – should be disabled if we want to use exact file name.
Regular expression – if enabled we can use regular expressions.
Exclude files – a list of file names to be excluded from the search. Masks are also supported.
Note: File mask, Exclude files, Start in directory and Exclude subdirectories allow to enter several values, separated with semicolon ";" without spaces. If we need to find a file with semicolon in the name, we can use regular expressions.
If the Find text in file checkbox is enabled, the process will search for the specified text in the files. We can also replace this text with any other text, specified in the Replace by field by enabling the checkbox.
Additional options:
Find files NOT containing the text – displays files, that do not have the text specified in Find text in file.
Case sensitive – indicates that uppercase should be distinguished from lowercase, e.g. "Fallout" and "fallout" would be different.
Hexadecimal – searches for hexadecimal characters (case insensitive, with or without spaces between characters, for example, "C0 C1 C2" or "c0c1c2").
Office XML – enables a search in Microsoft Office (DOCX, XLSX) and OpenOffice/LibreOffice (ODT, ODS) files.
Also we can set encoding (UTF, ISO, KOI, DOS, ANSI etc.) and enable regular expressions.
Note about text encoding: We can set the text encoding or use one of the special values:
Default – depends on the operating system and the selected system locale:
Windows: default system ANSI encoding.
Linux and other Unix-like OS: default system text encoding, modern systems usually use UTF-8.
ANSI – default system ANSI encoding (depends on the system locale).
OEM – default system OEM (DOS) encoding (depends on the system locale).
The Encoding button (
) allows to specify more than one encoding.
The Start button starts search, Cancel stops search and Close closes the Find files window.
New search – clears the old results and allows to start a new search (also with new conditions).
Last search – loads parameters from the previous search (in the current session, before closing Double Commander).
By default, Double Commander saves the history of the input fields, to delete unnecessary entries from the history, we can use Shift+Del, and we can also disable saving history in the Configuration settings section.
Tab Advanced allows to specify additional conditions: date, time and age of file (by modification date), minimum and maximum file size, as well as file attributes.
File attributes can be specified manually or using a small assistant on the Add button (see below for more details on using file attributes). The Help button opens the next subsection of this page.
Here we can also choose to search for duplicate files using the following one or more criteria:
compare file names;
compare file sizes;
compare file hashes: BLAKE2b (x64) or BLAKE2s checksum will be used;
compare file content (byte-by-byte comparison).
In the result will be shown file names, group number of matching files and file locations. Also after feed to listbox we can use special selection mode, where we can select only duplicates: Select a Group and Unselect a Group in the Mark submenu (internal commands cm_MarkPlus and cm_MarkMinus).
To search for specific attributes we must enter a string pattern, which specifies which attributes are searched for, and if they should be enabled or disabled.
A single attribute is represented with the following format:
<attribute>+ or <attribute>-
The plus sign means that the file must have that attribute set, a minus sign means that the file must not have that attribute set.
The various <attribute> identifiers are as follows:
| Attributes in Windows | |
|---|---|
| Attribute letter | What it stands for |
a | archive |
c | compressed (NTFS compression) |
d | directory |
e | encrypted (EFS encryption) |
h | hidden |
l | symlink |
p | sparse |
r | read only |
s | system |
t | temporary |
| Attributes in Unix/Linux (Permissions) | |
|---|---|
| Permissions letters | What it stands for |
ur | user read |
uw | user write |
ux | user execute |
gr | group read |
gw | group write |
gx | group execute |
or | others read |
ow | others write |
ox | others execute |
us | set user ID |
gs | set group ID |
sb | sticky bit |
| Attributes in Unix/Linux (File Types) | |
|---|---|
| File Types letters | What it stands for |
b | block device |
c | character device |
d | directory |
f | named pipe (FIFO) |
l | symlink |
r | regular file |
s | socket |
In Unix/Linux we may also use octal representation of permissions. For example 0750 is the same as ur, uw, ux, gr and gx combined.
Several attributes may be combined together with an AND relationship. Just specify one pattern after another.
For example: r+s+h+ matches files that have all three: read-only, hidden and system attributes set.
Furthermore, such groups of AND attributes may be combined together with an OR relationship. This is done by using the "|" character (vertical bar).
For example: r+|s+h+ matches files that have either:
It is possible to negate AND sequences using "!" character specified at the start of the sequence.
For example: !r+s+h+ matches files that don't have all three: read-only, hidden and system attributes set. The matched file may have none, one or more of those attributes set, but not all of them.
Negation only applies to AND sequences, thus pattern !r+|!s+h+ matches files that either:
r-)| Example in Windows | |
|---|---|
| Examples letters | How it is interpreted |
a+s-h- | matches files that have archive attribute set and don't have neither system nor hidden attributes set |
e+|c+ | matches files that are either compressed or encrypted |
d- | matches files but not directories |
| Example in Unix/Linux | |
|---|---|
| Examples letters | How it is interpreted |
uw+|gw+|ow+ | matches files that are writable either by user, group or anybody else |
222+ | matches files that are writable by user, and by group, and by anybody else |
d+ox+ | matches directories that are accessible by anybody |
!700+ | matches files that are not fully accessible to the user |
Search with the search (DSX) and content (WDX) plugins (description of plugin types and their installation is described here).
An example of images search by width with minimum and maximum values:
The DSX plugins interface allows to send them parameter values from the "Standard" and "Advanced" tabs, the exact list of passed values depends on the capabilities of a particular plugin.
WDX plugins complement the search, their fields can be combined according to the following rules:
AND (all match) – all conditions must match.
OR (any match) – one match is enough.
Operator and Value depend on the type of data returned by the plugin field: number, string, date, time or boolean type. For some numerical values, we can choose a unit of measurement (for example, for size or duration). The following compare operations are supported:
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
= |
equal |
!= |
not equal |
=(case) |
equal, case sensitive |
!=(case) |
not equal, case sensitive |
> |
larger |
< |
smaller |
>= |
larger or equal |
<= |
smaller or equal |
contains |
string contains specific text |
!contains |
string does not contain specific text |
contains(case) |
string contains specific text, case sensitive |
!contains(case) |
string does not contain specific text, case sensitive |
regexp |
string matches regular expression |
!regexp |
string does not match regular expression |
Tab Load/Save – allows to save search parameters so they can be used again later.
Also, here we can see the templates created in the program settings (Colors > File types, Tooltips) and in some tools (Select a Group, Synchronize directories).
There is a field with a hint under the list of templates: for the selected template, the values of File mask and Start in directory (if it was saved) are displayed.
This tab contains results of the search (just a list of full filenames) and has the following buttons:
View – opens selected file in the viewer (F3).
Edit – opens selected file in the editor (F4).
Go to file – closes search window, opens the directory of the selected file in the active file panel and places the cursor on this file (Enter or double click).
Feed to listbox – transfers a list of the found files in the active file panel.
The context menu is also available:
Open In New Tab(s) – like the Go to file command, but the selected file will be opened in the background tab (several selected files will be opened in separate background tabs).
Show In Viewer.
Show In Editor.
Remove from list (or Del) – allows to remove unsuitable results from the list (the file system will not be affected).
Show all found items – cancels the action of the previous command.
To select several files, we can use the mouse and the Ctrl and Shift keys or Shift and arrows.
The left arrow and right arrow keys switch the focus between the list of search result and the New search button.
Additional parameters associated with the search tool are presented on the File operations > File search settings section.
File search:
Search for part of file name – If unchecked, Double Commander will search for the exact name match.
When launching file search, clear file mask filter – If enabled, Double Commander will automatically clear the File mask field each time.
Current filters with "New search" button – sets the state of the rest of the search parameters: Double Commander will keep them, reset to default state or ask.
Show menu bar in "Find files" – This menu contains the commands of the find files dialog (also hotkeys are shown) and items for quick jump to this section of settings and to the hotkey settings.
Default search template – We can choose one of the previously saved search templates and Double Commander will use its parameters as default parameters each time when we open the find files dialog.
Text search in files:
Use memory mapping for search text in files – Copies the file into virtual memory before performing the search. It's faster, but needs a more powerful computer.
Use stream for search text in files – Splits file into parts, then the search begins (slower, but fewer resources are required).
Welcome to Double Commander!
Double Commander – is a project started by Russian programmer Alexander Koblov (Alexx2000@mail.ru), as a fork of Sexi Commander (author – Radek Cervinka, radek.cervinka@centrum.cz).
There are several ways to get Double Commander:
The releases page on GitHub.
The releases page on SourceForge.
Double Commander is available in the repositories of many Linux distributions and in the FreeBSD Ports collection.
Double Commander has its own repository for several Linux distributions (the official repositories of Linux distributions do not always contain the current (latest) version of the program).
And you can build Double Commander yourself.
Version archive is also available.
First, you must choose which operating system (Windows, Linux, macOS), processor architecture and then you may select the version to download.
For Windows there is an executable file .exe (Inno Setup) or .msi and an archive .zip (which is the so-called portable version).
For Linux there are versions based on GTK toolkit and based on Qt. Also available: portable versions (compiled binaries packed with XZ) and files in the AppImage format.
On the first launch Double Commander will automatically detect the system language, and set it for the interface. DC is translated into many languages. The language can be changed in the menu via Configuration > Options... > Language.
Double Commander determines and uses the current system theme. It looks like this (Ubuntu, three themes and two icon sets):
As can be seen from the figure, there are left file panel, a command line and a lower window that is a log viewer (it shows all the actions from the file manager). Double Commander also supports dark mode in Windows (Windows 10 1809 and newer).
Double Commander uses Total Commander plugin API, so under Windows you can use plugins from Total Commander (many of them are compatible with DC). See the description of the types of plugins in the Plugins settings section. DC is distributed with several pre-installed plugins, other plugins can be installed manually.
Double Commander's interface.
The Menu Bar provides access to all the features of Double Commander. But do not forget that the majority of actions can be performed in other ways: by using hot keys or buttons on the toolbar.
This menu contains almost all the actions that can be made on files. Please consider all the items:
Create Symbolic Link... (internal command cm_SymLink). With this item, Double Commander creates a symbolic link to the file under the cursor and places it in the folder opened in the opposite panel.
Link name – here is the path to the link and its name. The name is the last word after the last directory separator character in the line.
Destination that the link will point to – the object, on which the link is created.
Use relative path when possible – if possible, Double Commander will use the relative path to the object directory.
Create Hard Link... (internal command cm_HardLink). Like the symbolic link above, but link is hard and using a relative path will not be available.
Create Directory (internal command cm_MakeDir) – creates a new subdirectory in the current directory. The file name (without extension) or directory name under the cursor will be offered, this is useful for creating multiple directories with similar names. You can also create several subdirectories in one operation, just separate the subdrectories with the directory separator (in Unix/Linux system it will be "/" and in Windows it will be "\").
If Extended syntax is enabled, the <[] template can be used to insert the current date/time: inside square brackets you can use date and time formatting characters and any characters allowed for filenames.
Create Shortcut (Windows only) – Double Commander creates a shortcut (Microsoft Windows .lnk file) to the file under the cursor and places it in the folder opened in the opposite panel.
Change Attributes... (internal command cm_SetFileProperties) – allows to change timestamps and attributes (Windows) or file permissions (Linux and other Unix-like systems), including subfolders or not.
Show file properties... (internal command cm_FileProperties) will show the default "Properties" dialog (Windows) or Double Commander own dialog (Linux and other Unix-like systems) like this:
which indicates the file or folder name, MIME type, size, write and last access time. For links, Double Commander will additionally show the link object (symbolic link) or their total number (hard link). On the "Attributes" tab you can change the access rights to the file and its owner (if you have the rights to do so). The "Plugins" tab is optional and is only available if you have a suitable content plugin (in this case it was DEB). Also see description of <SystemItemProperties>.
Using item Edit comment... (internal command cm_EditComment) you can create or change file comments, which stored in a file descript.ion. Supports UTF, ISO, KOI and ANSI encodings. In the Miscellaneous settings section you can set the default text encoding.
Comments only work with normal files on the local file system, but not on remote or virtual file systems (e.g. on FTP server, in archive, etc.). In order for Double Commander to take into account the contents of descript.ion when copying or moving files, make sure that Process comments with files/folders is enabled in the File operations settings section.
Calculate Occupied Space (internal command cm_CalculateSpace) item calculates the size of selected objects in rounded units and in bytes.
Compare by Contents (internal command cm_CompareContents) shows a window with two panels with the files to compare (usually text).
It's a simple visual comparison and merging tool with a typical features: navigation between differences (next, previous, first or last), copying blocks of text from right to left and from left to right, editing files in-place, undo and redo the last changes, saving with a different name and other.
Options:
Auto Compare – Automatic comparison when changing the Ignore Blanks and Ignore Case parameters. And also when selecting a new file.
Ignore Blanks – If enabled, multiple spaces will counted as one.
Ignore Case – If enable, uppercase and lowercase will not be distinguished.
Line Differences – If enabled, differences within the lines will also be shown.
Binary mode – result is presented in binary form.
Keep scrolling – allows synchronized scrolling (vertical and horizontal).
The colors used can be changed in the Colors settings section (the Differ category). Also see Position of frame panel after the comparison.
The two files will be chosen as follows
If two files are selected in the active panel, they will be opened in the compare tool. The first selected file will be opened in the left panel of the comparison tool.
If only one file is selected, it will be compared with the selected file in the inactive panel.
If only one file is selected, and nothing is selected in the inactive panel, it will be compared with a file in the second panel, having the same name (if it exists) or with a file under the cursor.
If nothing is selected, the file under the cursor will be compared with a file in the other panel, having the same name (if it exists) or with a file under the cursor.
In the Tools > Differ section, you can set an external differ tool.
Multi-Rename Tool (internal command cm_MultiRename)
Allows renaming any files by defined mask. For example, some files with different names could be renamed into Picture1, Picture2, Picture3, etc. First, select files to be renamed and then start this tool (see figure above). There you can see the old and new names for your files. See this page for detailed descriptions.
By selecting item Pack files (internal command cm_PackFiles) we call a standard dialog to pack files to the zip, tar and other archive formats: the list of supported formats depends on the added packer plugins and external archivers (see Archive handling).
If the list of available formats is too long and does not fit in the window, Double Commander will bring them into the drop-down menu (in this case, use the checkbox with the "=>" label).
Also we can unpack files via Extract Files (internal command cm_ExtractFiles). The same dialog is called when you copy files from the archive.
In the Extract files matching file mask line, you can specify a mask, determining which files will be unpacked. The history of masks can be found in the drop-down list. The next line specifies the destination directory (where the archive will be unpacked). It can be changed manually or by clicking on the browse button at the far right.
Unpack each archive to a separate subdir (name of the archive) – If checked, Double Commander will create a folder with the same name as the archive in the destination directory and extract the files into this folder. You can extract several archives at once with this option and each will be extracted into its own folder in the target directory. The indeterminate checkbox state (three-state) enables the smart extract: if there are several objects in the root of the archive, then the contents of the archive will be unpacked into a folder with the name of the archive, but if there is one object, then the contents will be unpacked as is. By default it is unchecked and its state is not saved for the next call of the extract command.
Unpack path names if stored with files – If checked, the directory structure in the archive will be kept. Otherwise, all files will be extracted without re-creating the directory structure.
Checkbox Overwrite existing files disables confirmation of overwriting existing files.
Test Archive(s) (internal command cm_TestArchive) will validate the integrity of the content of selected archive files or file under cursor. If archive content is corrupted, error message will be reported. The list of supported formats depends on the added packer plugins and external archivers.
Items Split file and Combine files (internal commands cm_FileSpliter and cm_FileLinker)
Split the file to directory – specifies destination folder for the split files. By default, the directory of the inactive file panel will be used.
The next group of parameters allows to select the size of the split parts or its number. You can enter your own value or use one of the presets:
1457664 B - 3.5" – Floppy drive 3.5;
98078 KB - ZIP 100 MB – ZIP drive;
650 MB - CD 650 MB – CD drive size;
700 MB - CD 700 MB – CD drive size;
4482 MB - DVD+R – DVD drive size.
If you use the Number of parts parameter, the size of the parts is always displayed in bytes.
If Require a CRC32 verification file is enabled, Double Commander will create a text file with the name of the source file and the extension ".crc", which contains the name of the source file, its size and checksum (the CRC32 algorithm is used). This is an easy way to check that the file is combined correctly and its parts have not been changed during the move. If this file is not available, Double Commander will show a warning, but this will not prevent you from getting the original file (however, in this case, the program will not be able to add the original file extension).
On click OK button you get several files in the target directory. As a file extension, Double Commander uses sequential numbering of three or more (if it is needed) digits. To combine the file again, select the first part and click Combine files (cm_FileLinker). Or select all parts, you can also specify the order of split parts to combine.
This function is very useful, if you have small drives and large files. It is possible to move the file parts. Keep in mind, this tool does not create any specific container or archive, but just splits or glues the file, so parts of the file can be obtained and safely glued together by other programs.
Item Calculate check sum... (internal command cm_CheckSumCalc) is used to calculate the checksum to check files integrity. The following checksums are available: BLAKE2 (BLAKE2s, BLAKE2sp, BLAKE2b, BLAKE2bp), BLAKE3, CRC32, HAVAL, MD4, MD5, RIPEMD128, RIPEMD160, SFV, SHA, SHA2 (digest sizes 224, 256, 384 or 512 bits), SHA3 (digest sizes 224, 256, 384 or 512 bits), Tiger/192.
Save checksum file(s) to: – line specifies name and path to the calculated checksum.
Create separate checksum files for each file – if checksum calculates for multiple files, this option allows to create separate checksum files for each target file.
File format – allows to specify the line ending type and directory separator instead of the commonly used values in Windows (CRLF and "\") and Unix-like systems (LF and "/").
Choose your preferred checksum and – select algorithm which will calculate checksums.
Item Verify Checksum... (internal command cm_CheckSumVerify) will start verification the list of checksums from the checksum file under the cursor. Also you can run this command by double mouse clicking on the checksum file (or using the Enter key).
Double Commander can check files one by one: select the file, run this command, now enter its checksum (or paste from the clipboard) and select the algorithm.
You can use checksum files, which generated by other programs, but first make sure Double Commander supports their algorithm and format.
Item Wipe (internal command cm_Wipe) for secure deletion (shortcut Alt+Del by default): before deleting from the hard disk, the selected file will be renamed with a random name, and its contents will be overwritten three times (zeros, ones and random data). You can set number of wipe passes in Configuration > Options... > File operations. Directories and links will just be renamed before deleting.
Note: Some features of solid-state drives (garbage collection, TRIM) significantly complicate the recovery of deleted files or make it impossible, therefore, using the cm_Wipe command on an SSD can be a pointless waste of device resource.
Item Delete (internal command cm_Delete) – will delete the selected files or the file under the cursor to trash (recycle bin) or permanently. By default, Double Commander moves files to trash, you can change this in Configuration > Options... > File operations. Deleting to trash can might not be available for all platforms.
To delete files inside archive (in this case the files will be deleted directly), you need to add a suitable WCX plugin or configure an external archiver, also the archive format must support the delete operation.
Item Exit (internal command cm_Exit) – closes Double Commander.
There are some commands in this group with which you can select files in different ways.
First and second items Select a Group and Unselect a Group (internal commands cm_MarkPlus and cm_MarkMinus). These commands select groups of files by a mask. With this mask you can specify file names or extensions (you can specify several values separated by semicolons ";" without spaces). For example, select all files that have the .txt extension:
Also there is a drop-down list with masks history.
Third and fourth items Select All (internal command cm_MarkMarkAll) and Unselect All (internal command cm_MarkUnmarkAll). They make it possible to select or unselect all items from the panel quickly.
Fifth item is Invert Selection (internal command cm_MarkInvert). It makes currently selected files unselected and vice versa.
Sixth and seventh items Select All with the Same Extension (internal command cm_MarkCurrentExtension) and Unselect All with the Same Extension (internal command cm_UnmarkCurrentExtension). These functions help to select and unselect files with the same extension as the file under the cursor.
Eighth and ninth items Save Selection (internal command cm_SaveSelection) and Restore Selection (internal command cm_RestoreSelection). The first command will save in internal buffer current selected items. Then later, the second command could be use to re-select again the same items that were selected before.
Tenth and eleventh items Save Selection to File (internal command cm_SaveSelectionToFile) and Load Selection from File (internal command cm_LoadSelectionFromFile). Like the previous commands, but using a plain text file (one filename per line).
Twelfth item is Load Selection from Clipboard (internal command cm_LoadSelectionFromClip). Will select files and folders by the list from the clipboard (one filename per line).
Thirteenth and fourteenth items Copy Filename(s) to Clipboard (internal command cm_CopyNamesToClip) and Copy Filename(s) with Full Path (internal command cm_CopyFullNamesToClip). First command copies the selected file list to the clipboard, second copies too, but with full file paths.
Fifteenth item is Copy all shown columns (internal command cm_CopyFileDetailsToClip). Will copy file information of selected items onto the clipboard: one file per line and the contents of the columns will be tab-delimited.
The last item is Compare Directories (internal command cm_CompareDirectories). Will select the items, in both active and inactive panels, that are not present in the opposite panel (by default only files will be selected). Files with the same names will be compared by modification date, after that, newer files will be selected.
First item is Search (internal command cm_Search). This tool is designed to search for files and folders at the specified criteria. Can also be used to search by file content. See this page for detailed descriptions.
New search instance... (internal command cm_AddNewSearch) – opens a new instance of Search dialog window with default settings. It will also allow to launch a new search instance to search something else while a long search is in progress.
View current search instances (internal command cm_ViewSearches) – will show a window with a list of search instances with brief information (status, number of files found, if finished, and file mask) and the ability to switch to one of them.
Fourth item is Directory hotlist (internal command cm_DirHotList). This command is the same as pressing the "*" button.
Selecting this item we get a popup menu with the Directory Hotlist, in which we can choose:
switch current path of active frame to a pre-configured directory from a list your made;
add new bookmark: current directory, selected directory (more than one if needed) or directory under cursor;
configure existing bookmarks.
Please see the dedicated Directory Hotlist help page about how to use and configure it.
Synchronize dirs... (internal command cm_SyncDirs) open the directory synchronization tool: the directories of the left and right panel will be scanned, you will see the differences in their content and you can make them the same.
Run Terminal (internal command cm_RunTerm) opens a terminal at the current directory (settings at Tools).
Execute internal command (internal command cm_DoAnyCmCommand) opens a window with a list of all internal commands and their description. Commands are grouped by category, quick filter and sorting are available: you can execute the selected command, copy its name, or open the Internal commands page (some commands support parameters).
Flat view (internal command cm_FlatView) will scan all the directories of panel to show all content in one single panel.
Open VFS List (internal command cm_OpenVirtualFileSystemList) will open a list of added file system plugins (WFX plugins) that use their own file systems or provide access to other file systems and devices (local or remote). As well as virtual folders:
Computer – contains a list of normal disks with a drive letter and devices that do not have a drive letter (for example, USB devices that are connected via the MTP protocol, i.e. smartphones, tablets or players). Windows only.
Linux – list of all Linux distributions that you added to WSL and their root file systems (Windows 10 and newer).
Network – used to access shared network resources (Windows only).
Recycle Bin – used to access files deleted to trash.
(The list is sorted alphabetically and depends on the language settings of the system and the program.)
Swap Panels (internal command cm_Exchange) swaps left and right file panels with all opened tabs.
Target = Source (internal command cm_TargetEqualSource) opens the same directory in the inactive file panel.
Show Occupied Space calculates and shows the total size of all files in the sub-folders of the current directory. The <DIR> text in the Size column of the active panel is replaced with the total size.
Network Connect – will open a list of added file system plugins (WFX plugins), as the Open VFS List command in the "Commands" menu.
Network Disconnect – will close the active network connection. Double Commander will close one of the following connections (in descending order of priority):
opened in the active panel;
opened in the inactive panel;
last created.
The next items are for Windows only.
Map Network Drive and Disconnect Network Drive – will call the Windows system dialogs to connect and disconnect network drives.
Copy names with UNC path – will copy the full file name on the network to the clipboard: server name, share name, and relative file path.
This group manages the tabbed file panels.
New Tab (internal command cm_NewTab) – adds a new tab on the active panel (with the current path) and switches to it.
Rename Tab (internal command cm_RenameTab) – allows to change the title of the current tab.
Open Folder in a New Tab (internal command cm_OpenDirInNewTab) – opens a new tab for the directory under the cursor, but does not switch to it (i.e. in the background).
Close Tab (internal command cm_CloseTab) – closes the active tab and switches the panel to the next tab (or the previous tab, if you close the last tab).
Close All Tabs (internal command cm_CloseAllTabs) – closes all inactive tabs. If they consist of locked tabs, it will prompt for confirmation.
Close Duplicate Tabs (internal command cm_CloseDuplicateTabs) – Double Commander will check the list of opened tabs and close duplicate tabs (separately for each panel!), only the first of them will be saved (counting from the left).
Tab Options – Using this submenu you can change the state of the tab:
Normal (internal command cm_SetTabOptionNormal) – will make the tab normal: the usual tabs that Double Commander creates by default.
Locked (internal command cm_SetTabOptionPathLocked) – makes the tab locked, trying to change to another directory within this tab will prompt to open in a new tab.
Locked with Directory Changes Allowed (internal command cm_SetTabOptionPathResets) – if you lock a tab with this method, you can change to another directory within this tab, but after switching to another tab (or Double Commander is restarted) the tab will revert to the locked tabs original directory.
Locked with Directories Opened in New Tabs (internal command cm_SetTabOptionDirsInNewTab) – When you try to enter in any directory inside the panel, that one will be opened in a new tab.
The rest of the items of this submenu will do the same, but for all tabs at once.
Note: By default, Double Commander will not allow to close a locked tab without confirmation (Confirm close locked tabs in the Folder tabs settings section).
Switch to Next Tab (internal command cm_NextTab) and Switch to Previous Tab (internal command cm_PrevTab) – respectively switches to the tab on the right (next) and to the tab on the left (previous).
Save Tabs to File (internal command cm_SaveTabs) and Load Tabs from File (internal command cm_LoadTabs) – The names of the current tabs and their associated directories can be saved in a .tab file and loaded from such a file.
Save current tabs to a New Favorite Tabs (internal command cm_SaveFavoriteTabs) – will save in the set of Favorite Tabs the current opened tabs. Later on, on request, you may reload these saved setup using the next menu item.
Load tabs from Favorite Tabs (internal command cm_LoadFavoriteTabs) – will show a popup menu with the ability to select one of the previously saved sets of tabs.
The last two items are for quick jump to the folder tabs and Favorite Tabs settings sections.
This menu contains a list of your saved Favorite Tabs and some commands for working with them.
Favorite Tabs are saved sets of tabs that grouped according to criteria convenient for you (work, projects, hobbies, and so on), they allow to open all the necessary directories in tabs at once.
Save current tabs to a New Favorite Tabs (internal command cm_SaveFavoriteTabs) – will save in the set of Favorite Tabs the current opened tabs.
Resave on the last Favorite Tabs loaded (internal command cm_ResaveFavoriteTabs) – will resave the current tabs configuration over the last loaded Favorites Tabs entry.
Reload the last Favorite Tabs loaded (internal command cm_ReloadFavoriteTabs) – reload again the last Favorite Tabs setup that was loaded, i.e. this command is used to restore a saved set "as is".
The next item Configuration of Favorite Tabs is for quick jump to the Favorite Tabs settings section.
To unload the last loaded Favorite Tabs, use the cm_LoadFavoriteTabs command with setup="" (add a button to the toolbar or a hotkey). The currently open tabs will not be affected, this command will just unload the name of the used set of Favorite Tabs from memory and Double Commander will continue to work as usual.
Manages the displayed contents of the file panels.
The first three items allow to switch the view of the file list: Brief view (internal command cm_BriefView), Full (internal command cm_ColumnsView) and Thumbnails (internal command cm_ThumbnailsView). See below for details.
Quick View Panel (internal command cm_QuickView) – opens file in viewer program, but content of selected item shown in opposite panel (instead of a separate window). See more details here.
Tree View Panel (internal command cm_TreeView) – shows the directory tree for the active file panel. Internal command cm_FocusTreeView switches focus between current file list and tree (shortcut Shift+Tab by default).
The next five items: Sort by Name (internal command cm_SortByName), Sort by Extension (internal command cm_SortByExt), Sort by Size (internal command cm_SortBySize), Sort by Date (internal command cm_SortByDate), Sort by Attributes (internal command cm_SortByAttr) – allows to choose different sorting orders for the files. Also you can click the left mouse button on the column headers to change the sort order.
Reverse Order (internal command cm_ReverseOrder) – invert the sort order for the active panel.
Refresh (internal command cm_Refresh) – Double Commander will reread the contents of the directory in the active panel.
Show Hidden/System Files (internal command cm_ShowSysFiles) – controls the display of files and folders, which have the "hidden" or "system" attribute (Windows) or the name with a dot character in the beginning (Linux and other Unix-like systems). Same as the setting in the configuration – Show system and hidden files.
Horizontal Panels Mode (internal command cm_HorizontalFilePanels) – sets the position of file panels: two vertical ones disposed in left/right or two horizontal ones disposed in top/bottom.
Operations Viewer (internal command cm_OperationsViewer) – shows a window with a list of file operations. You can change the order of operations in the queue, stop or pause a task.
First item is Options (internal command cm_Options), it opens the "Options" window, see description on dedicated help page.
Other items: quick jump to some settings sections (Directory Hotlist, Favorite Tabs, file associations, folder tabs and archivers) and commands Save Position and Save Settings.
Here you can get help information (this documentation) and information about the program:
Contents – opens help index page.
Keyboard – opens keyboard shortcuts page.
Visit Double Commander Web page – go to project homepage if you are online.
About – shows information about the program version and the developers.
The toolbar is holding buttons to execute internal command and launch our applications.
A default configuration is propose but we will certainly each and every one configure it to our needs since it's probably the most configurable part of Double Commander.
That's why a dedicated page is made just for that under this link.
The Drives button bar helps you to change the drive quickly with one mouse click. Middle mouse (mouse wheel) click will open the disk in a new tab in the active panel.
Right click shows the context menu that contains operations such as mount/unmount, format, etc. (depends on the OS and drive type).
The last button is Open VFS list.
Helps to change drive, also contains additional information (size, free space) and navigation buttons – « * \ .. ~ < ».
Internal commands are cm_LeftOpenDrives for left panel and cm_RightOpenDrives – for right panel. Default shortcuts: Alt+F1 and Alt+F2, but they won't work in most Linux Desktop Environments (just open the Keys > Hot keys settings section and replace them).
Internal command cm_SrcOpenDrives will show this menu for active panel.
Additional navigation buttons:
"*" – shows the bookmarks hotlist, see the dedicated Directory Hotlist help page for details;
"\" or "/" – go to the root of the current drive (Windows) or to the file system root (Linux and other Unix-like systems). Exceptions:
".." – go to the parent directory;
"~" – go to your home directory;
"<" and ">" – commands cm_LeftEqualRight and cm_RightEqualLeft.
Display tabs. Click on tabs with left mouse or you can use the keyboard to navigate tabs (Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab by default). To change the order of the tabs, use drag & drop or the cm_MoveTabLeft and cm_MoveTabRight commands.
You can protect tabs from closing or changing the directory, the available tab states are described in the "Tabs" subsection. Locked tabs are marked with an asterisk (if Show locked tabs with an asterisk * is enabled).
Displays the directory opened in the file panel.
A left mouse click on this directory bar drops down a directories history (internal command cm_DirHistory) which allows to quickly navigate back to previous directories:
A right mouse click on the directory bar will allow to copy the pathname to the clipboard or enter a new path manually. You can use the keyboard instead of the mouse, just set a hotkey for the cm_EditPath command. Environment variables are supported, in Unix-like operating systems you can also use the tilde symbol "~" to indicate the current user's home directory.
A double click or middle mouse click drop down a directory hotlist.
It is now also possible to click on parts of the directory bar to quickly navigate back in the directory structure. Very handy if you want to go to a parent directory back many levels. This is known as a "breadcrumb" navigation feature.
Shows the column names. On left click sorts files by column. A small arrow to the left of the header text shows the sort direction. Also you can set the sort order for multiple columns by clicking on the header while holding down the Ctrl key. For example, try to sort files by extension, now click on the "Date" header with the Ctrl key: each file type will be sorted by date independently of the others.
The tabstop headers bar allows to change the width of the columns using the mouse, by default DC changes it for both panels and saves a new value for the next launches (see <AutoSaveWidth>).
On right click shows a menu to change and edit custom column style set.
Default, File count – existing styles.
Configure custom columns – opens Files views > Columns > Custom columns section.
The file panels display the names of the files in the current directory. Double Commander can arrange the file panels vertically (left/right, default) or horizontally (top/bottom), use the Horizontal Panels Mode item in the Show menu or Ctrl+Shift+H.
By default, the width of both panels is the same. The size is set as a percentage for the left (or top) panel, there are several ways to change it: just drag the panel separator with the mouse (the program will display the width of the left panel in the tooltip), use the right mouse button menu with fixed size ratios (20/80, 30/70, 40/60, 50/50, 60/40, 70/30, 80/20) or the cm_PanelsSplitterPerPos command.
General parameters for displaying the contents of file panels are collected in the Files views and Files views extra settings sections.
Several file list view modes are available.
Full – one file per line, with default or user defined columns. Instead of the size for folders and links, Double Commander displays <DIR> and <LNK>. Options are available in the Columns settings section, you can add or change column sets in the Custom columns section. The columns view is used in most illustrations.
Brief view – just the name of the files. If possible, more than one column. Options are available in the Files views > Brief settings section.
Thumbnails – files shown as small images. If possible, in more than one column. You can change the size of the thumbnails in the Miscellaneous settings section.
Double Commander can use the capabilities of the operating system to create thumbnails or create them itself. You can choose to allow the thumbnail cache to be saved to disk, or to keep it in memory only until the program is closed (see Miscellaneous).
The methods of creating thumbnails and the supported file formats depend on the family of the operating system.
Windows: Double Commander uses the capabilities of the operating system (as in Windows Explorer), WLX plugins with thumbnail creation support and supplements the list with image formats that are supported by the built-in viewer.
macOS: Double Commander uses the capabilities of the operating system (Quick Look) and supplements the list with image formats that are supported by the built-in viewer. The program also supports the OpenDocument format (.odt, .ods, .odp, .odg) and will try to create thumbnails (if files contains "Thumbnails/thumbnail.png") before using the Quick Look API.
Linux and other Unix-like systems: Double Commander creates thumbnails for the following formats:
image formats that are supported by the built-in viewer;
XCF image format (if ImageMagick library is available);
some popular video formats (if FFmpegthumbnailer library is available): .avi, .flv, .mkv, .mov, .mp4, .mpeg, .mpg, .vob, .webm, .wmv;
embedded cover art of MP3 files;
OpenDocument format (if files contains "Thumbnails/thumbnail.png"): .odt, .ods, .odp, .odg.
Double Commander also creates thumbnails for text files (plain text and other non-binary files). Thumbnails of these files are not saved to disk.
Double Commander can display file icons to the left of their names (enabled by default), which show file types and associations (system or internal) with programs. DC uses icons from its own icon theme and/or according to system settings (see the Icons settings section).
The program also allows to specify file types whose names should be a different color, see the Colors > File types settings section for more details.
The current file will be surrounded by a fine rectangle, with or without color fill, the names of the selected files will be displayed in red. You can change the colors used and appearance of the cursor in the Colors > File panels settings section.
Double Commander can show a tooltip when the mouse cursor is hovering over a file, see the Tooltips settings section for details.
There are several ways to select files.
To select a file or directory under the cursor, simply press the Insert key (after selection, Double Commander will automatically move the cursor to the next file) or the Space key. If you select a directory using the Space key, the program will calculate the total size of the directory and show it in the appropriate column.
You can choose left or right mouse button to select files:
Left button – The mouse works as in Windows Explorer, the right button is only used to open the context menu. In this mode, you can deselect all selected files by clicking on the name of any unselected file or on the ".." item. Also you can use the appropriate internal command (see below).
Right button – The left button works the same way, the right button allows to select files by clicking on the file name. A slightly longer hold of the right button will call the context menu of files. To select several consecutive files, you can hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse cursor over the list of files. To deselect all selected files, you can use the appropriate internal command (see below).
You can use a mouse click with modifier keys: Ctrl (select the next file, anywhere in the list) and Shift (add several consecutive files to selection). To select several consecutive files, you can hold down Shift and use the up and down keys.
It is also possible to select files by clicking on their icons, you can enable this function in the Mouse settings section. At the same time Double Commander will move the cursor to the selected file, as when using a mouse click with the Ctrl key. This way in thumbnail view works when you click on left part (1/4 or 25%) of image, so you can set cursor without selection by mouse clicking on right image part. This function is convenient to use to deselect a large number of files: click on the icon of any selected file and then on its name.
You can completely disable selection with the mouse: the left button will only set the cursor, the right button will call the context menu.
Special commands are available for selecting and deselecting files, which allow to use different conditions: by name or part of the name, file type, attributes and more. Some of them have been added to the Mark menu, you can assign hotkeys or add buttons to the toolbar. Or open a window with a list and description of all internal commands (internal command cm_DoAnyCmCommand, Shift+F12 by default) and go to the Mark category.
Double Commander supports the ability to drag and drop files using the mouse (that is, with the left mouse button pressed) to the windows of external applications (for example, a text or graphics editor or viewer), to the toolbar and copying/moving files between directories. If the action is possible, the "+" symbol will be displayed near the mouse cursor.
When dragging a file to an empty place on the toolbar, a button with an external command will be created, the passed file will be used as a command. Dragging a file to a button is only possible if it is a button with an external command: the command will launched and the file will be passed to it as a launch parameter.
For file copy or move (using the Ctrl or Shift key) operations, the following targets are possible: the opposite file panel, any folder in the active or inactive panel (the folder name will be highlighted with a frame), the directory of any open tab (just drop the files on the header of the desired tab). Use ".." to copy files to the parent directory. Double Commander can also copy files to an archive if adding files is supported.
Dragging using the right mouse button will show the menu with the following actions: Copy, Move, Create link (hard link), Create symlink and Cancel. If several files are selected, Double Commander will offer to create a link only for the first file in the list.
You can create a symbolic link using Ctrl+Shift.
When you drag files to the window of another application, Double Commander uses the system implementation of drag & drop. Using the Alt key, you can call an alternative action (for example, when dragging a file into the Windows Explorer window, a shortcut will be created instead of copying the file).
The appearance and contents of the context menu of files (the right mouse button menu) depend on the family of the operating system. In Windows Double Commander uses the system context menu (as in Windows Explorer) with the "Actions" submenu (see below), in other operating systems Double Commander creates its own context menu with typical actions. If you prefer to use the right mouse button selection mode, then a slightly longer hold of the right button will be required to call this menu. You can use the internal command cm_ContextMenu to call the context menu (Shift+F10 by default).
Context menu of Double Commander in Linux and other Unix-like systems:
Open – Open the file under the cursor in the default program (system file associations will be used).
The Actions submenu – contains all the actions added to the file association for files with the file extension under the cursor. Also you can add a few additional actions.
The Open with submenu – contains a list of applications suitable for opening a file. To get the list in macOS, Double Commander uses the Launch Services API, in other systems the program follows the Desktop Menu specification.
The additional item Other...
macOS: will open a list of all installed applications.
Linux and other Unix-like systems: will open the application selection window, you can choose an application from a list of all available applications or manually specify the command line to open the file. Also here you can save an additional system association for the file type, add a new one or change the default application (Double Commander will use the ~/.config/mimeapps.list file (see Association between MIME types and applications).
Services – macOS only, an analogue of the "Services" system submenu.
Share... – macOS only, an analogue of the "Share" system submenu.
Pack here... – calls the command to pack the selected file(s), the current directory will be used as the target directory.
Extract here... – calls the command to unpack the selected file, the current directory will be used as the target directory. This item will be added only if the file extension is specified in the settings of archiver plugins or external archivers.
Calling basic file operations: Move (F6), Copy (F5), Delete (F8), Rename (F2).
Commands for copying and moving files using the clipboard: Cut, Copy, Paste
Show file properties – Show file properties window.
Clicking the right mouse button on an empty space in the file panel in Linux and other Unix-like systems calls a menu with the following items:
Refresh – the command to reread the contents of the directory in the panel.
The Sort by submenu – contains commands for switching the sorting method: by name, file extension, size, modification date or attributes. Also added the Reverse Order command which switches the sorting direction.
Paste – used to copy and move files using the clipboard.
The New submenu – contains commands for creating a directory (F7) and a text file (Shift+F4). Also this submenu contains templates for new files, if the system directory with templates exists and is not empty (not available in macOS).
Show file properties – Show the properties window of the current directory.
Context menu inside an open archive or a file system plugin (WFX) is always the same and does not depend on the operating system:
Open – Open a file in the default program, as when using a double-click or pressing Enter (internal and system file associations will be used). By default inside archives this command will show the properties window of the packed file (see Archive handling) where you can choose to open a file in an associated program, but Double Commander allows to configure the automatic opening of file in the associated program directly (use <AutoExtractOpenMask>).
View – Open file in viewer (F3).
Calling several file operations: Copy (F5), Rename (F2) and Delete (F8).
Show File Properties – Show file properties window. The content depends on the capabilities of the virtual file system. Inside archives, this will be the properties window of the packed file (see Archive handling).
Keep in mind that not all menu items will work in every case. For example, if some archive format does not support deleting files, Double Commander will ignore the choice of the Delete command.
When using the quick search/filter tool, its panel is displayed at the bottom of the file panel. Quick search is used to search through the current contents of the file panel: the cursor will be moved to the nearest matching file and when using the up arrow and down arrow keys, the program will move the cursor in a circle only over files whose names match the conditions. Quick filter will hide all file names that do not match the conditions (to reset the filter, use the Esc key or the "X" button).
Double Commander supports pinyin (the pinyin.tbl file in the program directory will be used).
You can set the way of call the quick search/filter panel in the Keys settings section, or use the cm_QuickSearch and cm_QuickFilter commands.
All parameters that have been changed in the quick search panel will be kept for the next quick search/filter call (before closing the program), you can change it and the default values in the Quick search/filter settings section.
Filter – search/filter switch;
{ – name must start with first typed characters;
} – last characters before a typed dot "." must match;
Aa – case sensitive;
F – filter files;
D – filter directories;
X – disable quick search and close the panel.
Shows some details about the contents of the file panel.
If the columns view is set, the status bar displays the size of the selected files and their number and the total number and size of files in the panel.
If the brief view or thumbnails view are set, the file name under the cursor, its size, modification date and attributes are displayed here. If there are files selected, the status bar displays the same information as in the columns view.
If the flat view (without subdirectories) is enabled, then the file name under the cursor is displayed here with a relative path. If there are files selected, the status bar displays the same information as in the columns view.
Use to enter commands manually, you can quickly run or open a file in the current directory or in the PATH (with additional parameters if necessary).
Path to active directory shows in line beginning (C:\Program Files\Double Commander\ in screenshot). The button on the right with an arrow opens the history of the entered commands. Use Shift+Del to remove unnecessary entries from the history.
Several internal commands are available for working with the command line, also see the typing options in the Keys settings section.
If the command line is hidden in the settings, you can still use it. In this case, the command line will be automatically hidden after the command is run. You can hide it using the Esc key (if the input field is empty) or just move the cursor to the file panel (or switch the focus in another way).
Environment variables are supported, in Unix-like operating systems you can also use the tilde symbol "~" to indicate the current user's home directory.
Double Commander independently handles the "cd" command, you can use it to change the current directory in the active panel. If you use a path with the file name, Double Commander will change directory and place the cursor on this file. If you specify only a file name, Double Commander will place the cursor on this file in the current directory.
You can use slash: cd \ to go to the root of the current drive (Windows) and cd / to go to the root of the file system (Linux and other Unix-like systems).
In Windows, you can change the drive by simply specifying the drive letter and a colon: c:, d: and so on.
Right mouse click will show the usual input box menu that contains standard commands Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Select All and submenu Insert Unicode Control Character.
Displays F3-F9 hotkeys. Enables you to select commands with a mouse click.
Created by Rustem (dok_rust@bk.ru)
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