macOS Finder's Miller Columns, reimagined for Windows.
For power users who switched to Windows but never stopped missing column view.
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Navigate folder hierarchies the way they were meant to be navigated. Click a folder, its contents appear in the next column. You always see where you are, where you came from, and where you're going — all at once. No more clicking back and forth.
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| Windows Explorer | LumiFinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Miller Columns | No | Yes — hierarchical multi-column navigation |
| Multi-Tab | Windows 11 only (basic) | Full tabs with tear-off, re-docking, duplication, session restore |
| Split View | No | Dual-pane with independent view modes |
| Preview Panel | Basic | 10+ file types — images, video, audio, code, hex, fonts, PDF |
| Keyboard Navigation | Limited | 30+ shortcuts, type-ahead search, full keyboard-first design |
| Batch Rename | No | Regex, prefix/suffix, sequential numbering |
| Undo/Redo | Limited | Full operation history (configurable depth) |
| Custom Accent | No | 10 preset colors + light / dark / system theme |
| Layout Density | No | 6-level row height + independent font/icon scale |
| Remote Connections | No | FTP, FTPS, SFTP with saved credentials |
| Workspaces | No | Save & restore named tab layouts instantly |
| File Shelf | No | Yoink-style drag & drop staging area |
| Cloud Status | Basic overlay | Real-time sync badges (OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox) |
| Startup Speed | Slow on large directories | Async loading with cancellation — zero lag |
Navigate deep folder hierarchies without losing context. Each column represents one level — click a folder and its contents appear in the next column. You always see where you are and where you came from.
- Draggable column separators for custom widths
- Auto-equalize columns (Ctrl+Shift+=) or auto-fit to content (Ctrl+Shift+-)
- Smooth horizontal scrolling that keeps the active column visible
- Stable layout — no scroll jitter on keyboard ↑/↓ navigation
- Miller Columns (Ctrl+1) — Hierarchical navigation, LumiFinder's signature
- Details (Ctrl+2) — Sortable table with name, date, type, size columns
- List (Ctrl+3) — Dense multi-column layout for scanning large directories
- Icons (Ctrl+4) — Grid view with 4 size options up to 256x256 thumbnails
- Open unlimited tabs, each with its own path, view mode, and history
- Tab tear-off & re-docking: Drag a tab out to create a new window, drag it back to re-dock — Chrome-style ghost tab indicator and semi-transparent window feedback
- Tab duplication: Clone a tab with its exact path and settings
- Session auto-save: Close the app, reopen it — every tab exactly where you left it
- Side-by-side file browsing with independent navigation per pane
- Each pane can use a different view mode (Miller left, Details right)
- Separate preview panels for each pane
- Drag files between panes for copy/move operations
Press Space for Quick Look (macOS Finder style):
- Arrow key & Space navigation: Browse files without closing Quick Look
- Window size persistence: Quick Look remembers its last size
- Images: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, WebP, TIFF with resolution and metadata
- Video: MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, WEBM with playback controls
- Audio: MP3, AAC, M4A with artist, album, duration info
- Text & Code: 30+ extensions with syntax display
- PDF: First page preview
- Fonts: Glyph samples with metadata
- Hex Binary: Raw byte view for developers
- Folders: Size, item count, creation date
- File hash: SHA256 checksum display with one-click copy (opt-in via Settings)
30+ keyboard shortcuts for users who keep their hands on the keyboard:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Arrow Keys | Navigate columns and items |
| Enter | Open folder or execute file |
| Space | Toggle preview panel |
| Ctrl+L / Alt+D | Edit address bar |
| Ctrl+F | Search |
| Ctrl+C / X / V | Copy / Cut / Paste |
| Ctrl+Z / Y | Undo / Redo |
| Ctrl+Shift+N | New folder |
| F2 | Rename (batch rename if multi-select) |
| Ctrl+T / W | New tab / Close tab |
| Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab | Cycle tabs forward / backward |
| Ctrl+1-4 | Switch view mode |
| Ctrl+Shift+E | Toggle split view |
| F6 | Switch split view pane |
| Ctrl+Shift+S | Save workspace |
| Ctrl+Shift+W | Open workspace palette |
| Ctrl+Shift+H | Toggle file extensions |
| Shift+F10 | Full native shell context menu |
| Delete | Move to Recycle Bin |
- Light / Dark / System theme tracking
- 10 Preset Accent Colors — override the accent of any theme with one click (Lumi Gold default)
- 6-Level Layout Density — XS / S / M / L / XL / XXL row heights
- Independent Font/Icon Scale — separate from row density
- 9 Languages: English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), German, Spanish, French, Portuguese (BR)
- Per-pane startup behavior — Open System Drive / Restore last session / Custom path, independently for left & right
- Startup view mode — choose Miller Columns / Details / List / Icons per pane
- Preview panel — enable on startup or toggle on demand with Space
- File Shelf — opt-in Yoink-style staging shelf, with optional persistence across sessions
- System tray — minimize to tray instead of closing
- Git status badges: Modified, Added, Deleted, Untracked per file
- Hex dump viewer: First 512 bytes in hex + ASCII
- Terminal integration: Ctrl+` opens terminal at current path
- Remote connections: FTP/FTPS/SFTP with encrypted credential storage
- Sync status badges: Cloud-only, Synced, Pending Upload, Syncing
- OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox detection out of the box
- Smart thumbnails: Uses cached previews — never triggers unwanted downloads
- Structured queries:
type:image,size:>100MB,date:today,ext:.pdf - Type-ahead: Start typing in any column to filter instantly
- Background processing: Search never freezes the UI
- Save current tabs: Right-click any tab → "Save tab layout..." or press Ctrl+Shift+S
- Restore instantly: Click the workspace button in the sidebar or press Ctrl+Shift+W
- Manage workspaces: Restore, rename, or delete saved layouts from the workspace menu
- Perfect for switching between work contexts — "Development", "Photo Editing", "Documents"
- macOS Yoink-style drag & drop staging area
- Drag files into the Shelf while you navigate, drop them where you need
- Deleting a Shelf item only removes the reference — your original file is never touched
- Disabled by default — enable in Settings > General > Remember Shelf items
Engineered for speed. Tested with 10,000+ items per folder.
- Async I/O everywhere — nothing blocks the UI thread
- Batch property updates with minimal overhead
- Debounced selection prevents redundant work during rapid navigation
- Per-tab caching — instant tab switching, no re-rendering
- Concurrent thumbnail loading with SemaphoreSlim throttling
| OS | Windows 10 version 1903+ / Windows 11 |
| Architecture | x64, ARM64 |
| Runtime | Windows App SDK 1.8 (.NET 8) |
| Recommended | Windows 11 for Mica backdrop |
# Prerequisites: Visual Studio 2022 with .NET Desktop + WinUI 3 workloads
# Clone
git clone https://github.com/LumiBearStudio/LumiFinder.git
cd LumiFinder
# Build
dotnet build src/LumiFiles/LumiFiles/LumiFiles.csproj -p:Platform=x64
# Run unit tests
dotnet test src/LumiFiles/LumiFiles.Tests/LumiFiles.Tests.csproj -p:Platform=x64Note: WinUI 3 apps cannot be launched via
dotnet run. Use Visual Studio F5 (MSIX packaging required).
Found a bug? Have a feature request? Open an issue — all feedback welcome.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for build setup, coding conventions, and PR guidelines.
If LumiFinder makes your file management better, consider:
- Sponsor on GitHub — buy me a coffee, a hamburger, or a steak
- Star this repo to help others discover it
- Share with colleagues who miss macOS Finder on Windows
- Report bugs — every issue report makes LumiFinder more stable
LumiFinder uses Sentry for crash reporting only — and you can turn it off.
- What we collect: Exception type, stack trace, OS version, app version
- What we DON'T collect: File names, folder paths, browsing history, personal information
- No usage analytics, no tracking, no ads
- All file paths in crash reports are automatically scrubbed before sending
SendDefaultPii = false— no IP addresses or user identifiers- Opt-out: Settings > Advanced > "Crash Reporting" toggle to disable completely
- Source code is open — verify yourself in
CrashReportingService.cs
See Privacy Policy for full details.
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.
Trademark: The "LumiFinder" name and official logo are trademarks of LumiBear Studio. Forks must use a different name and logo. See LICENSE.md for full trademark policy.
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