tfx for Windows

Terminal-inspired interface File eXplorer Pronunciation: Tafix Version: 0.10.2

A keyboard-friendly, dark-themed file explorer for Windows. C# / WPF port of the macOS edition at https://github.com/fukuyori/tfx.

Repository: https://github.com/fukuyori/tfx-for-windows
Author: fukuyori (self@spumoni.org)
Release notes: CHANGELOG.md
Development roadmap: docs/roadmap.md
Configuration guide: docs/configuration.md / 日本語
Contributing guide: docs/contributing.md

Screenshots

Single-pane view with the sidebar (pinned folders, disks with usage bars, folder tree):

Split view with the rendered Markdown preview, the Windows 11–style context menu, and the built-in terminal pane:

Colors, fonts, and the terminal palette are fully themeable via config.toml:

Highlights

Two file panes (single or split) with independent navigation history; the active pane is outlined with a bright green border
Folder tree sidebar (toolbar show/hide toggle and collapse-all button; single-click shows a folder in the list, double-click expands / collapses it) plus persistent pinned folders. Files can be dropped onto a tree folder — same drive moves, across drives copies (modifier keys and the right-drag menu work as in the panes); a folder can't be dropped into its own subtree, and hovering a collapsed node auto-expands it
Sidebar DISKS section: every ready drive with a usage bar (free / total in the tooltip); clicking a disk opens that drive in the active file pane
Editable address bar with clickable breadcrumb segments and free-text input
Two view modes: Details (multi-column metadata) and Icons (large-icon grid), with monochrome, theme-aware file-type icons
New File (.txt) / New Folder with Explorer-style inline naming — type the name and press Enter, or click the empty list area to confirm; inline rename; drag-and-drop with full Windows modifier-key conventions and an Explorer-style translucent drag preview; shortcut (.lnk) creation
Copy / move / paste through the Windows shell: the standard progress dialog (time remaining, speed, cancel) appears for long operations, with native replace / skip / keep-both conflict prompts (copying into the same folder makes a "- Copy"); lists refresh in place, preserving the selection and keyboard focus
Paste clipboard content as a new file when the clipboard holds no files: spreadsheet/CSV → .csv, image → .png (incl. the DIB/DIBV5 scanners and PDF viewers use), URL → .url, rich text → .rtf, text → .txt. A "Paste special" context submenu lets you choose the format (including HTML)
Zip compression and extraction from the file pane or context menu, plus read-only browsing inside .zip files (open, drag out to other apps)
Right-click context menu (Windows 11–style ordering), "Open with..." dialog, sortable columns, customizable column visibility and order
Image / text preview pane with rendered Markdown, HTML, CSV / TSV tables, and pretty-printed JSON (toggle between rendered view and source)
Multi-selection preview: when more than one item is selected, the preview pane shows a compact summary (count, combined size, per-item name / kind / size / modified) up to a cap of 8 entries
Recursive subfolder search: type a query in the search box and press Enter to walk the current folder's subtree on a background thread, streaming matches into the active pane. The status bar shows live progress — elapsed time, entries scanned, matches — and keeps the final summary while the results are on screen. Up / Down from the search box step through the results; Esc (in the search box or in the list) cancels and restores the real listing
Git working-copy integration: when inside a Git repository, file rows show a one-character status badge (M / A / ? / D / R / C / U) in the Git column and the current branch appears in the status bar as ⎇ name
USB / removable drive hot detection: the folder-tree drive list refreshes when devices are added or removed (via WM_DEVICECHANGE)
User-editable %APPDATA%\tfx\config.toml for tfx-compatible font, color, shortcut, startup, terminal, and per-extension open-with settings
Light and translucent themes from config.toml, including custom WPF chrome for transparent windows
Configurable terminal launcher: "Open Terminal here" opens at the active pane's folder by default, or uses a user-specified executable and optional argument template from Terminal Settings... or config.toml
Built-in terminal pane (xterm.js in WebView2, toggled with Ctrl+J): a real ConPTY shell docked at the window bottom — configurable shell / font / colors via config.toml [terminal], a header ^C interrupt button, copy / paste, and drag files from a pane onto it to insert their paths. Closing the pane keeps the session running so reopening resumes it (with its scrollback and pane height); the session ends only when the shell exits (e.g. you type exit)
Status bar with item counts, selection size, active drive's free space (cached and refreshed in the background to stay responsive on slow network drives), Git branch, and the current version
Japanese / English UI based on the OS UI language
All view state, paths, pinned folders, column layout, and view mode are persisted
File panes auto-refresh on external changes via FileSystemWatcher (with a low-frequency periodic fallback) and apply a diff so scroll position and selection are preserved

Toolbar

Buttons use Segoe Fluent Icons with Segoe MDL2 Assets fallback. Hover for tooltip + shortcut.

Group	Buttons
Navigation	Back, Forward, Up, Pin / unpin current folder
Drag / search	Empty drag area, Search, Focus search
View	View mode (Details / Icons), Toggle hidden files
Utility	Open Terminal here, Reload, Preview toggle, Split toggle, Swap panes, Settings menu (column settings moved to the column-header right-click menu)
Window	Minimize, maximize / restore, close
Status bar	Item count / selection size, current Git branch (if inside a working copy), free space on the active drive, version

File operations such as New Folder, New File, Rename, Zip, Copy, Cut, and Paste are available from the keyboard and context menu.

The native title bar is replaced by custom chrome when transparency is enabled. Drag the empty area in the top toolbar to move the window, double-click it to maximize or restore, and drag the right edge to resize the window width.

Keyboard

Key	Action
`Enter`	Open selected file / Enter selected folder
`Space`	Quick preview panel over the file panes (Space / Esc / Enter closes; Up / Down follow the selection)
`Backspace`	Parent folder
`Alt + Left` / `Alt + Right`	Back / Forward
`Alt + Up` / `Backspace`	Parent folder
`F2`	Inline rename (Details mode)
`Delete`	Move selection to Recycle Bin
`Shift + Delete`	Permanently delete selection
`Ctrl + C` / `Ctrl + X` / `Ctrl + V`	Copy / Cut / Paste
`Ctrl + Shift + V`	Paste clipboard text as a `.txt` file
`Ctrl + A`	Select all in active view
`Ctrl + Shift + N`	New folder
`Ctrl + N`	New file
`Ctrl + K`	Compress selected items to a zip archive
`Ctrl + Shift + E`	Extract selected zip archive(s)
`F5`	Reload
`Ctrl + F`	Focus Search (subfolder search — type and press Enter)
`Ctrl + L` / `F4`	Focus address bar (edit path)
`Tab` / `Shift + Tab`	Switch focus to the other file pane (split view only; only when focus is already in a pane)
`Left` / `Right`	Move focus between file panes (only when focus is already in a pane)
`Ctrl + 1`	Move focus to the file list
`Ctrl + 2`	Move focus to the terminal pane (opens it if hidden)
`Up` / `Down`	Move selection in active view
`Shift + Up` / `Shift + Down`	Extend selection (range)
`Ctrl + Shift + T`	Open Terminal in current folder
`Ctrl + Shift + .`	Toggle hidden files
`Ctrl + \`	Toggle split pane
`Ctrl + B`	Toggle folder tree (sidebar)
`Ctrl + Shift + B`	Collapse all folders in the tree
`Ctrl + Shift + P`	Toggle preview pane
`Ctrl + Shift + R`	Toggle rendered / source view (while a Markdown / HTML / CSV / JSON preview is shown)
`Ctrl + Shift + I`	Load images (local and external) for the current preview (when offered)
`Ctrl + Shift + X`	Swap left and right panes (split view only)
`Esc`	Cancel rename / clear search / exit address-bar edit

Mouse

Single click on tree node -> navigate active pane to that folder
Click on the expander triangle -> expand/collapse only (no navigate)
Single click on row / icon -> select; Ctrl / Shift for multi-select
Double-click on row / icon -> open
After entering a folder, the parent row (..) is selected and focused. When returning to the parent with .. or Backspace, the folder you came from is selected and focused.
Right-click -> context menu (Open, Open with..., Reveal, Pin / Unpin, Cut, Copy, Paste, Copy current path, Compress, Extract, New folder, New file, Open Terminal, Terminal Settings..., Rename, Trash, Delete permanently for the selected item)
Click on a breadcrumb segment -> jump to that ancestor
Click on the empty area of the address bar -> switch to free-text edit mode
Click column header -> sort by that column (toggle ascending / descending)
Drag the Name column boundary in the header -> resize the file-name column

Drag and drop

Works within tfx, between tfx and Windows Explorer, or any other app that exchanges FileDrop data.

Modifier	Effect	Cursor
(none)	Move within same drive, otherwise Copy	Move / Copy
`Shift`	Force Move	Move
`Ctrl`	Force Copy	Copy
`Alt`	Create shortcut (`.lnk`) at destination	Shortcut

After any drag-out (move or copy by external app), tfx refreshes both panes automatically. Name conflicts are resolved by appending (2), (3), and so on. Dragging an item back into the same folder with Move does nothing instead of creating a duplicate name.

Items dragged in from Explorer's Recycle Bin window (or cut there and pasted into tfx) are restored into the destination under their original names, as a Move regardless of modifier keys — the same shell operation Explorer performs.

Address bar

Each pane has its own address bar.

Breadcrumb mode (default): clickable path segments separated by >. Click any segment to jump there.
When a breadcrumb path is too long for the bar, the right end of the path remains visible and the left side is clipped.
Edit mode: double-click the breadcrumb bar, click the empty area of the bar, or press Ctrl + L / F4. Type a path and press Enter to navigate. Environment variables such as %USERPROFILE% and %TEMP% are expanded. Esc cancels.

View modes

Details - DataGrid with sortable columns: Name, Date modified, Type, Size, Date created, Owner, Attribute. Inline rename (F2) is available here. The Size column is right-aligned, text columns keep a small right-side gap, and only the Name column can be resized directly with the mouse. Visible columns and order are configured from the Columns popup.
Icons - WrapPanel of 32x32 shell icons with file names. Same selection / drag-drop / right-click behaviors as Details mode.

Toggle modes from the toolbar's view-mode button. The choice is remembered.

In Details mode, items are ordered as: parent (..) row first, then directories, then files. Sorting respects this priority.

Columns popup

Right-click a column header and choose Columns.... The popup stays open while you toggle items.

Check / uncheck a column to show / hide it
Up / Down arrows reorder columns. Order applies to both panes
At least one column must remain visible

You can also reorder columns by dragging their headers in the file list; the new order is mirrored to the other pane and saved.

Pinned folders

Sidebar PINNED section.

Pin / unpin current folder adds or removes the current folder of the active pane
Right-click > Unpin removes a pinned entry
Drag a pinned entry to reorder
Click an entry to navigate the active pane
Long paths are shown with a middle ellipsis, such as C: ... \Downloads, while the full path remains available as a tooltip.

Default pins on first run: User profile, Desktop, Documents, Downloads.

Zip archives

Compress to Zip creates <selected-name>.zip for one item, or Archive.zip for multiple items. Name conflicts are resolved with (2), (3), and so on.
Extract Zip extracts each selected .zip into a same-named folder in the current pane.
Browse inside zip: open a .zip with Enter or double-click to navigate into it like a folder. Subfolders inside the archive are also navigable, the breadcrumb bar shows each zip level as a clickable segment, and the parent (..) row at the zip root returns to the filesystem.
Open / drag out of zip entries: opening a file inside the archive extracts it on demand to %TEMP%\tfx\archive-<id>\… and launches it with the system default app. Dragging entries out to Explorer or another app sets a FileDrop payload with the extracted temp paths (Copy effect only).
The temp extraction folder is created lazily on first use and removed when the window is closed.
Zip-internal editing is not supported. While the current path is inside a zip, the destructive context-menu items and shortcuts (Cut / Paste / Rename / Recycle Bin / Delete / Compress / Extract / New File / New Folder / Open Terminal here) are disabled, drops into the pane are rejected, and pinning the current archive folder is a no-op.

Status bar

Position	Content
Left	`<path> N items` (or `<path> K of N selected (combined size)` when something is selected)
Right	`<drive> <free> free of <total>` for the active pane's drive, followed by the current version

The parent (..) row is excluded from counts and size sums.

Command-line options

tfx [options] [folder]

Option	Long form	Effect
`-h`	`--help`	Show help and exit
`-v`	`--version`	Print the version (`tfx X.Y.Z`) and exit
`-1`	`--single`	Start in single-pane layout
`-2`	`--split`	Start in split (two-pane) layout
`-r`	`--restore`	Restore the saved layout
`-p`	`--preview`	Show the preview pane
`-P`	`--no-preview`	Hide the preview pane
`-t`	`--terminal`	Show the built-in terminal
`-T`	`--no-terminal`	Hide the built-in terminal
`-g G`	`--geometry=G`	Window geometry `[WxH][+X+Y]` (DIPs; `-X`/`-Y` = from right/bottom), e.g. `1200x800+100+50`

[folder] opens that folder in the left pane (supports ~ and %VARS%). Short flags can be combined, e.g. -2Pt. Command-line options take precedence over config.toml [startup] and the saved session state. A geometry also forces a normal (non-maximized) window.

--help and --version print to the terminal they were launched from, or to a message box when there is none. Their output can also be redirected or piped (tfx --version > file, tfx --version | Out-String). tfx is a GUI-subsystem executable, so the shell does not wait for it and a plain PowerShell assignment such as $v = tfx --version captures nothing; use tfx --version | Out-String or cmd /c tfx --version in scripts.

Example — split layout, preview hidden, terminal shown, ~/Downloads in the left pane:

tfx -2 -P -t ~/Downloads

Configuration

On startup, tfx creates %APPDATA%\tfx\config.toml when it does not already exist. This file uses the same version = 1 and section names as the macOS tfx configuration guide where the setting makes sense on Windows:

See docs/configuration.md for the full file format, supported keys, and examples.

The gear button in the title bar opens the settings menu: Edit config file... (also Ctrl+, / the file-pane context menu), Editor Settings..., and Terminal Settings.... Edit config file... opens config.toml in an editor: the one set via Editor Settings..., else the OS .toml association, else Notepad. tfx watches the file and re-applies saved changes immediately — shortcuts, colors, fonts, commands, and the terminal theme update without a restart. Exceptions: [startup] takes effect on the next launch, and the built-in terminal's shell and background transparency apply when the terminal pane is reopened.

Shortcut values use Windows-native modifier names such as ctrl, shift, and alt. Supported key names include single letters / digits, ., [, ], backslash, arrow keys, enter, tab, space, delete, backspace, and f1 through f24.

Supported sections are [font], [colors], [opacity], [shortcuts], [startup], [terminal], and [openWith]. [font] sets the UI and monospace fonts and base size, with optional per-pane overrides (fileList, preview, terminal, folderTree, each with a *Size) that fall back to mono. Color keys use the macOS tfx semantic names and are mapped onto WPF theme resources, including toolbar chrome, selection colors, inputs, scrollbars, and Markdown preview CSS. [opacity].background controls the transparent window surface. [startup] can force single/split layout, the visibility of the preview pane / terminal pane / folder tree, and explicit startup tabs through leftFolders / rightFolders. [terminal] app maps to the Windows executable or app alias, and [terminal] arguments is optional because tfx supplies cwd arguments for Windows Terminal, WezTerm, PowerShell, and pwsh. [openWith] maps an extension without the leading dot to an executable or app alias used when opening files of that type.

config.toml is intended for user-editable preferences. Session state is still saved automatically to %APPDATA%\tfx\settings.json on every change and on close.

Settings

Key	Description
`LeftPath`, `RightPath`	Current folder of each pane
`ActivePane`	Last active pane
`ShowSplit`, `ShowPreview`, `ShowHidden`	View toggles
`RenderMarkdownHtml`	Render Markdown / HTML / CSV / TSV / JSON previews (toggle in preview header)
`ShowPerformanceLogs`	Enable `PerformanceTrace` output to Debug / console. The `TFX_PERFORMANCE_LOGS=1` environment variable also turns this on and wins over the setting.
`Left`, `Top`, `Width`, `Height`, `IsMaximized`	Window placement
`SidebarWidth`, `PreviewWidth`, `LeftPaneRatio`	Pane layout
`TerminalCommand`	Executable to launch when invoking Open Terminal here. Empty (default) launches `wt.exe` at the active pane's folder and falls back to PowerShell if needed.
`TerminalArguments`	Argument template for the configured terminal command. Supports the `{path}` placeholder (replaced with the active pane's folder) and environment-variable expansion such as `%ProgramFiles%`. If omitted, tfx supplies cwd arguments for `wt.exe`, WezTerm, PowerShell, and pwsh.
`EnablePdfPreview`	Master toggle for the PDF preview pipeline. `false` skips all PDF rendering and shows only file metadata. Default `true`.
`PdfPreviewMaxBytes`	Skip rendering for PDFs larger than this. Default `524288000` (500 MB). Set to `0` for no limit.
`PdfRendererPath`	Absolute path to a user-pinned `pdftoppm.exe`. When set, takes priority over auto-detected installations. Empty (default) falls back to the auto-detection / built-in renderers described under PDF preview.
`AllowShellPdfThumbnail`	Allow the Windows shell PDF thumbnail provider (Adobe / Foxit / Edge etc.) to run in-process as a last-resort renderer. Default `true`; set `false` for a stricter security posture.
`PinnedFolders`	Pinned entries in display order
`VisibleFileColumns`	Which columns are visible (`Name` / `Git` / `DateModified` / `Type` / `Size` / `DateCreated` / `Owner` / `Attribute`)
`FileColumnOrder`	Column display order
`ViewMode`	`Details` or `Icons`

Delete the file to reset to defaults.

When hidden files are disabled, tfx hides both Windows Hidden-attribute entries and names that start with ., such as .git or .env.

Build

Requires .NET 10 SDK and Windows 10 / 11.

dotnet build

Runtime prerequisite: Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime

The built-in terminal pane and the Markdown / HTML preview render with WebView2, so the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime must be installed. It is preinstalled on Windows 11 and on up-to-date Windows 10, but may be missing on a clean Windows 10 image. If it is absent, opening the terminal pane shows a status-bar hint and the preview falls back to source view. Install the Evergreen runtime from https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=2124703 (or https://developer.microsoft.com/microsoft-edge/webview2/).

Run:

dotnet run -- "C:\path\to\folder"

The initial folder for the left pane is resolved in this order: (1) the first command-line argument if it is a valid directory, (2) the current working directory at startup when it is meaningful (not the executable's own folder, System32, or Windows), so launching Tfx.exe from a terminal opens the terminal's current folder, and (3) the previously saved path. If none apply, the user profile folder is used.

Tab layout is session-local by default. On the next launch, tfx starts with one tab per visible pane using the restored pane paths; previously open tab lists are not restored. When [startup] leftFolders / rightFolders are set in config.toml, those configured lists are used as startup tabs instead.

Publish a self-contained single-file Windows executable:

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true

Or build the release artifact:

.\scripts\build-release.ps1

The script writes artifacts\release\tfx-for-windows-<version>-win-x64\Tfx.exe. By default the app is published as a self-contained single executable. Existing files are overwritten in place; the release folder itself is not deleted.

Packaging

Both packaging scripts consume the already-built Tfx.exe above (run build-release.ps1 first) and read the version from Tfx.csproj.

# Portable ZIP -> artifacts\release\tfx-for-windows-<version>-win-x64-portable.zip
.\scripts\build-zip.ps1

# Installer -> artifacts\release\tfx-for-windows-<version>-setup.exe
.\scripts\build-installer.ps1

Both scripts accept -Sign to Authenticode-sign the binaries: the certificate is looked up in the certificate store by subject name (CODESIGN_CERT environment variable or -CertSubject), and signtool.exe from the Windows SDK is located automatically (or pass -SignToolPath). Tfx.exe is signed in place in the release folder, so whichever script runs first signs it and the other reuses the signed file; build-installer.ps1 -Sign additionally signs the uninstaller and setup.exe through Inno Setup. Each script verifies the signature before packaging.

The ZIP contains a single top-level folder with Tfx.exe, LICENSE, NOTICE, and the READMEs. The installer is built with Inno Setup 6 (winget install JRSoftware.InnoSetup); if ISCC.exe is not on PATH or in the default location, pass -IsccPath. The installer adds Start Menu (and optional desktop) shortcuts and an uninstaller, and installs to Program Files\tfx.

Project structure

Tfx.csproj
App.xaml / App.xaml.cs              Application bootstrap; brushes; default control styles
AssemblyInfo.cs                     WPF theme info
scripts/build-release.ps1           Release publish helper
scripts/build-zip.ps1               Portable ZIP packager (from built binary)
scripts/build-installer.ps1         Installer builder (Inno Setup; from built binary)
scripts/tfx.iss                     Inno Setup installer definition

src/Views/MainWindow/MainWindow.xaml
                                    Main window layout
src/Views/MainWindow/MainWindow.xaml.cs
                                    Core: fields, ctor, settings load/save, status helpers
src/Views/MainWindow/*.cs           MainWindow partial files split by feature:
                                    tree, pinned folders, navigation, path bar, pane,
                                    search (recursive walk), columns, preview, file ops,
                                    drag and drop, external actions, context menu,
                                    view mode, keyboard routing, auto-refresh, git status.
                                    `MainWindow.Pane.cs` defines a `Pane` enum + helpers
                                    (`PaneOf`, `GridOf`, `IconViewOf`, `ItemsOf`, `PathOf`,
                                    `ActivePane`) used across the partials to avoid
                                    `LeftGrid` / `RightGrid` ternaries.

src/Controls/PathBar.xaml           Breadcrumb + edit-mode address bar UserControl
src/Controls/PathBar.xaml.cs
src/Controls/MiddleEllipsisTextBlock.cs
                                    Width-based middle-ellipsis TextBlock for pinned folder paths

src/Models/FileItem.cs              File / folder model (INPC-aware GitStatusText) +
                                    factory + formatters
src/Models/FileItemComparer.cs      Sort comparer (parent -> dirs -> files, then by column)
src/Models/AppSettings.cs           Persisted settings POCO + ViewMode enum

src/Services/FsHelpers.cs           File system helpers (enumerate, hidden, name conflict,
                                    image / text detect, .lnk creation via WScript.Shell)
src/Services/IconCache.cs           Shell icon retrieval (small + large), per-extension cache
src/Services/WindowTheme.cs         DWM title-bar color integration
src/Services/ShellOpenWith.cs       `SHOpenWithDialog` P/Invoke wrapper
src/Services/ShellThumbnail.cs      `IShellItemImageFactory` wrapper (cache-only and
                                    generate modes via `SIIGBF_INCACHEONLY`)
src/Services/PdfPreviewRenderer.cs  Multi-stage PDF preview: disk cache + shell cache
                                    + external pdftoppm (Job-Object isolated) +
                                    Windows.Data.Pdf + shell thumbnail provider
src/Services/WinRtPdfRenderer.cs    Windows.Data.Pdf wrapper used by the renderer's
                                    fallback stage
src/Services/JobObject.cs           Win32 Job Object wrapper for the external pdftoppm
src/Services/GitStatusReader.cs     `git status --porcelain=v2` runner; `FindRoot` walk
                                    for `.git` ancestor

Tfx.Core/Tfx.Core.csproj            Pure-logic library (net10.0, no WPF). Contains
                                    `ArchivePath`, `CsvParser`, `JsonPrettyPrinter`,
                                    `GitStatusParser`, `PerformanceTrace`.

Tfx.Tests/Tfx.Tests.csproj          xUnit tests for the pure-logic types
                                    (`ArchivePathTests`, `CsvParserTests`,
                                    `JsonPrettyPrinterTests`, `GitStatusParserTests`)
                                    plus informational `Benchmarks/PerformanceBenchmarks.cs`.

MainWindow is a single class split into partial files by feature. All fields are declared in MainWindow.xaml.cs to keep state in one place.

PDF preview

tfx renders the first page of a PDF in the preview pane. Multiple renderer stages run in priority order; the first one that returns an image wins. The whole pipeline is skipped if EnablePdfPreview is false or the file is larger than PdfPreviewMaxBytes.

Stage	Source	When it runs
Disk cache	`%LocalAppData%\tfx\pdf-cache\<sha256>.png` (up to 200 entries, LRU)	Whenever a previously-rendered PDF is selected — survives app restarts
Shell cache (read-only)	Windows thumbnail cache that Explorer / other apps populated	Always
External `pdftoppm`	User-pinned path, then `%PATH%`, then well-known install locations	When a vendor-verified `pdftoppm.exe` is found
`Windows.Data.Pdf`	OS-shipped PDFium-derived renderer	When no external `pdftoppm` was found (fallback)
Shell thumbnail provider (in-process)	Adobe / Foxit / Edge etc. registered shell extension	Only when `AllowShellPdfThumbnail` is `true` (default)

External `pdftoppm` auto-detection

When PdfRendererPath is empty, tfx searches the following locations (in order) and uses the first executable whose FileVersionInfo metadata identifies it as Poppler / Xpdf / pdftoppm:

%PATH%
%ProgramFiles%\Calibre2\app\bin\pdftoppm.exe
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Calibre2\app\bin\pdftoppm.exe
%ProgramFiles%\poppler\bin\pdftoppm.exe / …\Library\bin\pdftoppm.exe
%LocalAppData%\Programs\poppler\bin\pdftoppm.exe / …\Library\bin\pdftoppm.exe
%UserProfile%\scoop\apps\poppler\current\bin\pdftoppm.exe / …\Library\bin\pdftoppm.exe
C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\pdftoppm.exe
%UserProfile%\miniforge3\Library\bin\pdftoppm.exe
%UserProfile%\anaconda3\Library\bin\pdftoppm.exe

Set PdfRendererPath in settings.json to an absolute path (with \\ escapes) to override the auto-detection. The external renderer runs in a separate process with a Job Object limit of 256 MB and an 8-second timeout, killed automatically when tfx exits.

Built-in `Windows.Data.Pdf`

When no external pdftoppm is found, tfx falls back to the PDFium-derived renderer shipped with Windows 10/11 (1809 baseline). No extra install needed; works on OneDrive / Google Drive virtual files because the OS resolves the content on demand when tfx opens the file stream.

Cloud-synced files

The shell thumbnail provider (Stage 5) returns 0x8004B2xx errors for OneDrive / Google Drive virtual files. tfx surfaces a hint suggesting either marking the file "Always keep on this device" or installing an external pdftoppm. The external pdftoppm and Windows.Data.Pdf stages both work on cloud-synced files without that workaround.

Notes and limitations

Delete-like operations move to the Recycle Bin by default. Use Shift + Delete for permanent removal.
Cross-volume directory moves are handled via Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FileSystem.MoveDirectory, which falls back to copy + delete.
PDF preview pipeline is documented under PDF preview. Short version: cache → external pdftoppm (auto-detected) → built-in Windows.Data.Pdf → shell thumbnail provider. Each layer can be disabled individually via settings.
Text preview detects UTF-8 with/without BOM, UTF-16 with BOM, EUC-JP, ISO-2022-JP (JIS), and Shift_JIS, and shows the detected encoding and newline style.
Markdown (.md) and HTML (.html, .htm) previews render via the embedded WebView2 control; a toggle button in the preview header switches between rendered view and source. Requires the Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime (preinstalled on Windows 11). The preview WebView2 has JavaScript disabled (IsScriptEnabled=false), Markdown is rendered with Markdig.DisableHtml() to strip inline <script> / javascript:, and rendered output is wrapped in a strict CSP (default-src 'none'; img-src data:; style-src 'unsafe-inline') so a hostile .md / .html cannot exfiltrate files or perform network requests.
Video previews are not implemented.
Inline rename (F2) is wired to the active Details view.
The DataGrid header drag-reorder is disabled by default style; use the Columns popup to keep both panes in sync.
Network locations work if mounted as drives or by typing UNC paths in the address bar.
Zip browsing is read-only. Entries previewed or opened are extracted on demand to %TEMP%\tfx\archive-<id>\… and the folder is cleaned up when the window closes. Nested zips are not auto-mounted; opening a .zip inside an archive extracts it first.
The configured terminal command is started via ShellExecute, so executables on PATH, registered app aliases (e.g. wt, pwsh, code), and .cmd / .bat / .lnk targets all work. If the configured command fails to start, the launcher silently falls back to powershell.exe so the user is never stuck with a broken configuration.
"Sync file list to terminal folder" — cwd detection: tfx resolves the terminal's current directory without printing anything to the prompt. For its built-in PowerShell it automatically injects an invisible OSC 9;9 cwd reporter at startup (passed as -EncodedCommand, run after your profile so it wraps oh-my-posh / Starship / a custom prompt, and only for real filesystem locations); tfx strips that sequence from the display, so nothing is shown. It also honours OSC 7 / OSC 9;9 emitted by any shell integration (Windows Terminal, oh-my-posh, Starship, …). Under wtmux it queries wtmux out-of-band (see below). Only when none of these is available — e.g. cmd or a custom shell that emits no cwd sequence — does it fall back to a visible [tfx:cwd]…[tfx:end] command. tfx navigates only when the resolved path is an existing directory.
"Sync file list to terminal folder" under wtmux: when running wtmux in the built-in terminal, tfx reads the current path from wtmux (display-message -p '#{pane_current_path}'). For wtmux to know the path, enable its prompt hook — set cwd_prompt_hook = true in wtmux's config.toml, or run wtmux -P on at startup. Without the hook wtmux reports its startup directory, so the sync lands on the wrong folder. The prompt hook wraps the shell prompt and emits an OSC 9;9 cwd notification on each prompt; it applies to PowerShell / cmd but not custom shells (e.g. wsl.exe), and it can interact with tools that replace the prompt or with raw-escape logging — see the wtmux docs for details. tfx itself only navigates when the reported path is an existing directory, so a non-filesystem or stale path is ignored rather than causing a wrong jump.
Git integration requires the git executable on PATH. Without it, the Git column stays empty and the branch label in the status bar is hidden. Runs git status --porcelain=v2 --branch --untracked-files=normal --no-renames with an 8-second timeout; the parser handles ordinary changes (X / Y status), untracked (?), conflicted (u), and ignored (!) entries, plus type-2 rename / copy records.
PDF previews are cached on disk under %LocalAppData%\tfx\pdf-cache\ (LRU, 200 entries). Re-selecting a previously-rendered PDF is essentially free even after restarting tfx; an external edit invalidates the cached entry automatically because the cache key includes the file's last-write time and length. The disk cache can be cleared by deleting that folder.

License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this software except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the LICENSE and NOTICE files for the full text.

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.claude		.claude
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
Assets		Assets
Tfx.Core		Tfx.Core
Tfx.Tests		Tfx.Tests
docs		docs
images		images
scripts		scripts
src		src
.gitignore		.gitignore
0fb9f59afa6627da616a.url		0fb9f59afa6627da616a.url
App.xaml		App.xaml
App.xaml.cs		App.xaml.cs
AssemblyInfo.cs		AssemblyInfo.cs
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CHECKLIST.md		CHECKLIST.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
NOTICE		NOTICE
README.ja.md		README.ja.md
README.md		README.md
Tfx.csproj		Tfx.csproj
Tfx.csproj.lscache		Tfx.csproj.lscache
tfx.sln		tfx.sln

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