Windows Explorer is a file manager and as such it is probably the most used Windows application. Or how would you access your files without a file manager? While most users eventually find out that Windows Explorer has its shortcomings, few realize that there are alternatives or ways to dramatically improve it.
For most people, ditching an application that they have grown so used to as Windows Explorer, is a tough step. But why switch to a completely new tool if the familiar one can simply be enhanced? This is where FilerFrog comes in, a free application that adds several incredibly useful features to the Windows Explorer that will make working with files a breeze.
How Does FilerFrog Change Windows Explorer?
To be exact, FilerFrog is a shell extension that integrates with Windows Explorer. It adds additional features to the Windows file manager, without dramatically changing or even replacing it. In fact, FilerFrog is very unobtrusive.After installing the application and rebooting your computer, you will notice the FilerFrog item in the right-click menu, i.e. in the Windows Explorer menu.
What Does FilerFrog Do?
Hiding behind the FilerFrog item in the Windows Explorer menu are powerful tools that you will never want to live without again! Once you get a first look at the menu, it becomes obvious just how many operations this little tool puts at your fingertips.
> Organize > Extract Files To Folder
With this feature you can easily create a new folder and move selected files and/or folders to it in one step. The new folder will be created on the same level as the selected files and/or folders that will go into it. The operation > Extract Files to Folder completes the opposite maneuver.> Organize > Copy / Move
Instead of clumsily copying and pasting files or dragging them from one open folder to another folder next to it, you can now simply copy or move them by using FilerFrog and browsing to the desired location.I think that all features grouped under the > Organize submenu are ingenious! How about the other submenus?
> Sort Desktop
The name of this item is a little misleading. It actually doesn’t allow you to sort the desktop. Instead, it allows you to manage the color scheme of your desktop.
> List Of Files
Following this path you can not just simply create a list of files in any folder, you can create either a detailed or a simple list of selected files, including or excluding the full path.
> Security
With FilerFrog you can encrypt files and protect them with a password.> Split and Join
Ever needed to split files to burn them onto multiple CDs or send them via email? FilerFrog lets you split and join files, either using predefined file sizes or a custom split file size.
> Rename
The Rename category opens the doors to various ways of batch-renaming your files. For example > Find and Replace allows you to identify a common item in the name of several files and then replace that item with whatever you choose. Using > Append you can add a word to the beginning and/or end of a file name.
> Image Manipulation
Going through this submenu you can resize images, convert them to Jpeg at the same time, or add a logo.
> Image Album
Very simple but fantastic feature to quickly pack selected photos into a PDF document, ready to share with friends and family.
Can I Customize FilerFrog?
You bet! You have two options for customization. First of all, you can put your most used and hence favorite items into the Favorites submenu. If you find the path to this submenu too far, you can click the > Settings submenu and select > Show favorites in main menu (hide all other menus).
In both cases you need to actually define your favorites. Simply click the > Manage Favorites item and a window that allows you to drag items over into the Favorites menu will open.
The resulting menu could look like this:
So this was a quick FilerFrog review in a nutshell. If you need more detailed explanations, I recommend reading the excellent Help file, which also holds various examples for how you could use selected operations.
MakeUseOf has previously covered alternatives for Windows Explorer:
Have you experimented with alternatives to Windows Explorer or shell extensions? What are the features you think are missing from this extension or other file managers?
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