Far Manager is one of those tools that has outlived dozens of flashier file managers — and not by accident. It runs in a terminal window, doesn’t care for mouse input, and doesn’t break when the GUI crashes or refuses to load. For people who work close to the system, especially on Windows boxes with no Explorer or where RDP is slow and choppy, it just works.
No splash screens. No animations. No bloat. Two panes, a status line, hotkeys that haven’t changed in 20 years — and a plugin system that quietly handles everything from FTP to syntax highlighting.
What It Can Do
| Feature | Practical Benefit |
| Classic dual-panel layout | Quick jumps between folders, no point-and-click delay |
| Panel filtering | Hide noise, work with just what matters |
| Plugin-based architecture | Add support for archives, remote systems, even git status |
| Internal editor + viewer | Review configs or logs without leaving the terminal |
| Works in any terminal | CMD, ConEmu, Windows Terminal, serial line — doesn’t matter |
| Fast startup, low RAM use | Keeps up on RDP and PE boots with minimal system resources |
Where It’s Actually Used
It shows up in unexpected places: domain controllers, low-bandwidth RDP sessions, USB recovery sticks, old rack servers running Server 2008, VM snapshots that barely boot.
In short — Far is the tool that gets launched when everything else stops responding. Or when nothing else is installed. Or when the user simply prefers key commands over drag-and-drop.
Install It and Go
Available as an installer or a ZIP archive — portable, no setup needed. Drop it in C:\Tools, run far.exe, done. Plugins go in the /Plugins folder. Config is saved as .ini — versionable, editable, shareable.
It works on anything from Windows 7 to Server 2025. Unicode build is solid. x64 is stable. No dependencies required — no .NET, no Java, nothing.
Strengths
– Runs in a terminal — doesn’t depend on shell or window manager
– No fluff: just navigation, editing, file ops, fast and reliable
– Macro recorder built in — automate renames, cleanups, whatever
– Plugin ecosystem still alive — community maintains FTP, git, etc.
– One of the few tools that feels faster the more you use it
Weak Spots
– Looks intimidating at first — the UI hasn’t changed since NT 4.0
– Lacks GUI features like previews or thumbnails (and that’s fine)
– Needs some tuning for UTF-8 in certain terminals
– Not designed for touchscreens, obviously
– Some old plugins may break on latest Windows versions
Final Notes
Far Manager isn’t trying to be sleek or beginner-friendly. It’s a console interface for people who want their file ops fast, repeatable, and close to the system core. When Explorer fails to start, or when the GUI just adds latency, this thing is already open. And still waiting for input.
