12 Best Free file manager & File explorer apps for Android

When smartphones are getting smarter day by day, most people might forget about having a decent file manager, which can be useful for carrying out a handful of basic as well as professional tasks. Most smartphones come with a decent file manager, while there are even some manufacturers, which just dispose of their responsibility and provide a useless or a not so good file manager. But file managers or file explorers are pretty overlooked nowadays for galleries and music players, which give access to the most precious elements, most users use their smartphones for. But none of them can actually imitate the tasks of a file manager, which make a lot of tasks simpler.

On searching for file managers on the Google Play Store, you can find a lot of such apps from different developers, and most of them are pretty good, and keep their promise of offering a great user interface and features. But not all are great. So I am here to talk about the top 12 file managers for Android, which are worth using. I am writing the article after using all the file manager apps personally, to give you a better overview of the apps and do not miss out on any of the most important features each of them offer. Almost all the file managers I have listed here are free from ads and are supported on almost all the modern Android platforms.

So let’s get started with the list of best 12 file managers/file explorers for Android, which are worth using

File Manager

Well, simple and easy. The name of the app justifies its task without any tantrums. No superlatives to justify the functionality of the app, File Manager a pretty easy and simple to use app, which most users can use. I use it as my default file manager as it supports almost all the functionalities one might need from a file manager. Just like other file managers, File Manager comes with Downloads, Images, Video and Documents section to get all the files from those categories at one place.

Apart from that, you can also get the details about the apps installed, and the spaces consumed by them, which can be handy to cut apps off, from your life. Among other features, File Manager makes it easy to access the files, and modify the contents of it from a PC using FTP protocol, and access different cloud storage platforms from a unified platform. Lastly, File Manager also comes with the provision of opening image, video and music files within the same, without using a third-party app.

ES File Explorer File Manager

The second one in the list used to be one of my favorite file explorer apps a couple of years ago. Though ES File Explorer File Manager still holds its glory at present. Apart from offering the provision to open, move and copy files and folders, ES File Explorer File Manager for Android offers the functionality to send and receive files through WiFi, and view images and watch videos, listen to music from within the app. ES File Explorer File Manager has support for different compressed file formats like ZIP and RAR, and it is also pretty easy to access cloud storage platforms from within the app.

ES File Explorer support Google Drive, OneDrive, Yandex Drive, SugarSync and a number of other popular cloud storage services. There are some other exclusive features of ES File Explorer File Manager, which include Storage analyst, to analyze the storage and delete unnecessary files, transfer and receive files using SMB or FTP protocol, and an in-built note editor to edit text files. ES File Explorer File Manager also offers the option to clear the cache, and explore the root directory, if root access is available within the handset.

Solid Explorer File Manager

As the name suggests, Solid Explorer File Manager is really solid, and it can be the only file manager that might be needed by the pro users out there. Solid Explorer File Manager for Android is a file manager which comes with a suite of lucrative features, like batch renaming and others, which hardly any other file managers offer. Solid Explorer File Manager features the Google’s lovely material design user interface along with a handful of rich customization options. Moving back to the features it offers, Solid Explorer File Manager makes it easy to drag and drop between two Solid Explorer windows and has the ability to create and read encrypted ZIP and 7ZIP archives, which most users will surely appreciate.

It is also possible to access a PC connected to the same WiFi network and modify the files present on the cloud storage drives hassle-freely. Solid Explorer comes in a very small package even after offering a plethora of functionalities, and to avail more features, a number of extensions are plugins are available on the Google Play Store to do more. But everything comes with a price. You can use Solid Explorer File Manager for 14 days after which you will have to pay for it. But trust me, it is worth paying a few pennies for some of the powerful features it offers.

File Manager by Astro (No Ads)

Among the full-featured file manager apps available for Android, File Manager by Astro for Android is the one which is worth using. Astro File Manager offers a plethora of pro functionalities and the best one is the ability to view and extract compressed files like ZIP and RAR formats. File Manager by Astro keeps an eye on the internal storage of the handset to offer the functionality to move the files to SD card or external storage, or to cloud storage drives, whichever is good for the user.

File Manager by Astro also make it easy to manage the apps, and move them to the SD card, if the internal storage is running out of space. This feature might not be unique but is pretty helpful for smartphones with limited internal storage. File Manager by Astro has a decent inbuilt media player that support the opening of media files like images, videos or music, which can be pretty helpful for previewing purposes. Lastly, File Manager by Astro comes with a download manager to manage downloading of big files hassle-freely from the web. Considering all that, and its user-friendly interface, File Manager by Astro is worth downloading for getting a decent file managing experience.

Total Commander – File Manager

If you are looking for a plethora of features on your file manager, but the user interface is not a priority for you, Total Commander for Android is the most appropriate file manager you can use. Total Commander offers easy drag and drop, and comes with the provision to do more with separate plugins, which are available with the app. The app features a smart home screen, which customizes itself with the tasks done frequently by the user. Total Commander file manager, along with Paragon exFAT/NTFS app, can be used to modify contents on a USB device formatted in exFAT or NTFS format.

To know, how to do that, you can follow this (How to mount NTFS and HFS volumes on an Android device without root). Total Commander comes with a pre-installed media player, which can stream contents present on LAN or different cloud storage platforms. Total Commander file manager also offer the option to create archive files, which is yet another benefit, most users like. Even after offering such a great set of functionalities, Total Commander is available in a small package of only 2 MB. But the size might increase depending upon additional plugins an user download.

ASUS File Manager

If you are using an Asus handset, you might already know the power of Asus File Manager for Android. Asus File Manager is the default file manager on Asus smartphones, and is also available for download for the user of other handsets, as well. ASUS File Manager displays the space used and left on the internal storage and SD card on the app home screen each time the user opens the app. This can help the user delete the files, or manage the files in a way so that the storage space doesn’t get squeezed after a certain limit.

Just like other decent file managers, ASUS File Manager comes with all the basic functionalities like, accessing popular cloud storage platforms, access a PC hard drive through LAN or SMB and many more. ASUS File Manager also shows the spaces consumed by different types of files on a smartphone using a pie chart, which can also be helpful to monitor the storage space and keep away unnecessary files. The user interface of ASUS File Manager is highly customizable, which is yet another big reason ASUS File Manager is worth downloading. ASUS File Manager also has a hidden cabinet, where the user can keep all the private files safely.

MK Explorer (File manager)

If you love file transfer between two different windows and drag and drop files seamlessly between them, MK Explorer File manager for Android is the one you should go for. MK Explorer, just like other file managers is free from ads, and you will get a simple and good user interface. MK Explorer does not require any extra permission, which ensures, your privacy is in safe hands with the app. If you use your keyboard a lot, with your smartphone or tablet, which most users do, you will love MK Explorer File Manager for the easy keyboard shortcuts it come with.

MK Explorer allows creating shortcuts on the home screen, which can also be useful for a plethora of tasks. It is very easy to search for files with MK Explorer as it offers a fast search engine for files, which is pretty useful, as well. MK Explorer also shows the thumbnail of different types of media files and APKs. For tablets or devices with a screen size of 7 or 10 inches, MK Explorer is the most suitable one, as the user interface suits such screen sizes effortlessly. Everything makes MK Explorer worth using, for all class of users out there.

FX File Explorer (No Ads)

The next one on our list is the FX File Explorer (no ads), which is yet another great file manager with a plethora of functionalities. One of the special abilities of FX File Explorer for Android is the ability to execute a shell script, which is not found in other applications of its class. Among other features of FX File Explorer, it comes with a text editor which can be helpful for making some quick edits to generic text files. FX File Explorer offers the ability to create and open archives of numerous formats apart from the most basic zip and rar. The app also supports gzip, bzip, 7z, tar, and many other popular formats.

Moving on to file transfer, which is one of the most important requirements in file managers today, FX File Explorer support file transfer with Windows and other operating systems using different protocols like SMB. FX File Explorer for Android features a productivity-oriented home screen, which gives access to all the handy features of FX File Explorer in one place, making them easily accessible. FX File Explorer, just like other apps, is free from ads and comes with a decent set of system cleaning tools like cache cleaner.

File Manager by Xiaomi

The penultimate one in the list is File Manager by Xiaomi for Android. If you are a user of a Xiaomi device, you might have got this as the default file manager. But other users as well can avail the features supported by it. MI Drop is one of the best features of the file manager, which allow easy transfer of files between two devices supporting MI Drop. Though a default file manager for Xiaomi devices, it offers numerous functionalities, like the option to create and view archives files, and manage multiple files at a time at ease.

File Manager by Xiaomi offers OTG functionality to read and write files from a USB device, which is cool, as well. File Manager by Xiaomi also offers a set of nifty features like getting music, video, images and document files in the app home screen, and get a preview of the new files added to the local storage, which can be pretty handy, as well. File Manager by Xiaomi is pretty fluid and lightweight, which is yet another reason File Manager by Xiaomi is worth using.

Files Go by Google

Google has a suite of digital services, and Files Go is one of them, and it is somewhat more than just a mere file manager or explorer, whichever you might call it. Apart from basic file manager functionalities like moving and copying files from one location to the other, Files Go also make it possible to send files from one device to the other using WiFi, provided both the devices have Files Go installed. That is really simple.

Apart from that, Files Go also helps in clearing unnecessary files from the system, find and delete duplicate files, and many more. The USP of Files Go by Google is the simplicity it offers, to browse files, clean, store and share files. The user interface is pretty easy and is just like other Google apps. Even after offering such a great simplicity, Files Go also offers a number of handy features like switching hidden files visibility on and off quite easily. All that makes Files Go a decent secondary file explorer app for an Android device.

Amaze File Manager

Any Android app that’s free and open source gets instant bonus points in our books. Amaze File Manager follows up on that by delivering a file manager that may be less feature-rich than some of the other options on this list but makes up for it in a simplicity that lets you quickly browse what you need.

So that was the list. Hope the list was interesting to you. I tried to keep the best file managers available on the Google Play Store. Did I miss out any great file manager in the list of top 10 file browsers for Android? Feel free to comment it down below.

As is often the case with open source apps, there are a few bugs and kinks to iron out here and there, but that’s part of the parcel. We’re hoping that it receives another update soon.

MiXplorer

One of the best-kept secret file managers for Android, MiXplorer has long been a favorite of the XDA community, letting you not only explore files on your device but also across your entire personal network (including FTP, LAN and cloud-based storage). It packs plenty of customization, allows for robust tabbed browsing, and lets you create chains of commands using the “Tasks” feature.

You can easily view various formats of files thanks to an integrated reader that reads the EPub, MobiPacket and PDF formats, as well as a comprehensive media player, image viewer and text editor.

You don’t need to have a rooted device to use MiXplorer, but if you do, then even more functionality opens up in the form of data backup and extra management options. It’s ad-free, completely free, and supported by people who are really in the know.

X-Plore File Manager

It’s time to bring the pane – two panes that is. What’s unique about X-Plore is it gives you the option to handle windows at the same time by providing you with a dual-pane explorer so you can copy files across and compare two folders. In addition to all of this, it allows you to see inside APK files and to compress folders into APK packages.

It has a disk map that allows you to see which files eat up the most disk space and comes with its very own PDF viewer. You can wirelessly manage your files from a PC’s web-browser. It comes with cloud storage access and a video player that allows subtitles. This is all just the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks for Reading...

Masud Rana