Fileshelf

A fast, modern Linux file manager built for large folders.

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Fileshelf combines a compact desktop interface with bounded filesystem work, virtualized rendering, live directory watching, and safe file operations. It is designed to stay responsive when browsing folders containing thousands of entries without giving up useful desktop file-manager features.

Preview

Features

Workspace	Files and navigation
Up to 12 independent folder tabs	Back, forward, up, reload, and breadcrumbs
Per-tab history, search, filter, selection, and scroll	Quick Access, recent folders, and pinned items
List and virtualized grid views	Search, sorting, and live type counts
Cached image thumbnails for visible tiles	Native directory watching with preserved view state

Operations	Appearance and performance
Create files and folders; recursive copy, cut, move, and paste	Graphite, Linen, Moss, and custom palettes
Rename, reveal, copy path, and move to Trash	Bounded metadata and thumbnail worker pools
Collision-safe transfers without silent overwrite	Directory and thumbnail caching
Cross-filesystem move fallback	Graceful icon fallbacks for unsupported images

Download and install

Download the current packages from the latest GitHub release.

Debian, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint

sudo apt install ./Fileshelf-1.0.0-amd64.deb

Launch Fileshelf from the application menu or run fileshelf. Remove the application while keeping user preferences with:

sudo apt remove fileshelf

AppImage

chmod +x Fileshelf-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage
./Fileshelf-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage

Verify either download with the attached checksum manifest:

sha256sum --check SHA256SUMS

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action	Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New file	Ctrl+Shift+N	New folder
Ctrl+T	New tab	Ctrl+W	Close tab
Ctrl+Tab	Next tab	Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Previous tab
Ctrl+C/X/V	Copy, cut, paste	Ctrl+D	Pin or unpin
Alt+Left/Right	Folder history	Backspace	Parent folder
/	Focus search	Ctrl+R	Reload folder
F2	Rename	Delete	Move to Trash
Enter	Open selection	Arrow keys	Move selection

Middle-click a folder to open it in a new tab. Middle-click a tab to close it.

Build from source

Requirements

• 64-bit Linux
• Node.js 18 or newer
• npm

git clone https://github.com/moeenScape/Fileshelf.git
cd Fileshelf
npm install
npm start

Fileshelf opens in ~/Downloads. All privileged filesystem work stays in the Electron main process; the context-isolated renderer receives only the narrow operations exposed by preload.js.

Project structure

build/icon.svg          Linux application and README icon
main.js                 Electron lifecycle, filesystem, watchers, and caches
preload.js              Context-isolated renderer API
renderer/index.html     Application structure
renderer/renderer.js    Navigation, tabs, filtering, and interactions
renderer/styles.css     Themes, components, grid, and thumbnail presentation
docs/screenshots/       README screenshots and preview assets

Build Linux packages

Electron Builder outputs release artifacts to the ignored dist/ directory.

npm ci
npm run dist
npm run checksums
sha256sum --check dist/SHA256SUMS

Command	Output
npm run pack	Unpacked application for validation
npm run dist	Debian package and AppImage
npm run dist:deb	Debian package only
npm run dist:appimage	AppImage only
npm run checksums	dist/SHA256SUMS

Maintainer: publish a GitHub release

Releases are tag-based. Keep the version in package.json synchronized with the tag and never commit the generated dist/ directory.

git add AGENTS.md README.md main.js package.json package-lock.json build docs
git commit -m "Release Fileshelf 1.0.0"
git push origin main

git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Fileshelf 1.0.0"
git push origin v1.0.0

Open the new release page, choose v1.0.0, and attach:

dist/Fileshelf-1.0.0-amd64.deb
dist/Fileshelf-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage
dist/SHA256SUMS

Customization

• File categories: update CATEGORY_EXT, CATEGORY_META, ICONS, and matching --cat-* tokens together.
• Theme presets and tokens: edit renderer/styles.css.
• Virtualization dimensions: edit ROW_HEIGHT_LIST, GRID_ITEM_W, and GRID_ITEM_H in renderer/renderer.js.

License

Fileshelf is distributed under the MIT License.