What is powerdesk?

PowerDesk is a replacement file manager for Windows, built to take the place of the standard Windows Explorer with a tabbed, keyboard focused interface. It is an early release, version 0.1.0, so the core features work but the project itself says to expect some rough edges. It supports unlimited tabs you can drag to reorder, pin, or split, plus a dual pane mode for browsing two folders side by side. You can switch between grid, list, and gallery views with adjustable icon sizes, and search using natural language filters, saved searches, and a command palette. A transfer center shows copy and move progress with speed and time estimates, and lets you pause, resume, or cancel a transfer. Every file operation can be undone or redone. Beyond basic browsing, PowerDesk includes a file preview pane for images, video, audio, PDFs, Markdown, and syntax highlighted code, a file inspector that shows details like camera EXIF metadata and dominant color, and a folder analysis tool that breaks down storage use, finds duplicate files, and lists the largest files. It also bundles a clipboard manager with history and favorites, small built in tools like a QR code generator, a terminal, and a color picker, plus tags and color labels for organizing files, saved workspace layouts, eight color themes, and a plugin system with over fifteen extension points for adding your own features. It is built with Electron, React, Zustand, and TypeScript, and only targets Windows 10 and 11 for now, with no macOS or Linux support yet. You can download a portable zip or an installer, or build it from source with Node.js 18 or newer. The author is upfront that PowerDesk was built with heavy use of AI coding agents under their direction, including the documentation files. It is released under the MIT license, which allows free use including commercial use.