Editing File manager (section)

===Concepts===
* The [[window (computing)|window]] displays the location currently being viewed.
* The location being viewed (the current directory) can be changed by the user by opening directories, pressing a ''back button'', typing a location, or using the additional pane with the navigation tree representing all or part of the filesystem.
* [[Icon (computing)|Icons]] represent files, programs, and directories.

The interface in a navigational file manager often resembles a [[web browser]], complete with ''back'' and ''forward'' buttons, and often ''reload'' buttons. Most also contain an address bar into which the file or directory path (or [[URI]]) can be typed.

Most navigational file managers have two panes, the left pane being a [[tree view]] of the filesystem. This means that unlike orthodox file managers, the two panes are asymmetrical in their content and use.

Selecting a directory in the Navigation pane on the left designates it as the current directory, displaying its contents in the Contents pane on the right. However, expanding (+) or collapsing (-) a portion of the tree without selecting a directory will not alter the contents of the right pane. The exception to this behavior applies when collapsing a parent of the current directory, in which case the selection is refocused on the collapsed parent directory, thus altering the list in the Contents pane.

The process of moving from one location to another need not open a new window. Several instances of the file manager can be opened simultaneously and communicate with each other via [[drag-and-drop]] and [[Clipboard (software)|clipboard]] operations, so it is possible to view several directories simultaneously and perform cut-and paste operations between instances.

File operations are based on drag-and-drop and editor metaphors: users can select and copy files or directories onto the clipboard and then paste them in a different place in the filesystem or even in a different instance of the file manager.

Notable examples of navigational file managers include:
* [[Directory Opus]]
* [[Dolphin (file manager)|Dolphin]] in [[KDE Software Compilation|KDE]]
* [[DOS Shell]] in [[MS-DOS]]/[[PC DOS]]
* [[File Manager (Windows)|File Manager]] in Windows
* [[Finder (software)|macOS Finder]]
* [[Nautilus (file manager)|Nautilus]] in [[GNOME]] (default since v2.30)
* [[File Explorer]] (Windows Explorer)
* [[PC Shell]] in [[PC Tools (software)|PC Tools]]
* [[ViewMAX]] in [[DR DOS]]
* [[XTree]] / [[ZTreeWin]]