# Far Manager

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/far-manager/

5 people recommended Far Manager in Hacker News comments and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 6 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Keyboard-driven file manager that people prefer over GUI alternatives like Midnight Commander. Critics say it does too much and trails Total Commander.

Summary written by Claude from 6 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Better than other GUI file managers (1 comment in the sample): "I've yet to find a GUI file manager that is better than Midnight Commander/Far" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49481470))
- Preferred over Dos Navigator (1 comment in the sample): "Far Manager or Dos Navigator are much better IMO." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47016969))
- Newer version recommended (1 comment in the sample): "Far Manager for more modern version." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48373699))

## What people warn about

- Does too much for some users (1 comment in the sample): "I tried Dos Navigator and FAR but these did too much for my liking" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50132707))
- Worse than Total Commander (1 comment in the sample): "FAR Manager had to reinvent everything from scratch (including, ridiculously, picture thumbnails in a custom-built terminal) and it's still worse than Total Commander" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49493600))

## Other file managers people recommend

- [Dolphin file manager](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dolphin/): 66 recommend, 8 mixed, 16 criticize
- [Finder (macOS)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/finder/): 43 recommend, 18 mixed, 165 criticize
- [Midnight Commander](https://hackerapproved.com/p/midnight-commander/): 29 recommend, 5 mixed, 5 criticize
- [Windows Explorer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows-explorer/): 29 recommend, 4 mixed, 138 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Far Manager", https://hackerapproved.com/p/far-manager/ (5 recommend, 0 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.