Version 0.3.3-alpha.0. This is an early alpha release, so expect rough edges.
Why do Linux users still need five separate utilities and a terminal to do normal filesystem work?
That's the question Kestrel sets out to answer, and why I'm building it.
A file manager for Ubuntu and Linux Mint that's easy to pick up and puts many jobs you'd normally do in a terminal into the window. It also adds quality-of-life improvements over GNOME Files. It's written in C++ with Qt 6.
Terminal jobs, in the window:
- Archives: create and extract 7z, zip, rar, zpaq and every tar format, with the options the command-line tools offer (level, method, threads, passwords, split volumes), and a preview of the exact command that will run. Double-click an archive to extract it.
- Admin rights only when needed: when an everyday file operation fails with "permission denied", choose Retry as Administrator and enter your password once per session, instead of running a file manager as root. It's for simple copies, moves, renames and deletes, not a replacement for the terminal for system administration.
- Permissions and links: permissions, including setuid, setgid and the sticky bit; symbolic, relative and hard links; and MD5/SHA checksums with verification. Double-click a checksum file (
.sfv,.md5,.sha256,SHA256SUMS…) to check every file it lists. Right-click files or folders and choose Create Checksum File… to make one. - Metadata: view and edit EXIF, XMP and other metadata with
exiftool, from a searchable list of tags. - Search and rename: search subfolders with wildcards or inside files, and batch rename with templates or regular expressions.
- Shortcuts out: Open in Terminal or VS Code, your Nautilus scripts, and Samba network sharing.
- Secure deletion: with BleachBit installed, shred files and folders or empty the trash so they can't be recovered, from the right-click menu;
kes-setup --bleachbitalso adds a cleaner for Kestrel's own cache and history to BleachBit.
Compared with GNOME Files, Nemo and Dolphin: what Kestrel adds over each, what it doesn't have yet, and how it installs alongside them without changing them: Kestrel compared with other file managers.
With apt (amd64), from the releases channel. Each Ubuntu release has its own package, so use your system's
commands (grep UBUNTU_CODENAME /etc/os-release prints resolute on Ubuntu 26.04 and Kubuntu 26.04, noble on 24.04 and Linux Mint 22).
Ubuntu 26.04 and Kubuntu 26.04 (and the other 26.04 flavours):
sudo install -d -m 755 /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSLo /etc/apt/keyrings/kestrel.asc https://regulusarms.github.io/kes-c/kestrel.asc
printf 'Types: deb\nURIs: https://regulusarms.github.io/kes-c\nSuites: resolute\nComponents: main\nSigned-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/kestrel.asc\n' \
| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kestrel.sources
sudo apt update && sudo apt install kestrel-explorer
kes-setup --default # optional: make it your file manager (kes-setup --undo puts things back)On Kubuntu, kes-setup --default makes Kestrel open folders in place of Dolphin (and, if Dolphin is pinned in the taskbar,
asks whether to put Kestrel in its place); Dolphin stays installed and keeps working, and kes-setup --undo gives folders back to it. See
Kubuntu 26.04 in the install guide.
Ubuntu 24.04 and Linux Mint 22:
sudo install -d -m 755 /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSLo /etc/apt/keyrings/kestrel.asc https://regulusarms.github.io/kes-c/kestrel.asc
printf 'Types: deb\nURIs: https://regulusarms.github.io/kes-c\nSuites: noble\nComponents: main\nSigned-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/kestrel.asc\n' \
| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kestrel.sources
sudo apt update && sudo apt install kestrel-explorer
kes-setup --default # optional: make it your file manager (kes-setup --undo puts things back)From source:
./install.sh # installs build tools if needed, builds, adds `kes` to ~/.local/bin and the app grid
./install.sh --default # ...and makes it your file managerThe install guide covers the development-builds channel, switching channels (and from the older
stable/dev suites), which .deb to download by hand, what --default and --dock change, building by hand,
BleachBit and uninstalling.
- Ubuntu 26.04 (GNOME): the main platform; everything is tested here.
- Linux Mint 22 (Cinnamon): supported since 0.2.0. Kestrel builds and runs there, and the benchmark against Nemo was run there.
- Ubuntu 24.04 (GNOME): tested; Kestrel installs and runs there (from the apt repository too). It has the same base as Linux Mint 22.
- Kubuntu 26.04 (KDE Plasma): supported since 0.3.2-alpha.33; Kestrel follows Plasma's look and settings (see the install guide). Some parts are still to be tried in a full Plasma session: passwords in KWallet, network shares and phones, and drop focus on Wayland.
| Page | What's in it |
|---|---|
| Install guide | apt channels, building from source, making Kestrel the default file manager, the file chooser, BleachBit, Linux Mint, Ubuntu 24.04 and Kubuntu notes |
| Dependencies | The packages needed to build, the recommended ones and the optional ones, and what each is used for |
| Compared with other file managers | What Kestrel adds over GNOME Files, Nemo and Dolphin, what it doesn't have yet, and how it installs alongside them |
| Features | File management, galleries and folder previews, the Overview page, phones and cameras, the image viewer, checksum files |
| Right-click menus | Every right-click menu, what each entry does and what it works on |
| Archives | Extracting and compressing, formats, progress and cancelling, passwords and security, known limitations |
| Translations | The languages Kestrel is shown in, and how to report a wrong translation |
| Admin session | Retry as Administrator: how it works, what it covers, and how the root helper is kept safe |
| Performance | Benchmarks against GNOME Files, Nemo, Dolphin, Thunar, Krusader and PCManFM |
| Bugs found elsewhere | Problems in the desktop and other programs that get in Kestrel's way, how they were found, and how to work around them |
| Design philosophy | Why Kestrel wraps the standard command-line tools instead of rebuilding them, how it copes when a tool changes, and how it's tested |
| Development | Architecture, the source layout, tests and performance counters |
| Tests | Running the test suite, what each test checks, CI, and adding a test (test changelog) |
| Changelog | What changed in each version |
| To do | Planned additions, fixes and changes |
MIT. See LICENSE.