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jimmgreen/pulse

A modern Windows file manager with tabs and panes, whole-drive indexed search with pinyin matching, quick preview, and a staging tray.

Open-source alternative to:Windows File ExplorerDirectory OpusTotal Commander

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What is it?

Pulse is a file manager for Windows that puts browsing, searching and organizing files in a single workspace. It supports tabs, split-pane layouts from single to four-pane, and per-tab layout memory, along with light, dark and system themes and several view modes including details, icons and content views.

Search covers file names across the whole drive through the PulseIndex service, with full pinyin, initials and polyphone matching for Chinese file names. Content search reads text, code, PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Pressing Space opens a quick preview for Markdown, code, PDF, spreadsheets, Office documents, archives, video and more without launching another app.

A staging tray collects copied or cut files across folders and tabs for a later drag-and-drop, and text files can be compared side by side. Pulse can be set as the default file manager, adds its own items to the Explorer context menu, and checks for updates automatically. It is written in C++20 on Win32, Direct2D and DirectComposition, and builds from source with Visual Studio and CMake.

Key features

  • 01Tabs and split panes with single, dual, triple and four-pane layouts.
  • 02Whole-drive file name search via PulseIndex with pinyin, initials and polyphone matching.
  • 03Content search across text, code, PDF and Office files.
  • 04Space-bar quick preview for Markdown, code, PDFs, spreadsheets, archives and video.
  • 05Staging tray for collecting files across folders before dropping them in place.
  • 06Side-by-side text file diff with ignore-whitespace and case options.
  • 07Light, dark and system themes with color, acrylic and wallpaper options.

Use cases

  • Organizing large folders on a Windows PC with tabs and multiple panes.
  • Finding files by pinyin or partial names across several drives.
  • Previewing documents and media without opening separate applications.
  • Comparing two versions of a text file before copying changes over.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Download the Windows installer from the releases page

  2. 2

    Run the installer and follow the wizard

  3. 3

    Build from source with the development build script

    .\build_release.bat
  4. 4

    Run the built executable

    .\build\pulse.exe

Things to know

  • Windows only; it does not run on macOS or Linux.
  • Building from source needs Visual Studio C++ tools, CMake 3.25+ and Ninja.
  • No portable (installer-free) version is provided from version 1.0.58 onward.

In collections

Windows apps and utilities

Topics

#file-manager#windows#search#file-preview#cpp#win32#productivity

FAQ

What is pulse?
A modern Windows file manager with tabs and panes, whole-drive indexed search with pinyin matching, quick preview, and a staging tray. Pulse is a file manager for Windows that puts browsing, searching and organizing files in a single workspace. It supports tabs, split-pane layouts from single to four-pane, and per-tab layout memory, along with light, dark and system themes and several view modes including details, icons and content views.
Is pulse free to use? What license does it have?
pulse is open source under the Apache-2.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is pulse still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to pulse was on Nov 2, 2026.
What can I use pulse for?
Organizing large folders on a Windows PC with tabs and multiple panes. Finding files by pinyin or partial names across several drives. Previewing documents and media without opening separate applications. Comparing two versions of a text file before copying changes over.
How do I install pulse?
Download the Windows installer from the releases page Run the installer and follow the wizard Build from source with the development build script: .\build_release.bat Run the built executable: .\build\pulse.exe
Where can I get pulse?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/jimmgreen/pulse

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