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Switching from Total Commander to cwdio

For Total Commander users: which keys carry over unchanged (F5–F8, Alt+F1/F2, Ctrl+U, Ctrl+B, numpad selection), what cwdio does differently, and what it lacks.

Updated 15 August 2026 View as Markdown

If you know Total Commander, you already know most of cwdio’s keys: the F-key row, the drive lists, the selection keys and the command line are the same. What is new is the terminal that follows the panel, a transfer queue that verifies and resumes, undo, git in the file list, and a modern dockable interface — free during the beta, with no telemetry.

What carries over unchanged

HabitTotal Commandercwdio
Copy / move to the other panelF5 / F6F5 / F6 — through the queue: verified, resumable, undoable
New folderF7F7
DeleteF8 / DeleteF8 / Delete — to the Recycle Bin; Shift+Delete permanent
Rename / view / editF2 / F3 / F4Same. F4 opens the built-in editor or your external one
Drive listsAlt+F1 / Alt+F2Same
Swap panelsCtrl+USame
Branch view (everything under the folder, flat)Ctrl+BSame
Parent folderCtrl+PageUp / BackspaceSame, plus Alt+Up
Select / unselect / invert by patternnumpad + / − / *Same
Calculate folder sizesAlt+Shift+EnterSame
Put the cursor file’s name / path on the command lineCtrl+Enter / Ctrl+Shift+EnterSame
Two panels, Tab between themYesYes — and the cursor never parks on .., so there is always a current item

The full default keymap is on the shortcuts page; every chord can be rebound from Help ▸ Keyboard shortcuts.

What is different

  • The terminal follows the panel, and the panel follows the terminal. Press Ctrl+` and a real shell opens in the current folder; navigate and its prompt moves; type cd and the panel moves. That is the reason cwdio exists, and there is no equivalent in the orthodox tradition. Terminal sync.
  • Transfers go through a queue that verifies copies, resumes after a dropped drive or connection, and survives closing the app. Ctrl+L shows it. Transfers and the queue.
  • Undo. Ctrl+Z reverses a whole batch — a copy, a move, a rename of hundreds of files, an overwrite (the replaced file was stashed). Undo and the safety net.
  • Tabs are per panel (Ctrl+T), and the whole window is a dockable workspace: terminals, the folder tree, the git views and the AI panel are panels you can drag beside or below the file lists, and Ctrl+Alt+0 snaps everything back to the two-panel default.
  • The command palette — Ctrl+Shift+P or F1 — lists every command with its shortcut and fuzzy-matches as you type. It replaces menu-hunting for anything you have not memorised.
  • Developer chords sit beside the orthodox ones: Ctrl+P go to file, Ctrl+Shift+F search (by name or content, honouring .gitignore), Ctrl+J jump to a recent folder, Ctrl+Shift+G git changes.
  • Git status in the file list, with changes, branches and history views. Git integration.
  • The Windows clipboard is the file clipboard. Ctrl+C here pastes in Explorer, and Explorer’s copy or cut pastes here as a copy or a move.
  • Modern UI, dark and light, with accent presets — and an interface in English or Ukrainian.

What cwdio does not have

  • Total Commander’s plugin ecosystem. Thirty years of packer, file-system and lister plugins do not transfer. cwdio has a plugin platform of its own but no marketplace yet. Most of what people install plugins for is built in — archives as folders, SFTP/FTP as folders, previews, checksums, sync — but if you depend on a specific plugin, check first.
  • 32-bit and older Windows. cwdio is 64-bit Windows 10/11 only.
  • Some orthodox depth. Total Commander’s configurability runs deep; cwdio has fewer knobs by design and will not have every one of them.

First-week tips

  1. Open the terminal once (Ctrl+`) and just watch it follow you around. That is the habit to build.
  2. Try Ctrl+Shift+P before hunting a menu.
  3. Trust Ctrl+Z. A copy or move you regret is one keystroke away from undone.
  4. Right-click a folder in Explorer ▸ Open in Cwdio File Manager to arrive where you already were.
  5. The size map (Ctrl+Shift+T), duplicate finder and rename studio (Shift+F2) replace three separate utilities.

Questions

Do the Total Commander function keys work in cwdio?

Yes: F5 copy to the other panel, F6 move, F7 new folder, F8 and Delete delete (to the Recycle Bin), F2 rename, F3 view, F4 edit, Alt+F1 and Alt+F2 for the drive lists, Ctrl+U to swap panels, Ctrl+B for the flat branch view, Ctrl+PageUp for the parent folder, and the numpad +, − and * selection keys.

Is there a command line under the panels?

Yes — always visible, in the Midnight Commander model. Type a command and it runs in the active terminal session in the current folder. Ctrl+Enter inserts the cursor file's name and Ctrl+Shift+Enter its full path, exactly as in Total Commander.

Can I install Total Commander plugins?

No. cwdio has its own plugin platform but not Total Commander's plugin formats and no marketplace yet. What most plugins were for is built in: ZIP/7z/RAR/tar as folders, SFTP and FTP as folders, previews for images, video, audio, PDF, CSV tables, Markdown and code, checksums, bulk rename, folder sync.

Does cwdio run on 32-bit or older Windows?

No. cwdio needs 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. Total Commander's support for older and 32-bit Windows is one of the real reasons to stay with it on such a machine.