4 open source Android file managers that don’t spy on you or show ads

There are an overwhelming number of file managers on the Google Play Store, but a good portion of them are ad-riddled, proprietary, or both. File managers have access to the entire user file system, so you want to be sure you can trust them with all your data. Here are four open-source, privacy-friendly file managers you can try.

Fossify File Manager

Fossify File Manager looks a lot like Files by Google. It’s light, fast, organizes your files by category and offers an incredibly simplified interface. There are no advanced features like dual-pane viewing, cloud integration, or FTP support in Fossify File Explorer, so it is not intended for power users. However, if you want a simple, no-frills file explorer, this is the app for you.

The interface is divided into three tabs: Files, Recents and Storage. Just like Files by Google, you can see recently downloaded or opened files in the Recent tab, navigate to files by category in the Storage tab, and explore the entire file tree in the Files tab.

There are options in the context menu to quickly compress and decompress archives. You can hide files and turn visibility on or off, and you can also lock files with passwords. You can even lock the file manager itself with a password. You can password protect files so that they cannot be moved or deleted without the password. Finally, you can customize colors and accents to give some personality to an otherwise boring app.

The research can be uncertain, however. Most of the time the results appear instantly as I type, but sometimes they get stuck on a reel. It also doesn’t have a recycle bin feature, so anything you delete is erased forever.

Phantom Commander

This app is entirely functional, not aesthetic. It is designed for power users who need a dual-pane or dual-tab interface to move files between folders. It provides quick shortcuts to connect to FTP and SFTP servers. You can even connect to a shared Windows directory directly through this application. Additionally, it lists all the apps and services present on your phone, which you can directly download or share as an APK file.

When you launch it, you will see two tabs at the top to quickly switch between two panes of the file manager. You can move or copy files between these panes using the shortcuts provided in the bottom menu. You can add folders to your favorites and they will appear in the Favorites pane. You can compress and decompress archives directly from the menu. Ghost Commander also has a built-in text editor for quickly editing configuration files without leaving the application.

Material files

Material Files combines the best of both worlds: it looks decent and contains additional features that power users will appreciate. Since it’s built on the Material UI aesthetic, this file manager looks a lot like Files by Google, so if you’ve used Google’s File Manager, the switch to Material Files should be seamless. You can access files by category by swiping left. Your camera’s captures, photos, screenshots, movies, downloads, music, and movies are all streamed into their dedicated categories in the sidebar. You can configure how these categories appear in Settings.

However, what Material Files includes that Files by Google does not is support for adding FTP, SFTP, SMB, and WebDAV servers. You can even quickly access your FTP server via the shortcut in the sidebar.

Besides these bonus features, Material Files has a set of standard utilities: bookmarks, compressing and extracting archives, toggling the visibility of hidden files, and creating shortcuts on the home screen. However, Material Files does not allow locking files and folders and also does not keep deleted files in the Recycle Bin.

Amazing File Manager

I saved the best for last. Amaze File Manager includes everything you could want from a file manager and more. It has a beautiful interface and animations that you can customize to your liking. You can change themes, icon appearance, and navigation bar. You can add bookmarks to the sidebar and enable quick access shortcuts. It’s just crisp and smooth.

Amaze supports media players, so you can open images, videos, and music files without leaving the file manager (you’ll need to install the Utilities plugin, though). This plugin also gives you a storage scanning interface that can intelligently sort hidden files, large files, blurry or dimly lit images, duplicates, unused apps, and old files. From there, you can clean up files as needed and free up storage space.

It has a built-in app manager that lets you create APK backups of your installed apps with just one click. You can also uninstall and launch apps through this app manager. You can also password protect files and folders using Amaze. It allows you to extract and compress zip files on the fly. You can even enable Recycle Bin so that your deleted files are not permanently erased. And it supports FTP server connections.

You don’t need to pay extra or endure ads just to access your files when there are already great FOSS file managers available.