WordPress File Manager Plugins – Top 3 Free File Management Plugins Reviewed

Every once in a while, WordPress developers encounter the need to manage files in their web site file system. Back in the days we used FTP clients for that purpose, but nowadays each modern hosting cPanel has an integrated File manager. Now, there’s a way to skip the process of logging into the cPanel each time we need to manage our files. All you have to do is install a WordPress File Manager Plugin.

Why use a WordPress File Manager Plugin?

The answer is simple. A WordPress File Manager Plugin will save developer’s time and make the work easier. Let’s say we need to add a custom stylesheet to our WP theme. Usually, we’d need to open the FTP client, login into the server, find the containing folder and create or upload the file. The other way would be to login into the cPanel, open it’s File manager and create or upload the file from there. Both operations take time, specially if you don’t have your hosting credentials near.

By using a WordPress File Manager Plugin, you can access your web site file system with a single click on it’s button in the WP Dashboard menu. From there you can browse your files and accomplish all sorts of actions such as copying, moving and deletig files, renaming and editing, uploading and downloading, zipping and extracting, etc…

Here are some examples when a WordPress File Manager Plugin comes handy:

• creating new template files and folders
• duplicating template files
• cleaning up and removing unnecessary files
• uplading or downloading themes
• editing files instead of using the default theme editor
• managing plugins and scripts
• viewing log files
• etc.

Now, let’s see which are the best Free WordPress File Manager Plugins available in the WP Repository. Altrough all plugins we reviewed offer some advanced file management functions, in our test we focused on the most common functions and commands.

WP File Manager WordPress Plugin

WP File Manager by Mndpsingh287, has impressive 400.000 active installations and an 5.0 average vote from over 600 developers. This is by far the most used WordPress File Manager Plugin. It is regularly updated and compatible with the latest version of WordPress.

After installation, the WP File Manager becomes available in the WordPress Dashboard left hand menu. Even thoug the plugin has a lot of settings and preferences, most of them are available only in the PRO version. Nevertheless, the free version of this plugin has all the functionality an average WordPress developer would ever need.

You can start using WP File Manager without the need for setting up anything. The only thing we recommend is to turn on the Trash option in Preferences. This option will come handy in case you accidentally delete something. The plugin has a nice and clean full width interface with list and icon file views. A taskbar on top is populated with useful buttons, and the right click on a file will display a dropdown with all the most used commands. From the main screen you can customize the look of the File Manager by choosing from a couple of themes.

WP File Manager user interface is nice and clean

We didn’t encounter any significant downsides while using WP File Manager. Only thing we noticed is that the language selection did not work properly in some cases.

Download the Plugin

File Manager Plugin for WordPress

File Manager by Giribaz with 50.000 active installations is another good WordPress file management solution. It scored an average vote of 4.0 among over 140 developers. This plugin is frequently updated and compatible with the latest WordPress version.

This WordPress File Manager Plugin works out of the box, even thoug it comes with a couple of basic settings. Settings offer to configure the File manager width and height, choose your language and show or hide hidden files. This File manager working area looks decent, but the whole screen is a bit bulky due to the big PRO version advertisement and some system information. The fullscreen view looks very nice. Among the usual set of file management commands, there’s a choice between 4 code editors and a handy taskbar preferences button with a lot of customization options.

Giribaz File Manager working area with the Preferences button in the taskbar.

File Manager Plugin for WordPress works nice with a couple of useful features. Only downsides we could mention are the lack of a trash bin and the bulky advertisement covering a significant part of the screen.

Download the Plugin

Advanced File Manager WordPress Plugin

With solid 20.0000 active installations and a 5.0 vote among 120 developers, Advanced File Manager by Modalweb is another WordPress File Manager Plugin worth the consideration. The plugin is compatible with the latest WP version and the updates are regular.

Setting up the plugin takes less then a minute, since there are just a few basic settings to customize. You can choose the visual theme and language, activate the trash bin and define your working folders. The File manager interface looks nice and elegant. Simillarly to other File management plugins, there’s the taskbar on top and a dropdown menu activated with the right click on a file or a folder.

Advanced File Manager interface is simple and intuitive with the taskbar on top and right-click dropdown menu.

Working with Advanced File Manager is easy and straightforward with no significant downsides. The only thing we noticed is some translations are incomplete, which wont bother most developers. This plugin is pretty simillar to the WP File Manager plugin we reviewed above, so it won’t make a big difference whichever you choose.

Download the Plugin

Conclusion: Which File Manager Plugin for WordPress is the best?

We tested the three most used free File Manager Plugins from the WordPress repository. In terms of general use and most common actions, all three are pretty simmilar. They all do their job well, replacing the need for FTP clients or cPanel logins when working with files in WordPress. If you need a clean and simple interface we suggest you choose WP Manager or Advanced File Manager. If you want more control over the look and behaviour of the interface, File Manager by Giribaz offers plenty of customization options. It won’t be a mistake to install any of the reviewed plugins.