A native macOS file manager for power users. Up to four independent panes, persistent state across launches, and the obsessive polish you'd expect from a Mac-first tool.
Sort order, scroll position, column widths, view mode, every open tab, every pane layout — all of it survives quit, relaunch, and force-quit. Memory is a feature, not a bug.
You open the app and it's a blank slate. Wrong folder, default sort, columns reverted, tabs gone. You spend the first minute of every session re-finding your place.
Quit at row 47 of ~/Downloads sorted by Date Modified descending? Relaunch and you're at row 47, sorted descending, scroll position intact. Force-quit included.
Every detail is borrowed from a workflow you already have. Nothing reinvented, nothing decorative.
The Q-Dir heritage in a 2×2 grid. Each pane has its own folder, its own sort, its own history. Drag-to-move becomes muscle memory.
Browser-style tabs per pane, drag between panes, ⌘T new, ⌘W close. The tab order persists across launches, naturally.
Images with pinch-zoom, video and audio with native QuickLook controls, PDF — all inside the window. No floating panel. No context loss.
Favorites, mounted volumes, and Finder tags in a collapsible left panel. One click to navigate any pane.
Every action has a shortcut. ⌘1–4 focus a pane, ⌘⌥1–4 switch layout, Tab cycles focus, Space QuickLooks. Nothing is mouse-only.
VoiceOver row read order, full keyboard navigation, WCAG AA contrast, Increase Contrast and Reduce Motion respected from day one.
No bouncy springs, no shimmer, no decorative gradients. Transitions stay under 200ms ease-out. Reduce Motion makes them zero.
Placeholder rows for files not yet downloaded. Click once to bring them down — progress shows inline, no modal interruption.
System materials, SF Symbols, traffic-light controls, NSWindow chrome. Built with SwiftUI where it earns it. Not Electron. Not ported.
Click through the steps, or scroll. Each step is a real interaction in the app.
"I open ~/Projects 40 times a day. mq-dir is the first file manager that doesn't make me re-navigate every time. It just… is, where I left it."
"Four panes, drag between them, no Electron weight. This is the file manager I've been writing in my head for ten years."
"Reduce Motion respected. VoiceOver row order is correct on day one. Whoever built this actually uses macOS."
No subscription, no telemetry, no account required. Just a small native app that respects your time.
Download mq-dir 1.0