Tutorials

How do I...

• Copy files?
• Delete and undelete files?
• Pack (with ZIP)?
• Unpack files?
• View files?
• Edit files?
• Change attributes?
• Rename files?

-> Continue with the advanced topics!

Q: How do I Copy files?
A: Follow these steps, or try our animated tutorial

1. Set the source directory in one panel, and the target in the other
2. Select the files you want to copy, either with Insert or the mouse (Ctrl+Click)
3. Press F5 or click the Copy button
4. You may now change the destination directory
5. Click OK
6. The files will now be copied

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Q: How do I delete or undelete files?
A: Follow these steps, or try our animated tutorial

1. Select the files you want to delete, either with Insert or the mouse (Ctrl+Click)
2. Press F8 or Delete, or click the Delete button
3. Click OK
4. To undelete, right click on the Delete button
5. Choose 'Open'
6. Select the files you want to undelete
7. Right click on them
8. Select 'Restore'

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Q: How do I pack files with ZIP?
A: Follow these steps, or try our animated tutorial

1. Select the files you want to pack, either with Insert or the mouse (Ctrl+Click)
2. Select Files - Pack from the menu, or press Alt+F5
3. Choose the packer you want to use. ZIP is built in
4. Click OK
5. The final archive file appears in the target pane

Q: How do I unpack files?
A: Follow these steps, or try our animated tutorial

1. Open the archive file with ENTER. If it's a self-extracting EXE, open with Ctrl+PageDown.
2. Select the files you want to unpack, either with Insert or the mouse (Ctrl+Click)
3. Press F5 or click the Copy button
4. Click OK
5. The unpacked files appear in the target pane
6. There is also a second way to unpack files:
7. Place the cursor on an archive. You may also select multiple archives.
8. Chose Files - Unpack
9. You can decide to unpack only specific files, e.g. *.txt
10. Click OK
11. All selected archives will be unpacked to the target directory

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Q: How do I view files with the built-in viewer?
A: Follow these steps, or try our animated tutorial

1. Place the cursor on the file you want to view
2. Press F3 or click the View button
3. You may also select multiple files, then switch through them with 'n' and 'p' buttons
4. Use Shift+F3 if you want to view the file under the cursor while other files are selected

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Q: How do I edit text files?
A: Follow these steps, or try our animated tutorial

1. Place the cursor on the file you want to edit
2. Press F4 or click the Edit button
3. The default Windows editor notepad.exe will be launched
4. You may define a different editor in Configuration - Options - Viewer/Editor

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Q: How do I change file attributes?
A: Please follow these steps:

1. Select the files whose attributes you want to change
2. Choose Files - Change Attributes from the menu
3. Here you can set the Archive, Read only, Hidden, and System Attributes
4. You can also change the 'last modified' time stamp of the file(s)
5. Click "Recurse subdirectories" to change attributes of files in subdirs too
6. Click OK
7. Warning: Total Commander doesn't show hidden/system files by default, but you can enable them in Configuration - Options - Display - Show Hidden/System files

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Q: How do I rename files?
A: Please follow these steps:

1. Select the files you want to rename
2. Press Shift+F6, or Shift+Click on the RenMov button
3. If you selected only one file, you can modify its name directly
4. If you selected multiple files, you can rename them using wildcards. * stands for all remaining characters, ? for a single character. Example: *.bak renames the extension to .bak, and leaves the name unchanged.
5. Press ENTER to rename the file(s).

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