Free · macOS 12 or later · Apple silicon & Intel

Windows 11 File Explorer,
at home on your Mac

Tabs, the navigation pane, an address bar you can click or type into, the Windows 11 context menu — and F2, Delete and Ctrl+Z exactly where your fingers expect them.

Download for Mac Mac App Store — coming soon

No accountNo in-app purchasesNo third-party ads

CrossDriver Files with three tabs, the navigation pane, the address bar and the details pane

Ten highlights

Everything where you left it

CrossDriver Files keeps the layout and habits you already have, and adds the safety you'd want from a tool you use a hundred times a day.

01Familiar layout

The hardest habit to break is File Explorer. So keep it.

Moving from Windows, the first thing you miss isn't the Start menu — it's finding your files. Open CrossDriver Files and everything is where your hands expect it.

Tabs on top: Ctrl+T, Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+1…9; middle-click a folder to open it in a new tab
An address bar like “This Mac › Work › Project”: click any part, or type a path
Navigation pane with Home, Desktop, Downloads, Documents, your pinned locations and every drive
Details pane with size, location, dates and permissions; the familiar command bar on top

Home with Quick access, pinned locations and three drives

02Context menu

A right-click menu with more than a few items

The Windows 11 layout: Cut, Copy, Rename and Delete as a row of icons on top, everyday commands below, and the rest tucked under “Show more options”.

New ▸ Word, Excel or PowerPoint makes a real blank document that opens in Office, WPS, Pages or Numbers
Put your own files in the templates folder and they show up in the New menu
Copy as path (Ctrl+Shift+C), Show in Finder, Open in Terminal, Copy to, Move to
Right-click empty space for View, Sort, Refresh, Undo, New, Open in Finder and Paste

The Windows 11 style context menu on a RAR archive, with Extract All

03Extract

Unpack RAR and 7z — no extra app needed

Right-click ▸ Extract All. CrossDriver Files uses the archive tools built into macOS, so there's nothing else to install.

Extracts into a new folder named after the archive; if the name is taken, the folder gets a number — nothing is overwritten
Big archives get progress, a speed graph, pause and cancel; cancelling cleans up the half-extracted folder
Entries that try to write outside the folder (such as ../ paths) are refused
Not yet supported: password-protected RAR and 7z, and multi-part RAR

Extract All opens

Everyday archives

ZIPRAR7z

Linux & developer

tar.tar.gz.tgz.tar.bz2.tar.xzcpio

Other

xarcabLHA.aar

Single compressed files

.gz.bz2.xz.Z

04Compress

A 5 GB ZIP that opens on any computer

While building compression we zipped a 5 GB file with ditto, the tool macOS uses for archiving. It unzipped fine on the Mac, but a standard ZIP reader saw only 1 GB and stopped with a CRC error: the ZIP64 size fields were missing. So CrossDriver Files picks the right tool for the size.

Under 4 GB: ditto, which keeps Mac extended attributes, just like macOS archiving
4 GB and larger: standard ZIP64, so colleagues on Windows and other systems read it correctly
Written under a hidden temporary name and renamed only when complete — never overwrites a file
Speed graph, pause and cancel; cancelling deletes the unfinished archive

Progress window compressing a 5 GB folder with a speed graph

05Safe copy & move

Before replacing, the old file goes to the Trash

The Replace or Skip Files dialog you know from Windows — replace, skip, keep both files, or decide for each file — with a more careful twist.

Replaced files are moved to the Trash first, never overwritten in place
Moving to another drive copies, verifies the copy against the original, and only then removes the original
Cable unplugged, disk full, file changed while copying? The original stays where it was, and you're told why
One progress window for everything: speed graph, time remaining, pause and cancel

Replace or Skip Files dialog with four choices

06Undo

Deleted the wrong file? Ctrl+Z.

Copy, move, rename, delete, new items, extract and compress — undo the last 50 steps with Ctrl+Z and redo them with Ctrl+Y, shared by every window.

Undoing a delete puts files back from the Trash exactly where they were, even if the folder is gone
Undoing a copy or a new item moves it to the Trash — undo never deletes anything for good
Each step remembers which files it made; if one was replaced in the meantime, it's left alone
Delete asks first with the familiar dialog — or turn that off, since Ctrl+Z is there

07Built-in ExePeek

Don't double-click yet: see what that .exe is

Select a Windows program and the details pane shows what you'd see under Properties ▸ Details on Windows — and more.

Company, product, file and product version, copyright, original file name, language
x86, x64 or ARM64; PE32 or PE32+; windowed or console; .NET or not
Does it ask for administrator rights? Is it digitally signed?
Read-only: files are never run, changed or uploaded

It tells you who a program is and what it asks for — not whether it's safe or whether it runs on a Mac. Also available as the free standalone app ExePeek.

ExePeek information for an installer in the details pane

08 Keyboard

F2, Delete, Backspace: your fingers already know it

Windows keys by default. They act only on the file list and the navigation pane, so they never get in the way while you type — not even during input-method composition.

EnterOpen

F2Rename

DeleteMove to Trash

ShiftDeleteDelete permanently (asks first)

CtrlCVCopy and paste

CtrlZYUndo and redo

BackspaceBack

Alt↑Up one level

F5Refresh

CtrlShiftNNew folder

CtrlShiftCCopy as path

CtrlFSearch

CtrlTNew tab

CtrlWClose tab

AltDAddress bar

AltEnterProperties (ExePeek)

On a Mac keyboard, Ctrl is ⌃ control and Alt is ⌥ option; on a laptop, Delete is fn + delete. Prefer Mac keys? Choose View ▸ Keyboard Preset ▸ Mac Style — Return renames, ⌘↓ opens, ⌘⌫ moves to Trash, just like Finder.

09Drives

Drive read-only on your Mac? Check its format first

Every drive under This Mac shows its format — APFS, HFS+, exFAT, FAT, NTFS, SMB — and “Read-only” when macOS mounted it that way. Home adds capacity bars and free space. Checking before you copy avoids many “won't copy” and “won't open on the other computer” surprises.

CrossDriver Files shows only what macOS reports; read-only doesn't always mean NTFS. If you need to write to NTFS drives, see CrossDriver NTFS for Mac — CrossDriver Files itself is complete without it.

What you might see

NTFS · Read-only: macOS reads NTFS drives (common on Windows) but can't write to them by default
exFAT · FAT: Read and write on both Mac and Windows — good for USB sticks; FAT32 can't hold files over 4 GB
APFS · HFS+: Mac formats; Windows can't read them without extra software
Read-only, writable format: Could be a write-protect switch, file-system errors or permissions

10 Free, and careful with your data

Why does a file manager ask for permission first?

A file manager sees your files by its very nature. That's why CrossDriver Files plays by a few rules.

✓

Only where you allow

It follows the macOS App Sandbox: it opens only folders you authorize. Pick your home folder once on first launch; remove access any time in Settings without touching a file.

Bytes of your files uploaded

No file names, paths or contents ever leave your Mac. Anonymous usage statistics are off unless you turn them on.

Free means free

No account, no in-app purchases, no trial, no third-party ads. Everything works offline.

Languages

Native on Apple silicon and Intel Macs, macOS 12 or later, light and dark. Changes no system defaults or file associations — use it alongside Finder.

Dark mode

Just as good in the dark

Follows your Mac's appearance automatically.

FAQ

Questions

Why do I need to authorize a folder?

macOS only lets apps open folders you allow. Authorize your home folder or a drive once and everything inside it opens; the choice is remembered.

Does it replace Finder?

No need. Use both — CrossDriver Files doesn't change system defaults or file associations.

Which Macs does it run on?

macOS 12 or later, natively on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

Can Windows users open my ZIP files?

Yes. Above 4 GB, CrossDriver Files uses the standard ZIP64 format.

Can it open password-protected or multi-part RAR files?

Not yet. Password-protected RAR and 7z archives and multi-part RAR show the error reported by the archive tool.

Can it run .exe files?

No. ExePeek only reads and shows a program's information; it never runs it.

Why is my drive read-only?

That's what macOS reports. The cause can be the file system, how the drive was mounted, or permissions — macOS, for example, only reads NTFS drives. To write to NTFS drives, see CrossDriver NTFS for Mac.

Can I use Mac shortcuts instead?

Yes. Choose View ▸ Keyboard Preset ▸ Mac Style; the shortcuts shown in the menus change too.

Does it collect any data?

Your file names, paths and contents never leave your Mac. Anonymous usage statistics are off by default and sent only if you turn them on. See the Privacy Policy.

Is it really free?

Yes. No account, no in-app purchases, no trial.

Bring your Windows habits to the Mac

Download CrossDriver Files and feel at home in seconds.

Download for Mac — free

macOS 12 or later · Universal (Apple silicon & Intel) · Privacy Policy

Windows 11 File Explorer,at home on your Mac