My new favorite Android file manager is way better than Google’s default – and it’s free

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ZDNET key takeaways

• Material Files is a well-designed Android file manager.
• This app blows away the competition.
• Material Files is free and can be installed from the Play Store.

I've tried so many Android file managers over the years. I've seen those that look good but lack features, those that have too many features and a pleasing aesthetic, and those that look terrible and don't have enough features. 

It's been a tiresome journey, one that eventually had me giving up and sticking with the default. Until now.

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Recently, I stumbled upon Material Files, which is an open-source Android app, and I almost instantly proclaimed it the perfect Android file manager. It looks native on my Pixel 9 Pro and has exactly the right amount of features. When you open Material Files, you would think that it was built by Google specifically for Android, but it's not. 

What's so great about Material Files?

Material Files is developed by Hai Zhang and, to my surprise, is free to install and use and has no pesky in-app purchases. How can this be? Well, it is, and I'm not about to look this gift horse in the chompers.

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Material Files features bookmarks, remote connections, a built-in FTP server, connection options for FTP, SMB, and WebDAV, the ability to have multiple windows open simultaneously, select all, open in terminal, copy path, share, filters, and more. 

In other words, it has everything a good file manager should. Now you might be wondering why a good file manager has me doing a happy dance. One of my biggest issues with so many file managers is the lack of SMB support. 

I keep a Samba server running on my network, so I can easily save and open files from any machine. Most Android file managers lack the ability to connect to that server, or, if they do, the UI is terribly designed and cumbersome to use.

Material Files fixes that with easy SMB connections and a UI that's easy to navigate. For example, if I want to connect to an SMB server, I tap the three-line menu button near the top left, tap “Add storage,” tap SMB server when prompted, and either wait for the app to automatically find the SMB server (which it does every time) or tap “Add manually” and enter the details myself.

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Once I've added a server, Material Files saves the connection for easy access. It doesn't get any easier than that. 

Material Files does a great job of accessing DCIM storage, Downloads, Movies, Music, and Pictures, and it has a shortcut to Screenshots. The method of accessing screenshots with the Google file manager is awkward at best, so that feature is a blessing.

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One other feature that I love is that you can navigate to a location in Material Files, tap the three-dot menu button in the upper right, and tap “Create shortcut” to add a home screen launcher for the particular folder or location you are currently browsing. I created a shortcut to my SMB directory, so I can instantly access it from my home screen. That's convenient.

How to get Material Files

Material Files is installed through the Google Play Store.

To install the app, all you have to do is search for it in the store, tap the entry, and then tap Install. That's it. Once installed, open it and start navigating your files and connecting to your remote locations. You will not find a better file manager for Android. Period. This is the one to which all others should be compared, and to which all developers should aspire. 

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Trust me when I say this is the only Android file manager you need. Get it, use it, and forget about the other file managers.