Files Companion

The all-in-one companion set for the Files file manager.
Launch animation · smart routing · a modern Recycle Bin — one file, one click.

Installation · Components · How it works · Troubleshooting · 简体中文

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📦 What is this?

Files is a modern file manager for Windows. To make folders open instantly it keeps itself resident in the background, which has one visible side effect: opening a folder only activates the already-running process, so Windows skips the startup animation and the window seems to appear out of nowhere.

Files Companion is the small set of extras that makes Files feel finished:

	Component	What it does
🎬	Files enhancement layer	Puts the startup animation back, and routes folders, drives, "This PC" and Win+E through Files
🗑️	Modern Recycle Bin	Replaces the Recycle Bin with one that previews images, restores anywhere and copies files out

Both are built for the Files workflow, so they ship together — one 262 KB installer, no network access, no administrator rights, and uninstalling restores the defaults.

This is not a Files plugin. Files is a self-contained WinUI application with no plugin or extension API — verified by searching its source for IPlugin, PluginManager, ExtensionHost, ShellIntegration and RegisterAsDefault, all of which return nothing. Files Companion therefore ships as a companion tool that sits beside Files rather than inside it, and contains no Files code or assets.

🖼️ Screenshots

Quick start

1. Install — run FilesCompanionSetup.exe, leave both boxes ticked, click 一键安装.

2. Read the report — the same window then lists what was detected on your machine. Every line marked ✓ is working; anything marked ✗ says what to do.

   

3. Use it — double-click any folder, press Win+E, or open the Recycle Bin.

You can run the check again at any time without installing anything:

FilesCompanionSetup.exe --verify

The installer — two components, and the details of both are still optional.

The Recycle Bin that comes with it — image previews, restore anywhere, copy out, filter by type, Windows 11 styling.

🚀 Installation

1. Download FilesCompanionSetup.exe from the latest release.
2. Run it — no administrator rights required.
3. Untick anything you do not want, then click install.
4. Done. Double-click any folder, press Win+E, or open the Recycle Bin.

To uninstall: run Uninstall.cmd inside %LOCALAPPDATA%\FilesCompanion, or %LOCALAPPDATA%\FilesCompanion-Uninstall.exe. It removes the redirects, restores the default open behaviour for folders and the Recycle Bin, and deletes both component folders.

If github.com is blocked

On some networks github.com never answers — the download either times out or stalls at 0 bytes — while the release files themselves are perfectly fine. Two ways around it:

One-click. Paste this into PowerShell. It finds a working channel on its own, downloads the installer and starts it:

irm https://ghfast.top/https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dannyzzy/Files-Companion/main/Install-FilesCompanion.cmd -OutFile "$env:TEMP\fc-install.cmd"; & "$env:TEMP\fc-install.cmd"

That script tries the direct GitHub URL first and falls back to the ghfast.top mirror, checks that what arrived really is the installer rather than an error page, and if both channels fail it prints the addresses it tried plus what to do by hand — it never fails quietly.

By hand. Open the mirror copy of the release page in a browser and download from there:

https://ghfast.top/https://github.com/Dannyzzy/Files-Companion/releases/latest

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
• Files installed — ideally with Settings → Advanced → Set Files as default file manager enabled. Files Companion then adds the animation and the extra routing on top.
• The Recycle Bin component needs the WebView2 Runtime, which is preinstalled on Windows 11 and current Windows 10 builds. The installer tells you if it is missing.

🧩 The two components

Files enhancement layer

• Launch animation — Files opens with the icon fade/zoom Windows normally plays for a freshly started app, instead of just appearing
• Smart routing — folders, drives, "This PC" and Win+E open in Files instead of Explorer
• The right landing page — "This PC" and Win+E land on Files' Home, which shows drive cards with capacity bars; the plain "This PC" page cannot draw those

Modern Recycle Bin

• Restore anywhere — pick any folder, not only the original location
• Copy out — take a copy while keeping the original in the bin
• Image previews — see a thumbnail before restoring
• Filter by type and search over name, original path and type
• Conflict handling — overwrite, skip, or keep both
• Windows 11 styling, comfortable/compact density, Ctrl+scroll zoom

It is also available on its own at Modern-Recycle-Bin.

🔧 How it works

flowchart LR
    USER(["Double-click a folder<br/>This PC · Win+E · Recycle Bin"])

    subgraph REG["HKEY_CURRENT_USER"]
        KEYS["Folder / Directory / Drive shells<br/>CLSID opennewwindow · This PC · Recycle Bin"]
    end

    subgraph SET["Files Companion"]
        SHIM["FilesOpen.exe<br/><i>launch shim</i>"]
        ANIM["icon fade / zoom<br/><i>~0.2 s</i>"]
        RB["Moderna Recycle Bin<br/><i>WebView2 UI</i>"]
    end

    USER --> KEYS
    KEYS --> SHIM
    KEYS --> RB
    SHIM -->|"start or activate"| FILES["Files"]
    SHIM -->|"plays on top"| ANIM
    SHIM -.->|"if this is &quot;This PC&quot;"| HOME["Files Home<br/><i>drive cards with capacity</i>"]

Loading

The registry values it writes (all HKEY_CURRENT_USER, no admin rights):

Registry key	Value
SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\open\command	"…\FilesCompanion\FilesOpen.exe" "%1"
SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\explore\command	same
SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\OpenWithFiles\command	same
SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\OpenWithFiles\command	same
SOFTWARE\Classes\Drive\shell\OpenWithFiles\command	same
SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{52205fd8-…}\shell\opennewwindow\command	"…\FilesOpen.exe" (Win+E)
SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-…}\shell\open\command	"…\FilesOpen.exe" (This PC)
SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-…}\shell\open\command	"…\ModernRecycleBin\RecycleBin.exe"

The keys Explorer also handles get DelegateExecute="" so the built-in delegate cannot take over again.

Why the shim exists at all. With Files resident, a direct launch is just a process activation and Windows has nothing to animate. The shim starts Files the normal way and then plays a short layered-window animation itself (120 px icon, scale 0.92 → 1.00 → 1.06, about 0.21 s), which is what makes the window feel like it is opening rather than appearing.

Three safety rules this project follows, learned from shipping the companion Recycle Bin app:

• The uninstaller lives next to the install folders, never inside them — Windows will not let a running executable delete its own folder.
• Uninstall removes a registry value only when it still points at this exact install, so a configuration you set up by hand is never clobbered.
• The bundled Recycle Bin is removed on uninstall only when this installer put it there (tracked with a marker file), so a copy you installed separately survives.

🛠️ Building from source

You need nothing but the .NET Framework compiler that ships with Windows.

git clone https://github.com/Dannyzzy/Files-Companion.git
cd Files-Companion
build.cmd

vendor\RecycleBin holds the prebuilt Recycle Bin component; see vendor\README.md and scripts\refresh-vendor.ps1 for how to refresh it from the sibling project.

dist\FilesOpen.exe             the launch shim (standalone)
dist\FilesCompanionSetup.exe   all-in-one installer (both components)

❓ Troubleshooting

Folders still open in Explorer

Make sure Files is installed and that you left the routing option ticked. Explorer windows that are already open keep their old behaviour; new ones use Files.

The Recycle Bin window is blank

That component renders its interface with the WebView2 Runtime. Windows 11 and current Windows 10 include it; the installer warns you if it is missing and links to Microsoft's official download.

How do I undo everything?

Run Uninstall.cmd in %LOCALAPPDATA%\FilesCompanion. It deletes the registry values above, removes both component folders, and deletes itself. Nothing else on the system is touched.

Windows SmartScreen warns me about the installer

The release binaries are not code-signed (a certificate costs money for an open-source project). Choose More info → Run anyway, or build from source with build.cmd.

🤝 Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Please include your Windows version, the Files version, and which component misbehaves.

📄 License

Released under the MIT License.

Files itself is a separate project by the Files community, licensed MIT/MPL. Files Companion contains no code or assets from Files — it only starts it and redirects shell verbs to it. The bundled WebView2 runtime loader is Microsoft's, under the terms in vendor\RecycleBin\WebView2-LICENSE.txt.

✅ Will it work on my machine?

The companion has to find Files, and Files can be installed in several ways — the Microsoft Store build, the classic installer from GitHub, winget, scoop — each of which puts its launcher somewhere different. Earlier versions probed two fixed paths, so a machine with a different install silently did nothing when you double-clicked a folder. That is fixed:

1. %LOCALAPPDATA%\Files\Files.App.Launcher.exe (classic installer)
2. any files*.exe execution alias in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps — auto-detected, so files-stable, files-preview and future names all work
3. %ProgramFiles%\Files\… and %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Files\…
4. the AppX package root recorded by the Windows package repository
5. winget and scoop install trees
6. if nothing matches, the folder opens in Explorer instead — a working window rather than a dead double-click

Check your own machine in five seconds

"%LOCALAPPDATA%\FilesCompanion\FilesOpen.exe" --doctor

A report opens in Notepad listing:

• which Files launcher was found, and by which strategy
• the state of all eight shell redirects (folders, drives, This PC, Win+E, Recycle Bin)
• whether the WebView2 Runtime is present for the Recycle Bin component
• a plain Result line saying whether the setup is ready

If it says not ready, send that report with your issue — it contains exactly what is needed to see why.

Honest limits

• 64-bit Windows only. The binaries are x64; a 32-bit install cannot run them.
• The interface is Simplified Chinese. It renders correctly on any Windows (Microsoft YaHei ships with every SKU), but the text is Chinese; English strings are planned.
• Not code-signed, so SmartScreen may ask you to confirm the first run.
• The companion cannot create a Files installation: if Files is not installed at all, folder opens fall back to Explorer.