Dovetail — Dual-pane file manager for macOS

Dovetail is a dual-pane file manager for the Mac, in the spirit of Total Commander. The name comes from the woodworking joint where two pieces interlock precisely — like the two panes working together. It's built natively with Swift and AppKit: instant startup, real macOS behaviors, and a UI that follows your system language in English and Simplified Chinese.

Keyboard first, the way commanders should be

Core

Dual panes with tabs (⌘T, ⌘W)
F5 copy · F6 move across panes
F7 new folder · F2 rename · F8 trash
Tab switches the active pane
Space Quick Look preview
F3 built-in viewer (text / image / hex)
⌘Z undo file operations
Drag & drop with Finder, both directions

Power tools

Multi-rename with patterns
Select by pattern (e.g. *.txt)
Compress & extract archives
Checksums from the context menu
Favorites sidebar, per-tab history
Collision prompts: Replace / Keep Both / Skip
Live refresh on external changes
Status bar with selection size & free space

Your files stay yours

Dovetail is a local tool in the classic sense: no account, no cloud, no analytics, no network calls. It reads the folders you point it at and nothing else leaves your Mac. Deletions go to the Trash, and long operations run off the main thread with a progress sheet you can cancel.

Keyboard first, the way commanders should be

Core

Power tools

Your files stay yours

Support