Path Finder for Power Users

I will admit straight up that article is not an exhaustive review of the powerful Path Finder 8, a classic alternative to the Apple Finder. There’s tons features that I don’t cover. But I do highlight many of the features not found in Apple’s Finder, and a few other features that Mac power users will want to use.

I used Path Finder several years ago but I soon abandoned it because it didn’t seem to fit my needs back them. But that’s certainly not the case any today.

The latest version Path Finder does so much more than Apple’s Finder that I actually look forward to using the application for various purposes that I highlight below.

If you work at your computer throughout the day, you owe it to yourself to use Path Finder 8.

 

Path Finder: 30-Day f​ree download • Full  License:  $40

 1. Clickable Path Bar

In Path Finder you can click and switch to folders in the Finder path, whereas with the Apple Finder you can only view the path of folders.

 2. Favorites Bar

In addition to the Custom tool bar available in both the Apple Finder and Path Finder, Path Finder allows for Favorites Bar, similar to how you have favorites folder in the side bar. Also, know that Path Finder has over a dozen more Custom items (Move to Trash, Covert Image, Tab Sits, Sort, Erase, Rename) for its toolbar than does Apple’s Finder.

 3. Custom Contextual Menu Items

In Path Finder, you can add and remove over a few dozen contextual menu items, which include buttons for moving or copying a selected file to another folder, renaming or deleting a selected file, and much more. There’s even an item for triggering a screenshot.

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  4. Built-in Image and Text Application

With Path Finder, you don’t have to open image and text files in a separate applications. Path Finder has its own built-applications with nearly enough features to get the job done. Notice in the above gif, the Image app allows you to quickly resize an image file. Resizing in the Apple Finder would take several clicks.

   5. Application Launcher and Terminal

Path Finder includes a built-in Application Launcher and a Terminal, for those advance Mac commands.

image

Pro Tip: BetterTouchTool 

I trigger many of the of the features in Path Finder using BetterTouchTool. For instance, I use a Four Finger Tap on my desktop to open a Path Finder window. I do a TipTap Left (2 Fingers Fix) to close a window. To delete a file, I use a 3 Finger Click, and do a Quick Look, I do a 3 Finger Tip which triggers the Command+Y shortcut in Path Finder.

   7. Preference Settings

Path Finder preferences provides for lots of customization. 1. You can set Path Finder as the default browser which other applications will recognize. 2. You can set all text, Word, and Image documents to open in the respective built-in applications, or you can select other applications for those purposes. 3. There’s a nifty option that automatically opens a file when you do a single-click directly on the file’s icon. In other words, the single click performs a double-click’s file and opens it.

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