Messages

Could you add a built-in dark mode theme? My custom CSS user style isn't rendering some elements correctly in dark mode. A native dark theme would be helpful. I didn't encounter this issue in the previous version.
P.S. Never mind—I've updated my custom user script, and SMF topic titles now display using the custom theme's colors.

I noticed two issues with custom icons:

• Custom file icons (Configuration → File Type Setup) appear in Details View but not in Thumbnail View. Is this a known issue or expected behavior?
• Custom folder icons appear very small in Thumbnail View—the icon doesn't scale to fill the thumbnail area, so only a small portion is visible.

Could you clarify whether this is by design or a bug?

Thanks for fixing everything, Mathias—you've really brightened my day ! It's working brilliantly now. Custom file and folder icons make a huge difference when working with lots of items.
I tested Color Rules, and they're working well. I had to adjust the color selection a bit, but haven't encountered any issues with the rules themselves. Also Gridlines, Italics-clipped text, deselecting when clicking empty area; all flawlessly working now !
Hopefully we can move to a stable release soon, as I may not have internet access when Windows 10 Extended Security Updates end (I believe that's in 2028).
One minor issue: the file list occasionally became unsorted during file operations (I think), and I had to press F5 to refresh. Nothing serious, though.
P.S. In Thumbnail Mode, there's a slight delay when I first drag the scrollbar in a folder containing 391 files, most of them compressed images around 3 MB each (they're AI-generated wallpapers and I use an AutoHotkey script to control the mouse via the keyboard —there's no lag in Detailed Mode.)

Could you release an updated MC v17 build—perhaps an RC or beta—before Preview 3 expires tomorrow... ?
P.S. I hope settings from v17 Preview 3 are preserved and migrated when upgrading to the new v17 RC/beta build.

I really enjoy this app, especially for running DOS commands. However, I ran into a hard limit on the maximum number of entries. I initially thought it was unlimited, so it was surprising to hit the cap. Could the limit be increased or removed? I had also been using the app as a launcher, which may not be its intended use.
I use this app (named "Runner") for launching proggies and running commands (in tandem /w "Launchy"): Runner (freeware launcher)

Do you know the context menu key to the right of the right Windows key?

Yeah I could but the thing is, I have the AppMenu key (the right-click key) re-assigned to open Launchy (via an AutoHotkey script) so I would like to be able to use Shift+F10 key instead for right-clicking !

Shift+F10 work in MC. There is actually not a specific Shift+F10 connection in MC for context menu, Pressing Shift+F10 triggers a WM_CONTEXTMENU message to be sent, and MC will act on that.. it is the standard Windows keyboard shortcut to trigger this message. controlled by Windows.

Oh you're right, it does work ! I had accidentally set Shift+F10 to "Stop Playing Audio File", that's why it wasn't working !

Don't find any issue with color picker  But might be that the 'brightness' controller of the color is at the bottom or top. then color will always be black or white.

Oh I see. Yeah that makes sense. 👍

In many Windows applications, pressing Shift+F10 opens the context menu, just like right-clicking. Could this shortcut be added to MC ? It would also be helpful to allow users to customize the shortcut key for opening the context menu (MC V17).

#1 Incorrect Color Rule Display in Column Header
Clicking Color Rule in the file column header groups the items by their color rules, as expected. However, some groups appear with incorrect rule names, and others are missing their Color Rule names entirely. This may be related to the folder's size, as it contains a large number of files. In this particular case, additionally, sorting by Color Rule in descending order does not place the rules at the top as expected. In the attached screenshot the Color Rule title should be "Console ROM Emulators" not "AOM Precious Zip Bkps". I had some other issue with the Color Rules as well where I entered "Lunar IPS" as a Folder in "Filters' then even when I deleted that text-match it still was highlighting that folder ! (that could be the reason.)
P.S: Oops they're not on the top because I have all the files/folders Compressed, and those are defined as Color Rules as well !
P.P.S: Oh dear, the reason they're showing "AOM Precious Zip Bkps" as Color Rule is because they have overwritten that COlor Rule when Duplicating the Rule and Saving (in Color Rules Editor) ! Remember when I said when you Duplicate a Rule, they're inextricably linked to the parent, I think this bug is still prevalent. It was only switched in the Color Rules Editor, the Filter is still intact. I'll investigate the matter.

#2 Color Picker Selection Does Not Apply
In the Color Rules Editor, selecting a color from the color picker does not apply the chosen color. I had to enter the color manually using its HTML hex color code.

In script.. No. filtering can filter on color, but color can be defined from defined filters. and you can filter on defined filters..

Is there something like "label:" or something in Filter Box I can use to filter out all the 'Color Rules' items for example ?
So there's no Filter Box command syntax to narrow down to only Color Rules ? This would be very convenient for me to list every Color Rule by filter.
P.S: I found out how to do it by selecting a single Color Rule file, pressing Ctrl+Shift+Num+ (Select by Color) then pressing Ctrl+G (Ghost Filter.)
P.P.S: Never I figured out how to display only Color Rules, I was getting white noise from the vanilla Color Rules that's why I didn't see only my custom Color Rules taking effect.

Is there a Filter Box command syntax to only show all items that are 'Color Rules' please ?

[Additional issues in v17:]

Don't find any issue with selection and checkboxes.. they are unselected.. Make sure you have configured it correctly.. that behavior is depending on Explorer Panel settings

Additional issues in v17:

• Selection isn't cleared when clicking empty space: In v16, clicking an empty area of the file pane (for example, the area below the items in a folder with only a few files, as indicated by the red circle in the screenshot) deselects the checked items and the focused item. In v17, they remain selected.
• Back/Forward navigation is inconsistent: The Toolbar's Back and Forward buttons sometimes navigate to an unrelated folder instead of the previous or next folder. I've encountered this a few times and will try to find a reproducible scenario.

**P.S.** The Column Layout is working flawlessly—thank you so much for implementing it! 😄

[Minor UI issues in v17]

Minor UI issues in v17
I've noticed three possible UI regressions in v17:

• The italicized text in the Size field for space-ani.gif appears slightly clipped or extends beyond its bounds. It displays correctly in v16.
• Clicking an empty area doesn't deselect the checkboxes. If this is intentional, please disregard—but I'd prefer the previous behavior.
• Bug: Gridlines missing in Thumbnail view in v17
  In MultiCommander v17, gridlines are not displayed in Thumbnail (64×64) view; they appear only in Details view. Gridlines display correctly in Thumbnail view in v16. Additional issue: The FileName text is also clipped in Thumbnail view, as shown in the attached screenshot.

Otherwise, v17 is great. I love it!

[Bug: Sorting Column Resets When Reopening a Panel]

Bug: Sorting Column Resets When Reopening a Panel

Can you serialize the Sorting Column so it remembers which column (in my case Date Descending) even when all Tabs are closed ? Wasn't an issue in V16, V17 has a glitch where reverts the Sorting Column to Name when all Tabs in the Panel are closed and you open 1 new Explorer Panel. Please fix this minor issue so the Sorting Column stays persistent across Tabs Panel complete closing & then re-opening from scratch!

Could the active sort column and direction be persisted across panel sessions? In my case, I use Date (Descending).

This worked as expected in v16, but in v17 the sort order resets to Name if I close all tabs in a panel and then open a new Explorer panel. Please fix this so the selected sort column and direction remain persistent after all tabs are closed and the panel is reopened.

Update: I found the relevant setting under Explorer Panel Settings → Default Settings for New Tabs → Date/Time (Descending). After setting it, new tabs use the correct sort order.
Sorry for the confusion—please disregard my previous report. It's working as expected now. Thanks !

You running 3rd party app that replaces windows theme ? Because that does not look like what MC drawn by default, Guess that the font you use are to small.. You can tweak and add extra height to a row in Explorer panel settings under Tweaking

Yeah it was due to the fonts, sorry for the false report... Everything is working properly. I'll let you know if I run into any issues once I've customized it... I use WindowBlinds 10 on Windows 10 (for the dark theme.)
# 1
I noticed something, when I close all Tabs in the Panel, then open an Explorer Panel, my Column Layout Sorting gets reverted to "Name" when it's always been "Date" (Descending). This doesn't happen in V16 though, it remembers the Column Layout Sorting. Could you fix this maybe, (it's a little annoying) ? Otherwise Column Layout is working brilliantly without a hitch. Can you make the Sorting Column persistent across when all tabs have been closed and reopening a Tab ?
# 2
As for the Color Rules Editor, that is fixed now too, but the first time I made a Rule, when I was picking a color it wasn't selecting/ picking a new color (from the Color Picker), I had to edit the Hex Color editbox & then close and re-open it but now it's working (doesn't get link to parent and is a separate entity; all good)...

Thank you Mathias, I'am happy to announce the Column Layout seems to be fixed —I'am ecstatic !!! Also there's a glitchy Gridlines that need to be fixed, it's drawing on top of the Checkboxes & folder items.
P.S: It could be because I didn't customize the font yet...
P.P.S: It's looking normal after customizing the fonts, but I don't know if it should draw over the Checkboxes like that

however there are some changes around the column layout already added to the preview.. I thought that was already added to preview2. maybe it was not.  Maybe should release a preview3

Thank you so much, Mathias ! You are truly a godsend !!

It is still impossible for me to fix something I can't reproduce, All I can do is write done a note about it and keep and eye out for it when/If I see it happening.

Can't you add an option to permanently lock the columns into a fixed [current] size please, that would make my life a whole lot easier ! It's so hard to make adjustments to every tab I open all the time... Because I can't use MC in its current state, it's too cumbersome & painstaking to re-adjust the columns when they spontaneously change size in every tab ! Please Mathias, I humbly beseech you to do this !

I can find any issue with having column set with space in the name or not.

Thanks for replying, yes, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference, except I think without spaces the other tabs (background tabs) are properly sized according to the Layout. If possible try and get around to fixing this File header column issue. Also Color Rule Editor bug fix would be much appreciated also. But mainly the File Header Columns resizing sporadically.

[File Header Column and Color Rules Editor Bugs]

#2 Nothing with this was "fix" so dont know why you got this before. might be because you resize panel size in startup them

#5 Can't replicate this. Never seen that happen.

File Header Column and Color Rules Editor Bugs

The File Header Column bug remains a significant issue, and the Color Rules Editor bug is still unresolved. I suspect the root cause may be related to panel sizing behavior upon startup—specifically, that panels initialize at a 50/50 split and then resize to 100/0. Could you please investigate and address this ?

I rely heavily on the File Column Headers. Even if I need to revert to the [Default] layout, I want to avoid having to manually reconfigure the File Column Header layouts for each of my dozens of tabs every time I launch MC. As you mentioned earlier, this may be due to the layout states not being properly synchronized or persisted asynchronously.

Please look into these two issues.

Additionally, I can now finally assign Ctrl+Page Up/Page Down to navigate between tabs (after removing these keys from Next Sibling Folder / Previous Sibling Folder bindings). Thanks !

Additional Feature Request and Observations

P.S. Would it be possible to add an MC command that refreshes the File Column Header layout and automatically resizes the columns accordingly? This would be useful to run after resizing the Left Panel to 100/0, allowing me to quickly restore the correct column sizes. Ideally, this command could also apply the current Column Layout to all open tabs, streamlining the workflow.

P.P.S. I suspect the issue with the File Column Header Layout was related to spaces in the layout name. For example, changing "My Advanced Tweaks" to "AdvancedTweak" appears to have mitigated the problem, as only the focused tab at startup is now abnormally squashed. However, I've noticed that neither the first tab nor the current startup tab are correctly applying the designated Column Layout, requiring me to manually adjust two tabs each time.

[5 bugs are fixed:]

5 bugs are fixed:
(Fixed #1) The Sorted Column is remembered properly (the little triangle) (doesn't get unsorted or reset to Name Column like before when there is a new defined custom Layout "My Advanced Tweaks" in my case) !

(Fixed #2) The Date Created Column is visible now !

(Fixed #3) In "Windows Explorer" Colors mode you can now right-click the File Header Column !

(Fixed #4) Ctrl+Page Up and Ctrl+Page Down (Page Up/ Page Down keys essentially) are assignable now and the text is not hidden in the Keyboard Customization dialog !

(Fixed #5) Both Keyboard Customization dialog and Folder Settings dialog fit on screen (on 1366x768) so they're resized perfectly !

2 Bugs remain:
(Issue #6) Color Rules are still broken though (a new Color Rule is actually the parent Color Rule, it's not selectable or editable as a new item.)

(Issue #7) File Header Column is still squashed together on Startup, have to manually select the Layout for it to re-display correctly auto-resized (tested with my script to auto-resize left-panel to 100% ("-autorun" command-line User-Defined Command script)). It also still works better when there's only a single "[Default]" layout (together with the "Pictures" and "Music" standard layouts.)

lets wait until next preview and see what stills applies..  lots around this are already changed so some of it is probably not valid anymore. See if I can put out a updated preview tonight

Sounds good !

Thought I might also bring these to your attention:

• V16 shows a Color Picker popup (in Core Settings > Colors) but V17 goes straight to the Color dialog, if this is a design choice then ignore.
• I found some other hotkeys using Page Up and Page Down to also be invisible/ hidden in the "Keyboard Customization" dialog !
• Like the "Keyboard Customization" dialog that you resized, the "Folder Settings" dialog is also slightly lying out of the screen (might want to fix that as well.)
• My File Header Column is buggy again, could be because I made a "User-Defined Script" to autorun (command-line parameter) to make the Left Panel 100% long, or could be because I manually edited the ColumnSets.xml and made some changes (renamed it to Default I don't know. But fixing the File Column Header (and Layouts) would be a big step up !

There was another minor coloring glitch but I omitted it for now: in V16 for instance I have (in Core Settings > Colors tab) Settings Panel > Tab > textcolor as "Button Text" ("Windows Standard Colors" option) which is black (correctly) but on V17 it shows "Button Text" text color as Gray/ White.

I just noticed this now, in V17, the "Date Created" File Column displays nothing ! It's an empty field throughout —it works fine in V16.2 ! Is this a known bug ?!

Column "Extended - Date Created" ?
Works for me. Strange..

You path say thumbstick. is that is usb stick mounted into a path ?  does it happens only under that path or everywhere ?

Yes, "Extended - Date Created" And no it's a local harddrive folder, not a USB Drive (I use it to store temporarily for transferring files to my USB Drive.) It happens everywhere. Even in a fresh copy of MC V17. (updated the screenshots)

I just noticed this now, in V17, the "Date Created" File Column displays nothing ! It's an empty field throughout —it works fine in V16.2 ! Is this a known bug ?!