About FileBrowser Quantum
Learn about FileBrowser Quantum - the best free self-hosted web-based file manager.
Overview
FileBrowser Quantum provides an easy way to access and manage your files from the web. It has a modern responsive interface with many advanced features to manage users, access, sharing, and file preview and editing.
This version is called “Quantum” because it packs tons of advanced features into a tiny easy-to-run file. Unlike the majority of alternative options, FileBrowser Quantum is simple to install and easy to configure.
Goal: Become the best open-source self-hosted file browsing application that exists – all for free. This repo will always be free and open-source.
Key Features
Multiple Sources Support
Access multiple directories or storage locations from one interface.
Advanced Authentication
- Password authentication with optional 2FA
- OIDC single sign-on
- Proxy authentication
Beautiful UI
Responsive, customizable interface with themes and branding support.
Simplified Configuration
Everything configured via a single config.yaml file.
Ultra-Efficient Indexing
- Real-time search results as you type
- Real-time monitoring and updates in the UI
- Search supports file and folder sizes with various filters
Better File Browsing
- Office and video file previews
- Instant view mode switching
- Folder sizes displayed
- Remembers scroll position
Flexible Sharing
- Share expiration time
- User-specific or anonymous access
- Custom styling and themes
- File viewing, editing, and uploading permissions
Directory-Level Access Control
Scoped access rules per user or group.
Developer API
- Long-lived API tokens
- Swagger documentation at
/swaggerendpoint
What’s Different from Original FileBrowser
FileBrowser Quantum is a massive fork with significant changes:
Added Features:
- ✅ Multiple sources support
- ✅ OIDC, password + 2FA, and proxy authentication
- ✅ Beautiful, responsive, customizable UI
- ✅ Simplified configuration via
config.yaml - ✅ Ultra-efficient indexing and real-time updates
- ✅ More file type previews (office, video)
- ✅ Highly configurable sharing options
- ✅ Directory-level access control
- ✅ Developer API with long-lived tokens
Removed Features:
- ❌ Shell commands (completely removed for security)
- :construction: Jobs (not supported yet, planned)
System Requirements
Every file and directory in the source gets indexed by default. This enables powerful features like instant search, but large filesystems increase memory requirements.
- Memory: Depends on source complexity (typically 256MB minimum)
- GPU: Not currently used (planned)
See How much RAM does it require? for details.
The User Interface
The UI has a simple three-component navigation system:
- (Left) Multi-action button with slide-out panel
- (Middle) Powerful search bar
- (Right) View change toggle
All other functions are in the action menu or context pop-up menus.
Current Status
There is no stable version yet. Stable release planned for 2025.
Current release status:
- Beta: Frequent releases, latest features
- Stable: Coming soon
See latest announcements for updates.
Comparison with Alternatives
FileBrowser Quantum compares favorably with alternatives:
| Feature | Quantum | Nextcloud | Google Drive | FileRun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hostable | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Filesystem support | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Multiple sources | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Standalone binary | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Docker image size | 180 MB | 250 MB | ❌ | > 2 GB |
| Min. memory | 256 MB | 512 MB | ❌ | 512 MB |
| Price | Free | Free tier | Free tier | $99+ |
| Advanced search | ✅ | Configurable | ✅ | ✅ |
| Single sign-on | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| API documentation | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Office file support | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Themes | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Branding | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Open source | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
See full comparison for more details.
Why This Fork Exists
This fork exists to create the ultimate version of FileBrowser with features and improvements that would take years to merge into the original project.
Reasons for Forking
- Velocity - The original maintainers are less active, changes would be 100x slower
- Vision - My changes are an opinionated departure requiring nearly complete rewrite
- Freedom - Full control over features, UX, and technical decisions
If you look at the commit history, I have personally contributed more code changes than any other contributor on the original FileBrowser. This version is well over 50% my code.
Ultimate Vision
My vision for this free software:
- Minimal requirements - Easy to install and configure, even for Docker
- Feature parity - Compete with paid alternatives while remaining free
- Powerhouse features - Advanced media player, job manager, duplicate detection, security scanning
- Metrics dashboard - User activity, system activity, job activity, API activity
None of this would be possible without creating this forked repo.
Get Started
Ready to try it out? See Getting Started.