FolderGlance for Mac3.0.6

Working under High Sierra on MBPro. FinderPop is now offically retired so FolderGlance the only real option for intelligent contextual menu. Shame Apple doesn't offer something like this instead of stupid Dock - not practical on 4k screen to go hunting to the Dock every time I want to do something. Having FG as option by opt-click increases my productivity - no question/no doubt! Recommended by long-time user.

Has the same annoying flaw as FinderPop. First you have to click and select a folder, then you can right-click and view the folder contents. FinderPop is faster however in showing folder contents.

I thought it was a bit expensive, but I bought it anyway. I really like what it can do. It does a lot more than just showing folder contents.

I can't help but ask - why would you pay $20 for the same functionality that FinderPop provides FREE?

FolderGlance works great on El Capitan (and it's still a 5-star app). The thing is, you have to temporarily disable System Integrity Protection (SIP), move a file and run a Terminal command, then re-enable SIP, which takes a few minutes and several restarts, but it's worth it. Here's what to do (these instructions come from the dev):

1. To disable SIP, restart into Recovery Mode by holding Cmd+R at startup. Go to Utilities > Terminal in the menu. In Terminal, type "csrutil disable" (without the quotes) and press Enter. Restart normally.

2. Move the FolderGlance.osax file from your ~/Library/ScriptingAdditions folder to the /System/Library/ScriptingAdditions folder (creating the folder if it doesn't exist). Make sure there are no other copies of FolderGlance.osax on your Mac (check /Library/ScriptingAdditions, too).

3. Open Terminal, enter "sudo chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/ScriptingAdditions/FolderGlance.osax" (without the quotes) and press Enter. Provide your admin password when prompted.

4. Re-enable SIP by restarting into Recovery Mode as in 1. above, but instead type "csrutil enable" (without the quotes) in Terminal, and then restart normally.

Not working on El Capitan, sorry to say. That is too bad. It has been a great little utility so I am still giving it 5 stars. Hopefully the developer will see if it can be made to work on El Capitan OS 10.11.

Overall, I found this useful (mostly for quickly moving files to favorite folders), but I had to uninstall it because it messed with the context menu; more specifically, it messed with tagging via the context menu (Yosemite 10.10.3).

Here's what happened: if I assigned a "red" tag via the context menu, it would actually assign the color purple; choose purple, it would assign orange etc.

When I used the Action button in the Finder to assign color tags, everything worked as expected (i.e., red -> red etc). After disabling FolderGlance, everything worked as expected again as well; so it must be a bug in FolderGlance.

Using Dropzone for now to quickly whisk files to specified favorite folders (granted, not as convenient, but as is, FolderGlance is messing with my tagging and I can't use it).

Had to uninstall. Causing hags of contextual menu on Mavericks.

As Maclover1.1 says, tis software in like FinderPop on steroïds. Used with Default Folder and Total Finder, it's enormous ! Just one thing : the color tags doesn't work correctly with Yosemite. When you choose the yellow color, the green one is selected ! And so on… Otherwise, this is a perfect soft, very helpful. Anyway, used recently, I could not do without it now ! So, grat app !

This is FinderPop on steroids. It still works flawlessly in Yosemite Preview/Beta. Hope the dev will continue to develop. It' s the best in this category. IMO if the dev would show some "action" it could have become as sort of "front office" DefautlFolder. It actually can inline in the Finder and display previews of files (QuickLook), making it faster to review files than the regular Finder and its bag of tricks (ie. gimmicky CoverFlow). Oh.. and the icon is horrendous.. still.. GREAT APP. Dev: Do not let this one die away.. please. 5 stars when you show some "updating action." :0)

I've been using FolderGlance for a few years, and it's gotten to the point that I can't use a Mac without it (my wife doesn't have it on her machine, and when I have to use her Mac it drives me nuts -- maybe I'll install it for her when she's not looking!). Things I like abut FolderGlance include the ability to move and copy files from the contextual menu, the ability to quickly create aliases in a different location than the source file, and fast access to favourite folders and custom folders (in which I place aliases of frequently-used apps). FolderGlance makes right-clicking (control-clicking) fun!

i used this for several years on my previous mac, but never installed it on my new one (running ML)...until last night. forgot how useful, and elegant this is. along with launchpad, makes working on my macbook pro a seamless, and intuitive experience. great app!

Essential app. Love it!

Infrequently when I bring up the menu, "Finder" will be the only thing at the bottom, after which I get approximately 2 seconds of pinwheel, and Finder crashes. 8^/ (Mac Pro, 10.6.8)

Can highly recommend this app. Have been using it for a while and am a happy user. I have identified a couple of minor bugs (predominantly GUI) over the time I have used it and the developer has responded within hours, either offering update or working with me to look at logs to solve the problem. Worth the money in increased productivity and ease of use.

Is version 3 a paid upgrade? I can't find any info on the developers site.

Great App.

FolderGlance in 10.6.7 has simply stopped working for me. It sites there. It does nothing. I've owned it for years. Too bad.

FolderGlance is a "must have" tool for Mac.

This app is awesome! It is worth the money just to clear out the "Open with..." pop out menu. I have always wanted to clean out the frivolous app's that I would never open a photo or text file with. This has pared down my menu to about a dozen apps. Plus, it opens instantaneously - no more waiting for it any more. As for moving files around, this makes it easy. I did use QuickAccessCM before it died when CM's were banished. Now, I have an easy way to move files around without opening windows, or waiting for them to pop open. I tested it, and had downloaded another app with similar leanings, but this one is now in my stable of must-have apps!

Despite ridiculous comments about this or that substitute, or this app being altogether unnecessary, the particular unique feature set of Folderglance (including customizing the contextual menu, and the Open With menu, as well as downplaying the little used Finder contextual items and previewing files at distant points in the file system) can be absolutely invaluable. I download and/or drag a lot of images and information to the desktop which I then need to transfer to far flung locations in several drives. Alternatives have, for me, all proven less convenient, or just slow or unreliable. Though I use this less often than I did in the past, I'm very glad it's still around and getting better with each update!

This app is amazing. I have owned it since it's early inception and updates are frequent and well thought out. When I look over and see the "recommend apps" I can't help but laugh. They don't hold a candle to the power and stability of FolderGlance as it is right now. Constant updates will continue to put those "recommend apps" to shame. Just try it, if your not sold, you don't need the quick contextual features.

Version 2.6.6 "adds the ability to create new files to the root context menu." Fantabulous!

$20 and FinderPop is FREE? LOL

Since updating to 2.6.4, i very often get an error 47 or 50 when using this to move files. The files seem to get moved okay, but a dialog pops up anyway to report an error.

Folks for those of you contemplating using/purchasing FolerGlance, you should be aware that FinderPop is now working on Snow Leopard. FinderPop is free (donation-ware). I have used both and have gone back to FinderPop after having bought a licence for FolderGlance. Its definitely worth having a look at FinderPop before shelling out $$ for FolderGlance. FinderPop available from http://www.fnarr.net/fp/

This is a very useful application. I have no idea why this is not built into the system.

The developers' e-mail is no longer valid. I love the idea of this program, but when I click and hold the mouse over a folder, "spaces" engages. I do see the little icon, but when I let go it runs "spaces". Also, I needed to turn off "1 finger snap" because this program locks up finder. I'm pretty sure all the settings are right.

This is the best update I have seen. I bought this app when it came out and updates are always bringing something new to the app, not fixing bugs. FG is worth every penny I paid for it. More dev's like this are needed! Thank you for the constant grind of making this app to fit all of our different preferences, completely flexible in every regard.

I love this thing. Quick, simple, and slick.

Awesome app, awesome developer. I sent him an email bemoaning the fact that the FolderGlance contextual menu forces the Finder's and Services' contextual menus into submenus, and he replied with a full explanation about the forces that conspired to push FolderGlance into that configuration and a promise to keep looking for a solution. Well, it's only been 3 weeks but Mr. Stødle has already figured out how to restore FolderGlance to its usefulness as a means of giving contextual menu access to other folders but now without relegating the Finder and Services contextual menus to submenus! It's now a must-have app again!

just sent the developer an email and had a response within 15 minutes!! It is a bug and will be fixed in next version. Impressive to see such a prompt response from a very receptive developer.

Slight GUI bug when you set FG to show files/folders in colour to reflect the label you have assigned to them. The font appears to be different and is definitely larger - I have set mine to 10pt but the coloured font is at least 11pt, possibly 12. While this may appeal to some people - coloured files/folders larger than uncoloured files/folders, I would definitely prefer the font to be the same size throughout.

I used FinderPop for years and wish it were back, but it may be awhile. FolderGlance seems like a nice app, but it works very slooooowly for me. I disabled it because it is much faster and more convenient to use Control/click than wait for the CM to pop up with this program.

FolderGlance is so valuable and works so flawlessly, that every time I use it (which is all the time!) I wonder why the Mac Operating System doesn't come with it already built in. This easy to use and seemingly simple application supplements the way I work so profoundly that the Macintosh experience would be noticeably less speedy, less fluid and certainly less fun without it. Moving a file, copying it to some other location, or making an alias of it somewhere, takes significantly less thinking and less time then it did before using FolderGlance. But FolderGlance has lots of other handy and nifty directly related functions as well as customized controls that I continue to discover as the weeks go by. It is thoughtfully and intelligently designed by a developer who is responsive to your questions and your requests for support. I am so dependent on FolderGlance now only a couple of months after purchasing it, that at this point I simple don't know how I'd get along without it. Please don't let my enthusiasm for this product lead you to believe that I am either somehow connected with this product or personally know the developer. Neither is true.

I like it and i was thinking to buy it, but I think it would be way better if the menu that it opens with right click was the same as default with the option to see the content of the folder on the bottom. I know that probably what i wrote doesn't make sense, i'm sorry for my bad english, i just want to know if it is possible, instead of hiding the normal menu under the "Finder" option, to still see it but with the folder content explore in the bottom.

Like others, I was quite disappointed that FinderPop doesn't yet work with Snow Leopard... I even uninstalled 10.6 and went back to 10.5, as I'm a contextual menu kind of guy. But with FolderGlance, I'm back in. A very nice alternative, though still looking forward to FinderPop's eventual upgrade... I'd almost gave a 5 star rating due to FolderGlance's need to have a key stoke for copying or alas creation. Prefer FinderPop's window that pops up for these options. Though, really... that's a minor, nitpicky thing. Perhaps it's just that I'm not yet used to the change? As for the $20... Heck, that's cheap for all FolderGlance does. (Still amazed that FinderPop was free!) Rob

When I upgraded to OS X 10.6, I had to abandon a few applications, but none of them were as difficult to say goodbye to as FinderPop. Turly (the developer of FinderPop) may eventually release a 10.6-compatible version, but he's recovering from a bad accident, so it could be a while. I couldn't wait, as I am completely dependent on contextual menus to open files and move them around, so I went looking for an alternative and discovered FolderGlance. What a great app! It offers all the features I need, and I prefer the way it is configured as compared with FinderPop. The developer has been extremely responsive as well, which is always nice to know when making a financial commitment to an application by purchasing a licence. Highly recommended!

EXCELLENT! I was afraid this wasn't going to show up.

Before Snow Leopard, I was someone who used Contextual Menus constantly. Why Apple trashed such a brilliantly simple and efficient tool is beyond me. FolderGlance 2.5 is the first and only app, (that I've found), to bring proper Contextual Menus back to Snow Leopard. I'm currently testing FolderGlance, and so far I like what I see. The menus are customizable, and they allow you to do some slick things, like move and copy files right from the contextual menu. Without purchasing a license, FolderGlance will be slightly less functional than the registered full version. For example: certain menu functions will work fine, but wont have the ability to dig infinitely deep into folder levels. Some people might have trouble paying $20 for an app that used to be free. But for me, having Contextual Menues in Snow Leopard is definitely worth the price.

$20 for this? I'll wait for FinderPop. It's free.

Gone! Relegating CMM's to the "More" menu was a step backwards, and now with Snow Leopard, they're dead! I use this all the time. )8^(

It would be a lot better if it didn't make it impossible to rename a file in the Finder. It still renders the cursor and highlighting inoperative when renaming files. I have to close the Finder window and open a new one to get it to work again, and then only briefly. Unacceptable.

There has been something I've been wondering for quite a while. When I pull up the contextual menu and browse my OS X System drive, I still see the invisible folders etc, home, net, tmp and var. Those don't show up when I actually open the drive, but they always have in the FolderGlance menu. I've got the "Files to include in menus:" setting set to "Only visible files" and I don't see anything else discussing that. Can someone tell me what (if anything) I'm missing or is this normal? Thanks in advance.

Update. This app comes and goes. Holding down the mouse will sometimes bring up the CM, and when it does it will stick until a restart or log in, then it won't appear for awhile. I haven't quite figured out why it appears.

I can't seem to get this to work on 10.5.1. I miss it. Intel iMac and MacBook.

Folder Glance sometimes fails to move items. The most recent incident was from my desktop to a folder within my documents folder via an alias. It worked when i made the move directly to the destination folder. (Leopard) .

Even without using other features FolderGlance is a more convenient hierarchical folder browser for me than the folders-in-an-overcrowded-Dock (pre-Leopard) method. Glad I won't be missing the latter when I eventually upgrade to Leopard.

But it's not showing the contents of my folders. Why?

Blame his holiness Steve Jobs once more for not integrating this in OS X ...and no windowshade (surprisingly in stickies it is possible) ...and no popup-windows (best comfort and best timesaving-feature in OS- 8-9) ...and no built-in adblocking in the browser ...and the need to restart your Mac to free up your RAM from javascript-garbage - just like like in the nineties... Amen

Yeah! Been waiting for a Leopard version.

hi - this is fantastic, i love it! one problem in leopard... is there any way that i can move the menu to the top level of the contextual menu?.. for me, when i right click, i see the usual system choices and a folder called 'more'... which contains all my contextual menu plugins... it would be great if this could work in the top level, rather than in the folder 'More' great app, tho! thanks.

It isn't as complete as FinderPop (still the best) but it is compatible with Leopard, which makes it the best that is available right now for contextual hierarchal menus.

Thank you for this! It is really great. Would it be possible to see an option to always show previews of images and other files?

this is a MUST have application. makes any other launchers completely obsolete. folder viewing works flawlessly, no real impact on any system resources. even renders a preview of your pictures, unbelievable. thank you so much for this free software.

It's great!. OK, the only thing I wish it had was the ability to 'open with' on folders. That's what non-Intel Zingg! had. For example you can then 'open with' folders to mutiple filename editing softwares /change folder access etc.

I really like FolderGlance. I've been using it for some months since I first found it and I love the new feature which eliminates Control Click. I'm a true believer in the original concept of the single button mouse and the Control "Clickless" feature brings it back to me. I also dislike the bloat of all the launchers out there, I just don't mess around in the finder enough to give them the memory and other overhead they demand. QuicKeys is my only must have startup item and it's all the launcher I'll ever need. Combine it with FolderGlance and you'll never need any of the launcher apps. I've made my donation.

Another terrific update for FolderGlance. Keep up the good work! If for some reason you find that you have to work on Windows and really miss this functionality, check out KO Approach, Fake!, Fast Folders, and PowerDrawers. Of them, KO Approach is by far my favorite - and it's only at rev 0.2! I have reviews and links posted at http://hypert.webhop.net/win/index.html?utilities. (I don't have any connection with those utilities; that's just a page of stuff I find useful, and thought others might too.)

Having previously bought "Move Items X", this application is the best contextual menu replacement ever. Some useful things: -Ability to reduce the contextual menu font size -Can be used to "open with" documents with apps for your choice -Browsing through folders is a breeze, no more finder window clutter I have used it 5 minutes and I find it indispensable already :)

a very strongly reccommended application. works very well and fluently and elimates the need for lots of little apps(like ones that make mock apple menus repicating the ones in os 9, those are pointless if you use this) layout and preferences and every aspect of it is easy and works well im on a very small computer(literally), a mac mini 1.25 256mb of ram, barely any noticable lagging, very very nice application

Just installed this small apps a little while ago........and it does wonder! Not so slow as some guys are saying, and pretty stable so far. If you are a real speed freak, try adding some extra memory to your machine...and close a few apps as well; even if Mac makes it so easy and convenient to leave them open! Remember, apps are sometime quite hungry! Even on th eMac, with only 256 MB memory, it works well.......let alone on my new 17" Powerbook with 1 GB memory. Can't see the speed problem anywhere! As I also have to work on Windows XP (shame!! on me; I know), this makes the transition smoother since my Windows PC is set in a pretty similar way on the right click! I know of many apps that are NOT FREE and full of buggs; so for whatever this is worth, a very big thank you to the developer for a good product. I might consider a donation........if at all possible online from the Kenyan bush in Africa! Thanks again and keep it up! Jean-Michel

It works! It shows the contents of folders with just one click. Seem non-obtrusive and bug-free. Definately an assest to any desktop

File preview is just what this CM needed to become just indispensable for me. Thanks a lot

This product just keeps getting better and better! 6 out of 5 :-)

5 out of 5

This thing works a charm. Does what it says it will do and causes no problems on my 15" PB running 10.4.2

Beware!! Once installed created many aliases, inserted them in sidebar, caused other apps to crash. Possibly owing to other ContextualMenus in system. Repeat, beware!!

Very useful. Needs to have one minor fix: when you attempt to move a file between volumes, it only copies the file ("move" should copy original file to selected destination & then delete original file).

Finder Pop fans rejoice (a similar program in Classic). From what I remember this product not only does what Finder Pop did, but it does more. If you are a Default Folder fan, FolderGlance does for the Finder what Default Folder does for Navigation Menus. However the setup and prefs are much simpler. For anyone that uses a 2 button mouse or trackball, this product is an absolute "must have." I have added it to my personal "essential additions" list, What this product does is give you instant access, via a "right click" to any folder on your hard disk via a hierarchical menu. It also acts a a launcher (just set up your Applications folder as a custom folder) and allows you to copy or move anything, anywhere, with a single click of your mouse or trackball. In doing so, this product puts all similar products, commercial, shareware, or free-ware, out to pasture. I simply have not seen an equal or better product for the Mac that has the same or better functional. It is both simple and elegant. Additionally the developer has continually monitored the stability of the product to insure that the existing version is stable before adding additional features. It even comes with a simple elegant installer. This product should be nominated for the best new donationware product of the year. At least it is the best I have seen so far. If I were handing out gold statues, this product would be given one. If you have not gotten into the habit of working with contextual menus (right click or hold down the "Control key" while clicking, you need to consider it. When you do this product will simplify your navigation and file organization. Needless to say, if you just got a Mighty Mouse, this product is also a must. In all my reviews, the number of 4-5's I have ever given out I can count on one hand and still have fingers left. This CM rates 4-5's and then some. And after you try it and fall in love with it, don't forget to send the developer a few bucks. It is donationware and this developer has earned it.

"You can now move or copy the Finder selection to a folder you browse to, by selecting "Move selection here" I do not understand how to do the above. I can find "move selection here", but then?

Those who fondly remember FinderPop might also want to consider: - Ittec (http://www.balance-software.com/ittec/) - Fruitmenu (http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/fruitmenu)

There appears to be a bug of sorts; say you have three items - a1 a2 and a10. folderglance would order them a1, a10 and then a2 whereas the correct order, and the finder's order, is a1, a2 and then a10. maybe there could be a preference to set this behaviour?

developer dude... MANY THANX for your nice work... i have some problems... when i try to "colorize" a FOLDER with a color label from Finder... they OPEN and NO change the "Finder color label" in prefpanel i set FolderGlance to appear in meadle of the Contextual menu. please, fix that. eMac 1.25 / 10.4.2 / 512 RAM

Am I the only person still mystified why Apple haven't built something like this into the OS? Hats off to the developer for taking up the slack.

Excellent. I've been crying for this functionality since leaving Mac OS 9 and FinderPop. FinderGlance is the first prog I've found for X that does this and is fast enough to be useful. I would like an option, while navigating in the CM, to open the current folder when hitting return/enter, instead of digging deeper. And it would be cool if it sorted alphabetically naturally, instead of all upper case above all lower case. I wouldn't trade away the speed for this though.

Yes, I was a blackbox user myself. And this is realy nice, much unbloted and faster than FruitMenu, and... IT's FREE!! Good work!

This is the one thing I've been missing on my Mac! Having used lightweight window managers on Linux for a while, I was used to getting to everything on my machine thru contextual menus. Now I found this great little app, and I'm happy :)

wow! it is fast and has (almost) all options I need. well done and thanks!

One more request. :-) Could FolderGlance resolve folders that are Finder-style "aliases" and UNIX-style "symbolic links"? Right now you can't control-click on them and have FolderGlance follow them. It doesn't matter if they're the first thing clicked on, or a child of the initial folder clicked on. Is that easy to do?

The Preferences panel doesn't give me the option to select folder depth. It just as one setting; to turn visibility on or off -- as a matter of fact, my folders with customized icons include their hidden icon files in the menu list -- even though the Show Hidden Files is turned off. Otherwise, this tool is much appreciated; very handy for a quick check.

Based on the developer's quick (less than 12 hours!) fix to my initial performance complaint, I'm revising the scores I had previously given. Nice work! :-) Add the ability to add other items to the CM (ala FinderPop, Ittec, and OpenMenu), and we'd be talking a 5-star utility all around!

No problem concerning the opening speed but can't the developer get rid of displaying the folder's icon in the list, it would be much appreciated?

This seems to be a great product for a great price. It does for free what some are charging significant bucks for. I also like the fact that it locates itself at the beginning of the list.

FolderGlance can best compared to FinderPop in Mac OS Classic. OK, maybe that's not fair, since I haven't found anything that really compares to FinderPop. So, maybe you should think of it as similar to Ittec (which *still* isn't compatible with Tiger) or OpenMenu. But, unlink those CM-based folder-browsers, this one doesn't allow you to add other items (like apps) to your contextual menu. That's really useful for opening any file in, say, XEmacs, TextWrangler, or GraphicConverter. So, this is just a folder-browser, but that's still can be an incredibly useful thing. I find myself missing this feature whenever I'm on a computer without it (Fake! is the closest thing I've found for Windows: http://web.telia.com/~u32102551/index.html). However, where FolderGlance really falls short (for me) is that appear to pre-load the folder-hierarchy for the item you click on. You can customize this in the include PrefPane, but let's say you control-click on your hard-drive. FolderGlance appears to dive through EVERY folder (to the depth specified) before showing you the CM. Other CMs seem to build this on the fly, so the Applications folder (for example) won't be examined when control-clicking on the hard-drive until you mouse over that item in the CM. Given how slow this pre-loading is, I prefer the on-demand method. Additionally, if you restrict the depth to, say, "2", then you cannot dive down deeper than 2 levels. So, you've improved the speed but reduced the functionality. I don't want to discourage the Developer (I'm a huge supporter of freeware/shareware efforts), but I did want to put this constructive criticism out there for them, and to let other users know what to expect from FolderGlance. However, your mileage may vary, so please post any other reviews, too!