LaunchBar File Manager for Raycast

Browse, preview, and organize your files without leaving the keyboard — LaunchBar-style file management inside Raycast.

There are two commands: Browse Files (the file browser) and Transfer Finder Selection (send files selected in Finder straight to a destination).

Tip: give Browse Files a short alias like fm and pin it (open Raycast, find the command, ⌘K → Configure Command) so it's always one keystroke away.

Browsing your files

Open Browse Files. You start in your starting folder (changeable in settings, see below).

• Move around: → or Enter goes into a folder. ← (or ⌘[) goes up one folder — and lands the highlight on the folder you just came from, so you never lose your place. Esc closes the browser.
• Find things: just start typing to filter the current folder — matching is fuzzy, so abbreviations (vsc finds Visual Studio Code) and small typos (documnets finds Documents) still match. The search bar always shows the current path and live counts, e.g. ~/Documents · 128 items · 2 selected.
• Open and preview: Space opens a highlighted folder, or previews a highlighted file with Quick Look. The preview follows as you move up and down the list. Enter opens files in their default app. Open With… (any file or folder) browses /Applications for the app you want — type to fuzzy-find it, Enter opens your file with it, ←/→ step through subfolders like Utilities.
• Jump around: every row has Go actions for Home, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Applications, and /. ⌘. toggles hidden files, ⌘I toggles the details pane (size, dates, path).

The list never jumps around while you arrow through it: it stays put until the highlight reaches the edge, then scrolls to reveal more.

Selecting multiple files

• Hold Shift and press ↑/↓ to select files in succession — each press toggles the item you're on, then moves the highlight one step. Starting on an already-selected row removes it, and reversing over a run undoes it, so you can carve selections back without holding Shift from before. Let go of Shift, move up or down, then hold it again to start another run, so non-adjacent files can be selected too.
• Selected rows keep their normal icon shape but turn blue and get a small blue dot; Raycast draws the current highlighted row natively. There are no checkboxes or Selected labels.
• ⌘⇧A selects everything in the folder, ⌘⇧F selects just the filtered results, ⌘⇧X clears the whole selection. A single row can still be toggled from its action menu (⌘K → Select/Deselect).
• With files selected, any row's action menu (⌘K) offers batch operations: trash them all, compress them into one ZIP here, or copy all their paths.
• Selections are temporary: exiting the browser, completing a transfer, or cancelling one always deselects everything.

Moving and copying files (the Tab flow)

There is exactly one way to move or copy — it works the same for one file and for many:

1. Pick what to move. One file? Just highlight it, nothing else needed. Several? Hold Shift and press ↑/↓ to mark them.
2. Press Tab. A transfer tree opens, starting at your home folder (or the current folder — see settings).
3. Browse to the destination with ← / →. Need a folder that doesn't exist yet? Press ⌘N to create it — you'll land straight inside it.
4. Press Enter. On a highlighted folder, this targets that folder; on a file row, it targets the folder you're viewing.
5. Choose Copy or Move. A progress bar tracks large transfers. Afterwards, the destination folder opens so you can see the results.

To back out at any point, press Esc (or Cancel Transfer): it deselects everything and returns you to the browser.

Safety nets: you can't copy a folder into itself, and moving files onto the folder they're already in is refused with a message instead of creating duplicates. Name clashes get a copy suffix — nothing is ever overwritten.

Transferring straight from Finder

Select files or folders in Finder, then run Transfer Finder Selection. It skips the browser and drops you directly into the transfer tree with your Finder selection loaded — same Enter-to-target, Copy-or-Move flow. This never touches the selection you built with Shift+↑/↓ in the browser. If Finder has nothing selected, you'll get a Retry option.

Other file operations

Available on any file or folder via ⌘K:

• Rename (dialog with the current name prefilled), Duplicate
• Compress to ZIP (⌘⇧Z) — single items and whole selections; archives open exactly like Finder's
• Extract Here — appears on .zip files
• Move to Trash (⌘⌫, with confirmation) — uses a fallback chain so odd filenames and unusual volumes don't fail silently
• New Folder / New File, Copy Path, Copy File Name, Show in Finder

Settings

Raycast Settings → Extensions → LaunchBar File Manager:

Setting	What it does
Starting folder	Where Browse Files opens (default: your home folder)
On open	Begin in the starting folder, or resume the last opened folder
Transfer start folder	Where the Tab transfer tree begins: home folder or current folder
Show hidden files	Show dotfiles by default (you can still toggle per session)

If folders show up empty, grant Raycast Full Disk Access: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access → enable Raycast.

One keyboard note: Space and the arrow keys are deliberately bound to list actions LaunchBar-style. That means while the action menu (⌘K) is open, typing a space in its Search for actions field will trigger the row's action instead — press Esc to close the menu first, then carry on.