FileBrowser Quantum: Self-Hosted Web File Manager

What FileBrowser Quantum is

FileBrowser Quantum is a self-hosted, web-based file manager. You point it at one or more directories on a server, and it gives users a responsive web interface to browse, search, preview, edit, upload and share those files, with user accounts and permissions on top. The README describes the goal plainly: to be the best open-source self-hosted file browsing application, free and open source.

The project began as a fork of the original File Browser project and, in the README's words, differs significantly from it. The name "Quantum" refers to packing a lot of features into a small, easy-to-run program. Notable changes from the original include multiple sources with include and exclude rules, OIDC, LDAP, JWT, password with 2FA and proxy authentication, indexed real-time search, richer previews, configurable sharing, scoped access control and a developer API. One feature was deliberately removed: shell command execution from the UI is gone and the README says it will not return.

It suits home-lab users, small teams that want a private alternative to hosted drives, and developers who need a browser front end for files on a server, NAS or container volume without deploying a full collaboration suite.

How FileBrowser Quantum works

FileBrowser Quantum is a Go backend with a web UI, shipped as a single binary and as Docker images. Configuration lives in a config.yaml file. The docs list the lookup order: a -c command-line argument, then the FILEBROWSER_CONFIG environment variable, then default locations (the current directory, or /home/filebrowser/data/config.yaml in Docker). String values in the YAML can reference environment variables with $VAR or ${VAR}, which keeps secrets such as an LDAP bind password out of the file.

The core concept is a source: a directory the server indexes and exposes. Each source has its own settings, and users can be given access per source. The indexer powers real-time search results as you type, including filters on file and folder sizes, and the UI shows folder sizes.

Version 2.0.0, now the stable line, reworked storage. According to the v2 "About" page, v1 kept everything in a key/value database, which made activity history, reporting and fine-grained permission lookups awkward. v2 moves to a structured SQLite database with a write-through state layer: working copies are kept in memory for speed and changes are saved to the database as they happen, so a restart does not lose work. By default the standalone binary stores its database as filebrowser.sqlite, and the Docker image uses /home/filebrowser/data/database.sqlite.

The UI uses a three-part navigation: a multi-action button with a slide-out panel on the left, the search bar and title in the middle, and the view toggle and overflow menu on the right. Context-free actions sit in the slide-out panel; context-dependent ones appear as pop-up menus.

Key features

• Multiple sources: serve several directories at once, with include and exclude rules per source.
• Authentication options: OIDC single sign-on, LDAP, JWT, password with 2FA, and proxy authentication.
• Indexed search: real-time results as you type, live UI updates and filters by size.
• Previews and thumbnails: office documents, video, album artwork and 3D models, plus a text editor and office file support.
• Sharing controls: share links with expiry times, a choice of which users (including anonymous) can access them, styling and themes, and view, edit and upload permissions.
• Granular permissions: v2 adds per-source view, download, modify, create and delete permissions, with user defaults that act as a template for new accounts.
• Activity viewer: an audit log with charts and CSV export, introduced in v2.
• WebDAV: access sources from WebDAV clients.
• Developer API: long-lived API tokens and a Swagger page at /swagger for API-enabled users.
• Quotas, archives and branding: the README's comparison chart lists file space quotas, archiving selected files, themes and branding support.

Getting started with FileBrowser Quantum

The quickest trial from the Docker getting-started guide mounts the current directory and runs the stable image without persistence:

docker run -d \
  -v $(pwd):/srv \
  -p 80:80 \
  ghcr.io/gtsteffaniak/filebrowser:stable

The UI is then at http://localhost. On v2, if no admin password is configured (or it is left as admin), a random admin password is generated, logged once, and a reset is required on first login.

For a persistent setup, the guide creates a folder for config, database and cache:

mkdir -p filebrowser/data && cd filebrowser

and a config.yaml inside data that defines at least one source. The docs warn not to use the root directory / or include /var as a source.

Images are published to Docker Hub as gtstef/filebrowser and to GitHub Container Registry. The guide lists stable images with FFmpeg and document preview, and stable-slim images with only the core service; beta tags track the v2.1 preview line.

On Linux without Docker, download a release binary for your architecture (amd64, arm64, armv6, armv7 and riscv64 are listed), make it executable and run the interactive setup:

chmod +x linux-amd64-filebrowser
./linux-amd64-filebrowser setup

Then start it with your config file:

./linux-amd64-filebrowser -c config.yaml

The Linux guide also includes a systemd unit for running it as a service under a dedicated user. FFmpeg is optional and enables media features.

Use cases

• Home-lab and NAS front end: browse and share media and documents on a home server from any browser.
• Team file drop: give a small team a private place to upload and share files with expiring links, behind their existing OIDC or LDAP login.
• Server and container volumes: expose a specific directory of a server or Docker volume to non-technical users without giving them shell access.
• Auditable sharing: use the v2 activity log and per-source permissions where you need to know who downloaded or changed what.
• Scripted file access: use API tokens and the Swagger-documented API to integrate file listings and uploads into internal tools.

How FileBrowser Quantum compares

The README includes its own comparison chart against the original File Browser, Filestash, Nextcloud, Google Drive and FileRun, so treat it as the project's self-assessment. By that chart, Quantum adds over the original File Browser multiple simultaneous sources, SSO and LDAP sign-on, long-lived API keys, an API documentation page, indexed search, office previews and WebDAV, at the cost of a larger image and a higher minimum memory requirement. Against Filestash and Nextcloud, the chart shows Quantum without S3 or FTP backends, without content-aware search and without comments or a mobile app, with features such as trash, tags and event notifications still under construction. Nextcloud is a broader collaboration suite; Quantum stays focused on browsing, searching and sharing files on a filesystem, with a standalone binary as one of its install options.

Things to know before adopting FileBrowser Quantum

• License: Apache-2.0.
• v1 to v2 is a migration: v2.0.0 introduces a new database format and config changes. The docs require backing up database.db, a one-time migration, moving HTTP settings from server to http (a server.port key is rejected at startup) and replacing FILEBROWSER_DATABASE with FILEBROWSER_DATABASE_PATH.
• Release channels: stable tracks v2.0.x and beta tracks v2.1.x; pin a version tag such as 2.0-stable if you do not want automatic minor upgrades.
• Local filesystems only: per the comparison chart, there is no S3 or FTP source support.
• Source paths are inside the container: in Docker, paths in config.yaml are from the container's point of view, so they must match your volume mounts.
• Docs are English-only for now, according to the README.
• Fork lineage: it is a separate project from the original File Browser, so configs, images and documentation are not interchangeable.

Project activity

As of October 2026 the repository has about 8,800 stars. It was created in June 2023, is written in Go and is licensed under Apache-2.0, with commits landing in October 2026 and v2.0.0 now on the stable channel. The source and releases are at github.com/gtsteffaniak/filebrowser, and the documentation is at filebrowserquantum.com.