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Filee is a free, open-source desktop file converter. The project site and the KnifeLemon/Filee README both describe the same gesture: hold a modifier key (Ctrl on Windows/Linux, Option on macOS), drag files, and drop them onto a format in a donut that opens at the cursor. Conversions run on your machine; files are not uploaded.

License, version, and platforms

GitHub marks the repository MIT. The README copyright line is © 2026 Myeonggu Kim (KnifeLemon) and contributors. The site’s “At a glance” block lists version 2.0.0, price free, offline yes, and platforms Windows 10/11 x64, Linux x64/ARM64 (Ubuntu 22.04+), and macOS 13+ (preview). macOS builds are not notarized yet, so the first launch needs an allow step under Privacy & Security. Linux drag gestures need X11; Wayland users are pointed to the drop zone and the file manager’s right-click menu.

When this article checked the public GitHub API, the repo reported on the order of 11,000 stars, homepage https://filee.sh, and language C#. Star counts change; re-check the repo page for a live number.

How many formats (README vs site)

The README feature blurb says 256 formats with no Office / Hancom / LibreOffice required for the unmarked set. The website FAQ and “At a glance” block say 255 formats in 18 categories, with 147 working right after install and the rest via optional engines. This article follows the README count (256) for the headline capability line and notes the site’s 255 figure where the marketing pages use it—do not invent a third number.

Categories on the site and README cover images, vectors, PDF, office documents, Korean HWP/HWPX, spreadsheets, presentations, text/markup, e-books, video, audio, subtitles, archives, CAD, fonts, data files, 3D models, and geospatial vectors. Optional engines named on both pages: FFmpeg, LibreOffice, Calibre, Ghostscript, and Pandoc (download in the installer or later in-app; existing PATH copies can be reused).

Install and everyday use

Downloads are linked from Releases and the site download section:

  • Windows: Filee-*-win-Setup.exe, or portable ZIP → Filee.exe. Setup can add Explorer menu items, start-at-sign-in, the filee CLI, and optional engines. Silent install switches follow Inno Setup (/VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES).
  • macOS preview: unpack osx-arm64 / osx-x64 and run ./install.sh, or use the .dmg.
  • Linux: unpack and run ./install.sh (no root; needs Python 3).

Besides the donut gesture, Filee documents right-click Convert with Filee, Send To, a keyboard shortcut, a home drop zone, watch folders, batch parallel conversion, crop tools, and browser drag-in (download then convert into Downloads). The CLI examples in the README:

filee convert photo.heic --to jpg
filee convert *.png --to webp --quality 80 -o converted
filee watch D:\Inbox --to pdf --move-originals

Privacy and how it differs from upload converters

Site FAQ and README privacy section agree on the core claim: conversion is local; Filee does not upload your files and collects no usage telemetry. Internet use is limited to update checks against GitHub, downloading engines/OCR packs you choose, and opening links you click. The site’s own comparison with online converters is limited to those points—no upload, no account, works offline, no Filee-imposed file-count/size caps—without naming competing products’ private specs.

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Limits called out by the project

  • macOS is still a preview (ad-hoc signed, not notarized).
  • Some formats need optional engines; video/audio paths lean on FFmpeg.
  • Older, unpatched Windows 10 machines with Hardware-enforced Stack Protection (CET) can fail to start until updated, or until process mitigations for Filee.exe / filee-cli.exe are adjusted—details are in the README and site FAQ.
  • Releases before code signing (up to 2.0.0 per README policy note) may still trigger SmartScreen until reputation builds.

Sources

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Prepared with automated editorial assistance and checked against filee.sh and the Filee README on October 24, 2026. We did not install Filee or convert sample files for this article.