Far Manager uses the Win32 console and has a keyboard-oriented user interface (although limited mouse operation, including drag-and-drop, is possible).

[3][4][5] Far Manager features an internal viewer and editor, customizable user menus, tree views, file search, compare, integrated help, and a task switcher for its tools.

Far's standard functionality can be greatly extended with macros (written in Lua scripting language, primarily used to record keypress sequences) and plugins.

Standard plugins installed by default include FTP, Windows network, extensible archive file support and temporary panel (sandbox) virtual file systems, a process list, print manager, filename case converter, and several editor plugins to format, wrap, and otherwise alter text.

There is also the new NetRocks plugin implementing network connections via FTP, FISH, SCP, SFTP, SMB, NFS and WebDAV.

As of January 2022, the project has moved to the beta stage, support for python and lua scripts has been added.