The part you cannot turn off.
Foundation is the file manager: the list, the tabs, the tree, the drives in the sidebar, and every operation that moves a file. It ships in every install, free, and there is no setting that removes it. Turning it off would leave you with a window.
Ships
On a normal Tuesday
Keep six folders open at once.
Tabs across the top, a folder tree down the side, your drives and pinned places under it.
Copy a lot of files and watch it happen.
Progress as it runs, a prompt when something is already there, and undo when you picked the wrong thing.
Delete without holding your breath.
Delete puts the file in the Trash or Recycle Bin. Getting it back is your operating system's job, and it is good at it.
Also in it, and safe to list. Sorting and columns, in-folder filtering, Details and List views, selection and keyboard navigation, drag and drop, inline rename, the right-click menu, file properties, native file-type icons, opening a file with the default app or an “Open with” picker, recursive folder sizes with a treemap, per-folder colours, recents, and the first-run setup.
How you come by it
Every install has it. It is what the free Minimal bundle is — named there so the card describes honestly what you already hold, not because buying grants it.
An add-on is not sold on its own — a bundle is, and holding the same add-on through two bundles is never charged twice. See the bundles.
In the app, off until you move the slider
A fresh install hides anything below the default bar on this add-on’s Minimum readiness slider in Settings › Features. These are in the app today.
- Grid and thumbnail view, the view switcher, and grouping.
- Multi-pane (split) browsing, and the Columns (Miller) view.
- The preview pane, new-folder and new-file, tagging, and the address bar's newer behaviour.
Nothing announced
Nothing is promised here. Foundation grows by promoting what is already in the app, not by announcements.
Foundation is part of the file manager.
Download File Manager, then pick the bundle that grants it.