navigate-as-you-type & du (click to see demo video)
nnn
is a full-featured terminal file manager. It's tiny, extremely light and fast.
nnn
is also a disk usage analyzer, a fuzzy app launcher, a batch file renamer and a file picker. The plugin repository has tons of plugins and documentation to extend the capabilities further. You can plug new functionality to nnn
instantly. There's an independent (neo)vim plugin.
It runs smoothly on the Raspberry Pi, Termux on Android, Linux, macOS, BSD, Cygwin and Linux subsystem for Windows. nnn
works seamlessly with DEs and GUI utilities. It's nearly zero-config (with sensible defaults) and can be setup in less than 5 minutes.
Add to that an awesome Wiki!
- Modes
- Light (default), detail
- Disk usage analyzer (block/apparent)
- File picker, (neo)vim plugin
- Navigation
- Navigate-as-you-type with dir auto-select
- Contexts (aka tabs/workspaces) with custom colors
- Sessions, bookmarks; pin and visit a dir
- Familiar shortcuts (arrows, ~, -, @), quick reference
- CD on quit (easy shell integration)
- Sorting
- Ordered pure numeric names by default (visit /proc)
- Case-insensitive version (aka natural) sort
- By file name, modification/access time, size, extension
- Search
- Instant filtering with search-as-you-type
- Regex and substring match
- Subtree search to open or edit files (using plugin)
- Mimes
- Open with desktop opener or specify a custom app
- Create, list, extract, mount (FUSE based) archives
- Option to open all text files in EDITOR
- Information
- Detailed file information
- Media information (using plugin)
- Convenience
- Run plugins and commands with custom keybinds
- FreeDesktop compliant trash (needs trash-cli)
- SSHFS mounts (needs sshfs)
- Cross-dir file/all/range selection
- Batch rename selection or dir entries
- Copy (as), move (as), delete, archive, link selection
- Create (with parents), rename, duplicate (anywhere) files and dirs
- Spawn a shell, run apps, run commands, execute file
- Hovered file set as
$nnn
at prompt and spawned shell - Lock terminal (needs a locker)
- Minimal deps, minimal config
- Widely available
- Unicode support
- Follows Linux kernel coding style
- Highly optimized, static analysis integrated code
- Install the utilities you may need based on your regular workflows.
- Configure cd on quit.
- Optionally open all text files in
$EDITOR
(fallback vi):export NNN_USE_EDITOR=1
. - For additional functionality install plugins and the GUI app launcher
nlaunch
.
Notes:
- Don't memorize keys. Arrows, / and q suffice. Press ? for help on keyboard shortcuts anytime.
- To set
nnn
as the default file manager, follow these instructions.
A curses library with wide char support (e.g. ncursesw), libreadline (make O_NORL=1
to drop) and standard libc.
Dependency | Installation | Operation |
---|---|---|
xdg-open (Linux), open(1) (macOS), cygstart (Cygwin) | base | desktop opener |
file, coreutils (cp, mv, rm), xargs | base | file type, copy, move and remove |
tar, (un)zip [atool/bsdtar for more formats] | base | create, list, extract tar, gzip, bzip2, zip |
archivemount, fusermount(3) | optional | mount, unmount archives |
sshfs, fusermount(3) | optional | mount, unmount remotes |
trash-cli | optional | trash files (default action: rm) |
vlock (Linux), bashlock (macOS), lock(1) (BSD) | optional | terminal locker (fallback: cmatrix) |
advcpmv (Linux) (integration) | optional | copy, move progress |
$VISUAL (else $EDITOR ), $PAGER , $SHELL |
optional | fallback vi, less, sh |
Install nnn
from your package manager. If the version available is dated try an alternative installation method.
Packaging status (expand)
Unlisted distros:
● CentOS (yum --enablerepo=epel install nnn
)
● Milis Linux (mps kur nnn
)
● NuTyX (cards install nnn
)
● Source Mage (cast nnn
)
Packages for Arch Linux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu are auto-generated with the latest stable release.
Download the latest stable release or clone this repository (risky), install deps and compile. On Ubuntu 18.04:
$ sudo apt-get install pkg-config libncursesw5-dev libreadline-dev
$ make
$ sudo make strip install
PREFIX
is supported, in case you want to install to a different location.
Visit the developer guides for compilation notes on the Pi, Cygwin and other compilation modes.
Completion scripts for Bash, Fish and Zsh are available. Refer to your shell's manual for installation instructions.
There is no config file. Associated files are stored under ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/nnn/
.
nnn
supports the following optional (set if you need) environment variables.
Example export |
Description |
---|---|
NNN_OPENER=mimeopen |
custom file opener |
NNN_BMS='d:~/Documents;D:~/Docs archive/' |
key-bookmark pairs [max 10] |
NNN_PLUG='m:nmount;t:imgthumb;x:_chmod +x $nnn' |
key-plugin (or cmd) pairs (:key to run) [max 15] |
NNN_USE_EDITOR=1 |
open text files in $VISUAL (else $EDITOR , fallback vi) |
NNN_CONTEXT_COLORS='1234' |
specify per context color [default: '4444' (all blue)] |
NNN_SSHFS_OPTS='sshfs -o reconnect,idmap=user' |
specify SSHFS options |
NNN_IDLE_TIMEOUT=300 |
idle seconds to lock terminal [default: disabled] |
NNN_COPIER=copier |
clipboard copier script [default: none] |
NNN_TRASH=1 |
trash files to the desktop Trash [default: delete] |
usage: nnn [OPTIONS] [PATH]
The missing terminal file manager for X.
positional args:
PATH start dir [default: .]
optional args:
-a use access time
-b key open bookmark key
-c cli-only opener
-d detail mode
-e name load session by name
-E EDITOR for undetached edits
-f run filter as cmd on prompt key
-H show hidden files
-i nav-as-you-type mode
-K detect key collision
-n version sort
-o open files on Enter
-p file selection file [stdout if '-']
-r use advcpmv patched cp, mv
-s string filters [default: regex]
-S du mode
-t disable dir auto-select
-v show version
-h show help
The list below is from the dev branch. Press ? in nnn
to see the keybinds in your installed version.
NAVIGATION
Up k Up PgUp ^U Scroll up
Down j Down PgDn ^D Scroll down
Left h Parent ~ ` @ - HOME, /, start, last
Ret Right l Open . Toggle show hidden
g ^A First entry G ^E Last entry
b Pin current dir ^B Go to pinned dir
(Sh)Tab Cycle context d Toggle detail view
, ^/ Lead key N LeadN Context N
/ Filter/Lead Ins ^N Toggle nav-as-you-type
Esc Exit prompt ^L F5 Redraw/clear prompt
? Help, conf ' Lead' First file
Q ^Q Quit ^G QuitCD q Quit context
FILES
^O Open with... n Create new/link
D File details ^R F2 Rename/duplicate
Space ^J/a Select entry/all r Batch rename
m ^K Sel range, clear M List selection
P Copy selection K Edit, flush sel
V Move selection w Copy/move sel as
X Del selection ^X Del entry
f Create archive T Mount archive
^F Extract archive F List archive
e Edit in EDITOR p Open in PAGER
ORDER TOGGLES
A Apparent du S du
z Size E Extn t Time
MISC
! ^] Shell ;K :K xK Execute plugin K
C Execute entry R ^V Pick plugin
U Manage session = Launch
c SSHFS mount u Unmount
] ^P Prompt/run cmd L Lock
Notes:
- Help & settings, file details and archive listing are shown in the
$PAGER
. - To change shortcuts modify key bindings in
nnn.h
and compile.
Mouse click | Function |
---|---|
Left single on context number | Visit context |
Left single on top row after context numbers | Visit parent |
Left single/double on last 2 rows | Toggle nav-as-you-type |
Left single | Select context or entry |
Left double | Select context or open entry |
The Lead/Leader key provides a powerful multi-functional navigation mechanism. It is case-sensitive and understands contexts, bookmarks and location shortcuts.
Follower key | Function |
---|---|
1-4 | Go to/create selected context |
key | Go to bookmarked location |
' | Go to first file in directory |
~ ` @ - | Visit HOME, / , start, last visited dir |
. | Toggle show hidden files |
When the filter is on, / works as an additional Lead key.
$ nnn -h
$ man nnn
To lookup keyboard shortcuts at runtime, press ?.
- Wikipedia
- ArchWiki
- FOSSMint
- gHacks Tech News
- Hacker News [1] [2]
- It's FOSS
- LinuxLinks [1] [2]
- Suckless Rocks
- Ubuntu Full Circle Magazine - Issue 135
- Arun Prakash Jana (Copyright © 2016-2019)
- 0xACE
- Anna Arad
- KlzXS
- Sijmen J. Mulder
- and other contributors
nnn
is actively developed. Visit the to the ToDo list to contribute or see the features in progress.