type-to-nav & du (click to see demo video)
## Introduction
`nnn` (or `n³`) is a full-featured terminal file manager. It's tiny and nearly 0-config with an [incredible performance](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki/Performance).
`nnn` can analyze disk usage, batch rename, launch apps and pick files. The [plugin repository](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/tree/master/plugins#nnn-plugins) has tons of plugins and documentation to extend the capabilities further e.g. preview hovered, (un)mount disks, find & list, file/dir diff, upload files. There's an independent [(neo)vim plugin](https://github.com/mcchrish/nnn.vim).
It runs smoothly on the Pi, [Termux](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbaauM7gUJw) (Android), Linux, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Cygwin, WSL, across DEs and GUI utilities or a strictly CLI environment.
## Black magic! :dark_sunglasses:
- Load, sort, filter thousands of files instantly
- Type to navigate with automatic dir selection
- Select files from anywhere (not just a single dir)
- Never lose context - start where you quit `nnn`
- Edit and preview markdown, man page, html
- Open a file and auto-advance to the next
- Export (filtered) list of visible files
- find/fd/grep/ripgrep/fzf from `nnn` and list in `nnn`
- Unlimited bookmarks, plugins, cmds with custom hotkeys
- Write a plugin in any language you know
- Configure the middle mouse click to do anything
- Fuzzy search subtree and open a file (or its parent dir)
- Load four dirs with custom settings at once
- Notifications on cp, mv, rm completion
- Auto-sync selection to system clipboard
- Open text files detached in another pane/tab/window
- Create files/dirs/duplicates with parents (like `mkdir -p`)
- Toggle hidden with ., visit HOME with ~, last dir with -
- Pin a frequently visited dir at runtime
- Mount any cloud storage service in a few keypresses
- Mount and modify archives
- Filter filtered entries
- Sort files by access time and inode change time
- Access selection from another instance of `nnn`
- Compile out features you don't need
- Watch matrix text fly or read fortune messages
- Configure in 5 minutes!
## Features
- Frugal
- Typically needs less than 3.5MB resident memory
- Works with 8-bit colors
- Disk-IO sensitive (few disk reads and writes)
- No FPU usage (all integer maths, even for file size)
- Minimizes screen refresh with fast line redraws
- Tiny binary (typically less than 100KB)
- Portable
- Statically-linked binary available
- Language-agnostic plugins
- Minimal library deps, easy to compile
- Compile in/out features with make variables
- No config file, minimal config with sensible defaults
- Widely available on many packagers
- Unicode support
- Quality
- Privacy-aware (no unconfirmed user data collection)
- POSIX-compliant, follows Linux kernel coding style
- Highly optimized, static analysis integrated code
- Modes
- Light (default), detail
- Disk usage analyzer (block/apparent)
- File picker, (neo)vim plugin
- Navigation
- *Type-to-nav* mode with dir auto-select
- Contexts (_aka_ tabs/workspaces) with custom colors
- Sessions, bookmarks with hotkeys; pin and visit a dir
- Remote mounts (needs sshfs, rclone)
- Familiar shortcuts (arrows, ~, -, @), quick reference
- CD on quit (*easy* shell integration)
- Auto-advance on opening files
- Search
- Instant filtering with *search-as-you-type*
- Regex (POSIX/PCRE) and string (default) filters
- Subtree search plugin to open or edit files
- Sort
- Ordered pure numeric names by default (visit _/proc_)
- Case-insensitive version (_aka_ natural) sort
- By file name, access/change/mod (default) time, size, extension
- Reverse sort
- Mimes
- Open with desktop opener or specify a custom opener
- Preview hovered files in FIFO-based previewer
- Create, list, extract, mount (FUSE based) archives
- Option to open all text files in EDITOR
- Information
- Detailed file information
- Media information plugin
- Convenience
- Run plugins and custom commands with hotkeys
- FreeDesktop compliant trash (needs trash-cli)
- Cross-dir file/all/range selection
- Batch renamer for selection or dir
- Display a list of files from stdin
- Copy (as), move (as), delete, archive, link selection
- Dir updates, notification on cp, mv, rm completion
- Copy file paths to system clipboard on select
- Create (with parents), rename, duplicate (anywhere) files and dirs
- Launch GUI apps, run commands, spawn a shell, toggle executable
- Hovered file set as `$nnn` at prompt and spawned shell
- Lock terminal after configurable idle timeout
## Quickstart
1. [Install](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki/Usage#installation) `nnn` and deps (if you need any).
2. Configure [cd on quit](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki/Basic-use-cases#configure-cd-on-quit).
3. Use option `-e` in your alias to open text files in `$VISUAL`/`$EDITOR`/ vi. [Open detached](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki/Basic-use-cases#detached-text) if you wish.
4. [Install plugins](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/tree/master/plugins#installing-plugins).
5. Use option `-x` to copy selected file paths to system clipboard and show notis on cp, mv, rm completion.
6. For a CLI-only environment, customize and use plugin [`nuke`](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/blob/master/plugins/nuke) with option `-c` (overrides `-e`).
Don't memorize! Arrows (or h j k l), /, q suffice. Tab creates, cycles contexts. ? lists shortcuts.
[](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki)
## Developers
- [Arun Prakash Jana](https://github.com/jarun) (Copyright © 2016-2020)
- [0xACE](https://github.com/0xACE)
- [Anna Arad](https://github.com/annagrram)
- [KlzXS](https://github.com/KlzXS)
- [Léo Villeveygoux](https://github.com/leovilok)
- [Maxim Baz](https://github.com/maximbaz)
- [Todd Yamakawa](https://github.com/toddyamakawa)
- and other contributors
Visit the [ToDo list](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/issues/506) to contribute or see the features in progress.
## Elsewhere
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nnn_(file_manager))
- [ArchWiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Nnn)
- [FOSSMint](https://www.fossmint.com/nnn-linux-terminal-file-browser/)
- [gHacks Tech News](https://www.ghacks.net/2019/11/01/nnn-is-an-excellent-command-line-based-file-manager-for-linux-macos-and-bsds/)
- Hacker News [[1](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18520898)] [[2](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19850656)]
- [It's FOSS](https://itsfoss.com/nnn-file-browser-linux/)
- LinuxLinks [[1](https://www.linuxlinks.com/nnn-fast-and-flexible-file-manager/)] [[2](https://www.linuxlinks.com/bestconsolefilemanagers/)] [[3](https://www.linuxlinks.com/excellent-system-tools-nnn-portable-terminal-file-manager/)]
- [Suckless Rocks](https://suckless.org/rocks/)
- [Ubuntu Full Circle Magazine - Issue 135](https://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-135/)