nnn - type less, do more, wayyy faster

navigate-as-you-type & du (click to see demo video)

Introduction

nnn is a full-featured terminal file manager. It's tiny and nearly 0-config with an incredible performance.

nnn is also a du analyzer, an app launcher, a batch renamer and a file picker. The plugin repository has tons of plugins and documentation to extend the capabilities further. You can plug new functionality and play with a custom keybind instantly. There's an independent (neo)vim plugin.

It runs smoothly on the Raspberry Pi, Termux on Android, Linux, macOS, BSD, Cygwin, WSL and works seamlessly with DEs and GUI utilities.

Add to that an awesome Wiki!

Love smart and efficient utilities? Explore my repositories. Buy me a cup of coffee if they help you.

Features

• 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
  • Remote mounts (needs sshfs, rclone)
  • 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 (default) 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)
  • Cross-dir file/all/range selection
  • Batch renamer (feature-limited) for selection or dir
  • Copy (as), move (as), delete, archive, link selection
  • 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, execute file, spawn a shell
  • Hovered file set as $nnn at prompt and spawned shell
  • Lock terminal (needs a locker)
• Privacy-aware (no unconfirmed user data collection)
• Minimal deps, minimal config (with sensible defaults)
• Widely available
• Unicode support
• Follows Linux kernel coding style
• Highly optimized, static analysis integrated code

Quickstart

1. Install the utilities you may need based on your regular workflows.
2. Configure cd on quit.
3. Optionally open all text files in $EDITOR (fallback vi): export NNN_USE_EDITOR=1.
4. For additional functionality install plugins.

Notes:

1. Don't memorize keys. Arrows, / and q suffice. Press ? for help on keyboard shortcuts anytime.
2. To set nnn as the default file manager, follow these instructions.

Installation

Library dependencies

A curses library with wide char support (e.g. ncursesw), libreadline (make O_NORL=1 to drop) and standard libc.

Utility dependencies

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, rclone, 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

From a package manager

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)

Release packages

Packages for Arch Linux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu are auto-generated with the latest stable release.

From source

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.

Shell completion

Completion scripts for Bash, Fish and Zsh are available. Refer to your shell's manual for installation instructions.

Usage

Configuration

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=nuke	custom file opener (see plugin nuke)
NNN_BMS='d:~/Documents;D:~/Docs archive/'	key-bookmark pairs [max 10]
NNN_PLUG='o:fzopen;m:nmount;x:_chmod +x $nnn'	key-plugin (or cmd) pairs [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_RCLONE_OPTS='rclone mount --read-only'	specify rclone options
NNN_IDLE_TIMEOUT=300	idle seconds to lock terminal [default: disabled]
NNN_TRASH=1	trash files to the desktop Trash [default: delete]

Cmdline options

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      use 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
 -R      disable rollover at edges
 -s      string filters [default: regex]
 -S      du mode
 -t      disable dir auto-select
 -v      show version
 -x      notis, sel to system clipboard
 -h      show help

Keyboard and mouse

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
         g ^A  Top     Ret Right l  Open
         G ^E  Bottom            '  First file
            b  Pin CWD          ^B  Go to pinned dir
         , ^/  Lead key    N LeadN  Context N
      (Sh)Tab  Cycle context     d  Detail view toggle
            /  Filter/Lead  Ins ^N  Nav-as-you-type toggle
          Esc  Exit prompt   ^L F5  Redraw/clear prompt
            .  Show/hide dots    ?  Help, conf
         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  Sel toggle/all    r  Batch rename
         m ^K  Sel range, clear  M  List sel
            P  Copy sel here     K  Edit, flush sel
            V  Move sel here     w  Copy/move sel as
            X  Del sel          ^X  Del entry
            f  Archive        o ^F  Archive ops
            e  Edit in EDITOR    p  Open in PAGER
 ORDER TOGGLES
            A  Apparent du       S  du
            z  Size   E  Extn    t  Time
 MISC
         ! ^]  Shell           ; x  Plugin key
            C  Execute file   R ^V  Pick plugin
            s  Manage session    =  Launch app
            c  Connect remote    u  Unmount
         ] ^P  Prompt/run cmd    L  Lock

Notes:

1. Help & settings, file details and archive listing are shown in the $PAGER.
2. 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

Lead key

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
~ ` @ -	Visit HOME, /, start, last visited dir
.	Toggle show hidden files

When the filter is on, / works as an additional Lead key.

Help

$ nnn -h
$ man nnn

To lookup keyboard shortcuts at runtime, press ?.

Elsewhere

• Wikipedia
• ArchWiki
• FOSSMint
• gHacks Tech News
• Hacker News [1] [2]
• It's FOSS
• LinuxLinks [1] [2]
• Suckless Rocks
• Ubuntu Full Circle Magazine - Issue 135

Developers

• 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.