16 KiB
nnn - type less, do more, way faster
Modes of nnn (light with filter, detail, du analyzer) with memory usage (click for a demo video)
Index
Introduction
nnn is a full-featured terminal file manager. It's extremely light and fast (performance).
nnn is also a disk usage analyzer, a fuzzy app launcher, a batch file renamer and a file picker.
It runs smoothly on the Raspberry Pi, Termux on Android (demo video), 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.
Plugins can be run with custom keybinds. There's an independent (neo)vim plugin. Custom plugins are easy to add.
Visit the Wiki for operational concepts, how tos, use cases, chronology and insights.
Features
- Modes
- Detail (default), light
- Disk usage analyzer (block/apparent)
- File picker, (neo)vim plugin
- Navigation
- Navigate-as-you-type with dir auto-select
- 4 contexts (aka tabs/workspaces)
- Bookmarks; pin and visit a directory
- Familiar, easy shortcuts (arrows, ~, -, @)
- Change directory at exit (easy shell integration)
- Sorting
- Ordered pure numeric names by default (visit /proc)
- Case-insensitive version (aka natural) sort
- Sort by file name, modification time, size, file 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 archives
- Option to open all text files in EDITOR
- Information
- Detailed file information
- Media information (needs mediainfo/exiftool)
- Convenience
- Minimal configuration
- Plugin keybinds
- Select files across dirs; all/range selection
- Copy, move, delete, archive, link selection
- Batch rename selection or dir entries
- FreeDesktop compliant trash (needs trash-cli)
- SSHFS mounts (needs sshfs)
- Create, rename, duplicate files and directories
- Per-context directory color (default: blue)
- Spawn a shell, run apps, run commands, execute file
- Take quick notes, lock terminal (needs a locker)
- Shortcut reference a keypress away
- Unicode support
- Follows Linux kernel coding style
- Highly optimized, static analysis integrated code
- Minimal library dependencies
- Widely available
Installation
Library dependencies
nnn needs a curses library with wide character support (like ncursesw), libreadline and standard libc. It's possible to drop libreadline using the Makefile target norl.
Utility dependencies
| Dependency | Installation | Operation |
|---|---|---|
| xdg-open (Linux), open(1) (macOS), cygstart (Cygwin) | base | desktop opener |
| file, coreutils (cp, mv, rm), findutils (xargs) | base | file type, copy, move and remove |
| tar, (un)zip [atool/bsdtar for more formats] | base | create, list, extract tar, gzip, bzip2, zip |
| mediainfo / exiftool | if needed | multimedia file details |
| sshfs, fusermount(3) | if needed | mount, unmount over SSHFS |
| trash-cli | optional | trash files (default action: delete) |
| 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
nnn may be available in the default repos of your distro already. Find a list of known packagers below.
Expand
● Alpine Linux (apk add nnn)
● Arch Linux (pacman -S nnn)
● CentOS (yum --enablerepo=epel install nnn)
● CRUX (prt-get depinst nnn)
● Debian (apt-get install nnn)
● DPorts (pkg install nnn)
● Fedora (dnf install nnn)
● FreeBDS (pkg install nnn)
● Gentoo (emerge nnn)
● macOS/Homebrew (brew install nnn)
● MacPorts (port install nnn)
● Milis Linux (mps kur nnn)
● nixpkgs (nix-env -i nnn)
● NuTyX (cards install nnn)
● OpenBSD (pkg_add nnn)
● openSUSE (and packages for several other distros) (zypper in nnn)
● pkgsrc (pkg_add nnn)
● Raspbian Testing (apt-get install nnn)
● Slackware (slackpkg install nnn)
● SliTaz Cooking (cooker pkg nnn)
● Solus (eopkg install nnn)
● Source Mage (cast nnn)
● Termux (pkg in nnn)
● Ubuntu (apt-get install nnn)
● Void Linux (xbps-install -S nnn)
Release packages
Packages for Arch Linux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu are available with the latest stable release.
From source
To cook yourself, download the latest stable release or clone this repository (risky). Then install the dependencies and compile (e.g. on Ubuntu 16.04):
$ sudo apt-get install pkg-config libncursesw5-dev libreadline6-dev
$ make
$ sudo make strip install
PREFIX is supported, in case you want to install to a different location.
- Compilation notes on Raspberry Pi
- Instructions for Cygwin
Shell completion
Option completion scripts for Bash, Fish and Zsh can be found in respective subdirectories of misc/auto-completion/. Please refer to your shell's manual for installation instructions.
Usage
Configuration
nnn supports the following environment variables for configuration. All of them are optional (set if you need). There is no config file. Associated files are stored under ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/nnn/.
Example export |
Description |
|---|---|
NNN_BMS='d:~/Documents;D:~/Docs archive/' |
key-bookmark pairs [max 10] |
NNN_PLUG='o:fzy-open;p:mocplay;m:nmount;t:thumb' |
key-plugin pairs (x-key to run) [max 10] |
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_NOTE='/home/user/Dropbox/notes' |
absolute path to note file [default: none] |
NNN_OPENER=mimeopen |
custom file opener |
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] |
Cmdline options
usage: nnn [-b key] [-d] [-e] [-H] [-i] [-n] [-o]
[-p file] [-r] [-s] [-S] [-t] [-v] [-h] [PATH]
The missing terminal file manager for X.
positional args:
PATH start dir [default: current dir]
optional args:
-b key open bookmark key
-d detail mode
-e use exiftool for media info
-H show hidden files
-i nav-as-you-type mode
-n version sort
-o press Enter to open files
-p file selection file (stdout if '-')
-r show cp, mv progress on Linux
-s string filters [default: regex]
-S du mode
-t disable dir auto-select
-v show version
-h show help
Keyboard and mouse
Press ? in nnn to see the list anytime.
NAVIGATION
↑ k Up PgUp ^U Scroll up
↓ j Down PgDn ^D Scroll down
← h Parent dir ~ ` @ - HOME, /, start, last
↵ → l Open file/dir . Toggle show hidden
g ^A First entry G ^E Last entry
b Pin current dir ^B Go to pinned dir
Tab ^I Next context d Toggle detail view
, ^/ Lead key N LeadN Context N
/ Filter/Lead Ins ^T Toggle nav-as-you-type
Esc Exit prompt ^L Redraw/clear prompt
q Quit context Lead' First file
Q ^Q Quit ^G QuitCD ? Help, config
FILES
^O Open with... n Create new/link
D File details ^R Rename/duplicate
⎵ ^K / Y Select entry/all r Batch rename
K ^Y Toggle selection y List selection
P Copy selection X Delete selection
V Move selection ^X Delete entry
f Create archive m M Brief/full mediainfo
^F Extract archive F List archive
e Edit in EDITOR p Open in PAGER
ORDER TOGGLES
^J du S Apparent du
s Size E Extn t Time modified
MISC
! ^] Shell L Lock C Execute entry
R ^V Pick plugin xK Run plugin key K
c SSHFS mount u Unmount
^P Prompt ^N Note = Launcher
Note: Help & settings, file details, media info and archive listing are shown in the PAGER. Use the PAGER-specific keys in these screens.
| 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 |
Leader key
The Leader/Lead key provides a powerful multi-functional navigation mechanism. It is case-sensitive and understands contexts, bookmarks and location shortcuts.
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | Go to/create selected context |
| >, . | Go to next active context |
| <, , | Go to previous active context |
| key | Go to bookmarked location |
| ' | Go to first file in directory |
| ~ ` @ - | Go to HOME, /, start, last visited dir |
| q | Quit context |
When the filter is on, / works as an additional Leader key.
Help
$ nnn -h
$ man nnn
To lookup keyboard shortcuts at runtime, press ?.
Mentions
- FOSSMint
- Hacker News 1
- Hacker News 2
- It's FOSS
- LinuxLinks1
- LinuxLinks2
- Suckless Rocks
- Ubuntu Full Circle Magazine - Issue 135
Developers
- Copyright © 2014-2016 Lazaros Koromilas
- Copyright © 2014-2016 Dimitris Papastamos
- Copyright © 2016-2019 Arun Prakash Jana
Contributions are welcome. Please visit the ToDo list.