Usage

Table of Contents

Dependencies
Installation

Release packages
From a package manager
From source
Shell completion
Plugins

Configuration
Program options
Keyboard, mouse

Graphical map
Mouse
Broken control keybind

Symbols

File indicators
Status bar symbols

File size
Help

Dependencies

A curses library with wide char support (e.g. ncursesw), libc and libreadline (optional).

Utility deps	Install?	Operation
xdg-open (Linux)/open(1) (macOS)/cygstart (Cygwin)/open (Haiku)	base	default opener
file, coreutils (cp, mv, rm), xargs, sed	base	file type, copy, (re)move
GNU sed (non-Linux)	required	copy, (re)move
tar, (un)zip [bsdtar/atool/(un)rar for more formats]	base	manage archives
archivemount, fusermount(3)/umount (macOS)	optional	(un)mount archives
sshfs/rclone, fusermount(3)/umount (macOS)	optional	(un)mount remotes
gio trash/trash-cli	optional	trash [default: `rm -rf`]
vlock (Linux)/bashlock (macOS)/lock(1) (BSD)/peaclock (Haiku)	optional	lock terminal
advcpmv (Linux) (integration)	optional	copy, move progress
`$VISUAL`/`$EDITOR`, `$PAGER`, `$SHELL`	optional	fallback vi, less, sh

Installation

TL;DR: Can't install packages? Get the statically linked binary from the latest release.

Release packages

Officially maintained RPM distribution + an Arch package is available in Openbuildservice
Packages for Debian and Ubuntu and a static binary are generated with the latest release.

From a package manager

Packaging status (expand)

Unlisted packagers:

● CentOS (yum --enablerepo=epel install nnn)
● iSH (apk add nnn)
● Milis Linux (mps kur nnn)
● NuTyX (cards install nnn)
● Sailfish OS (devel-su zypper install nnn)
● Source Mage (cast nnn)

From source

Download the latest release or clone this repo (risky), install deps and compile. On Ubuntu 18.04:

sudo apt-get install pkg-config libncursesw5-dev libreadline-dev
sudo make strip install

PREFIX is supported, in case you want to install to a different location.

See the developer guides for source verification, platform-specific notes and other tips.

Shell completion

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

Plugins

Visit the plugins page.

Configuration

The new colorscheme (config NNN_FCOLORS) - a feast for your eyes!

There is no config file. Associated files are at

${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/nnn/

Use plugin nbak to backup configuration.

nnn supports a few optional (set if you need) environment variables.

Example `export`	Description
`NNN_OPTS="cEnrx"`	binary options to `nnn`
`NNN_OPENER="/path/to/custom/opener"`	custom opener (see plugin `nuke`)
`NNN_BMS="d:$HOME/Documents;D:$HOME/Docs archive/"` ¹	key-bookmark pairs
`NNN_PLUG='o:fzopen;m:nmount;x:!chmod +x $nnn'` ¹	key-plugin (or cmd) pairs
`NNN_ORDER='t:/home/user/Downloads;S:/usr/bin'` ²	directory-specific ordering
`NNN_ARCHIVE="\\.(7z\|bz2\|gz\|tar\|tgz\|zip)$"` ³	archives [default: bzip2, (g)zip, tar]
`NNN_ARCHMNT='fuse-archive'`	archive mounter [default: archivemount]
`NNN_COLORS='1234'` (/`'#0a1b2c3d'`/`'#0a1b2c3d;1234'`) ⁴ ⁶	context colors [default: '4444' (blue)]
`NNN_FCOLORS='c1e2272e006033f7c6d6abc4'` ⁵	file-specific colors
`NNN_SSHFS='sshfs -o reconnect,idmap=user'` ⁶	custom SSHFS cmd
`NNN_RCLONE='rclone mount --read-only'` ⁶	custom rclone cmd
`NNN_TRASH=n` (`n=1: trash-cli, n=2: gio trash`)	use desktop Trash [default: rm -rf]
`NNN_SEL='/tmp/.sel'`	custom selection file
`NNN_FIFO='/tmp/nnn.fifo'` ⁷	FIFO to write hovered file path to
`NNN_LOCKER='saidar -c'`	terminal locker
`NNN_TMPFILE='/tmp/.lastd'`	always cd on quit
`NNN_HELP='pwy paris'`	run cmd, show o/p on help page
`NNN_MCLICK='^R'` (/`'m'`) ⁸	key emulated by middle mouse click
`NO_COLOR=1` ⁹	disable ANSI color output

Key-bookmark and key-plugin pairs are listed in the help and config screen (key ?).
Sort keys can be a/d/e/r/s/t/v (see program option -T). Capitalize to reverse (except r). Path must be absolute.

Timestamps for entries created/modified within 5 minutes are shown in reverse.

With atool or bsdtar and (un)rar installed you can have:

export NNN_ARCHIVE="\\.(7z|a|ace|alz|arc|arj|bz|bz2|cab|cpio|deb|gz|jar|lha|lz|lzh|lzma|lzo|rar|rpm|rz|t7z|tar|tbz|tbz2|tgz|tlz|txz|tZ|tzo|war|xpi|xz|Z|zip)$"

bsdtar can extract, list and archivemount can mount ISO 9660 cdrom images (extn: iso).

Understands 8 color, xterm 256 color or both.

Hexadecimal numbers representing xterm 256 colors, note that the width has to be 2, e.g. "5" becomes "05"

8 colors numbers: 0-black, 1-red, 2-green, 3-yellow, 4-blue (default), 5-magenta, 6-cyan, 7-white.
To specify xterm 256 color hex numbers, prefix with # (2 symbols per context).
To specify both, export 256 color hex numbers followed by 8 color number as fallback, separated by ;.

Specify file-specific colors in xterm 256 color hex numbers (2 hex symbols per color).

Order is strict, use 00 to omit/use default terminal color. Defaults:

Order	Hex	Color
Block device	`c1`	DarkSeaGreen1
Char device	`e2`	Yellow1
Directory	`27`	DeepSkyBlue1
Executable	`2e`	Green1
Regular	`00`	Normal
Hard link	`60`	Plum4
Symbolic link	`33`	Cyan1
Missing OR file details	`f7`	Grey62
Orphaned symbolic link	`c6`	DeepPink1
FIFO	`d6`	Orange1
Socket	`ab`	MediumOrchid1
Unknown OR 0B regular/exe	`c4`	Red1

If the terminal supports xterm 256 colors or more, file-specific colors will be rendered.
To force the 8-color scheme use option -C.
If xterm 256 colors aren't supported, 8-color scheme will be used.
More Themes.

nnn v2.9 and below have NNN_CONTEXT_COLORS, NNN_SSHFS_OPTS and NNN_RCLONE_OPTS.
If the FIFO file doesn't exist it will be created, but it will never be removed.
Only the first character is considered if not a Ctrl-key combo.
Overridden by NNN_COLORS.

Program options

usage: nnn [OPTIONS] [PATH]

The unorthodox terminal file manager.

positional args:
  PATH   start dir/file [default: .]

optional args:
 -a      auto NNN_FIFO
 -A      no dir auto-enter during filter
 -b key  open bookmark key (trumps -s/S)
 -B      use bsdtar for archives
 -c      cli-only NNN_OPENER (trumps -e)
 -C      8-color scheme
 -d      detail mode
 -D      dirs in context color
 -e      text in $VISUAL/$EDITOR/vi
 -E      internal edits in EDITOR
 -f      use readline history file
 -F val  fifo mode [0:preview 1:explore]
 -g      regex filters
 -H      show hidden files
 -i      show current file info
 -J      no auto-advance on selection
 -K      detect key collision
 -l val  set scroll lines
 -n      type-to-nav mode
 -N      use native prompt
 -o      open files only on Enter
 -p file selection file [-:stdout]
 -P key  run plugin key
 -Q      no quit confirmation
 -r      use advcpmv patched cp, mv
 -R      no rollover at edges
 -s name load session by name
 -S      persistent session
 -t secs timeout to lock
 -T key  sort order [a/d/e/r/s/t/v]
 -u      use selection (no prompt)
 -U      show user and group
 -V      show version
 -x      notis, selection sync, xterm title
 -h      show help

Notes:

nnn opens the current working directory if PATH is not specified.
If PATH is specified and it exists, nnn will open it.
If the PATH doesn't exist and ends with a /, nnn will attempt to create the directory tree and open it. Otherwise, PATH is considered a path to a regular file and nnn attempts to create the complete directory tree to the file, open the parent directory and prompt to create the new file in it with the base filename.
The keys for option -T are apparent disk usage / disk usage / extension / reverse / size / time / version. Capitalize to reverse (except r).

Keyboard, mouse

The list below is from master. Press ? in nnn to see the keybinds in your installed version.

 NAVIGATION
         Up k  Up                PgUp ^U  Page up
         Dn j  Down              PgDn ^D  Page down
         Lt h  Parent            ~ ` @ -  ~, /, start, prev
     Ret Rt l  Open                    '  First file/match
         g ^A  Top                     J  Jump to entry/offset
         G ^E  End                    ^J  Toggle auto-advance on open
        B (,)  Book(mark)           b ^/  Select bookmark
          1-4  Context           (Sh)Tab  Cycle/new context
      2Esc ^Q  Quit                   ^y  Next young
           ^G  QuitCD                  Q  Pick/err, quit
            q  Quit context
 
 FILTER & PROMPT
            /  Filter                 ^N  Toggle type-to-nav
          Esc  Exit prompt            ^L  Toggle last filter
            .  Toggle hidden     Alt+Esc  Unfilter, quit context
 
 FILES
         o ^O  Open with...            n  Create new/link
         f ^F  File details            d  Detail mode toggle
           ^R  Rename/dup              r  Batch rename
            z  Archive                 e  Edit file
            *  Toggle exe              >  Export list
      Space +  (Un)select            m-m  Select range/clear
            a  Select all              A  Invert sel
         p ^P  Copy here            w ^W  Cp/mv sel as
         v ^V  Move here               E  Edit sel list
         x ^X  Delete or trash         S  Listed sel size
            X  Delete (rm -rf)       Esc  Send to FIFO
 
 MISC
        Alt ;  Select plugin           =  Launch app
         ! ^]  Shell                   ]  Cmd prompt
            c  Connect remote          u  Unmount remote/archive
         t ^T  Sort toggles            s  Manage session
            T  Set time type           0  Lock
           ^L  Redraw                  ?  Help, conf

Notes:

Shift-TAB attempts to create a new context, and reverse cycles when all contexts are active.
B adds a new bookmark in the bookmarks dir, , marks a location in-memory
At the filter prompt, ^L toggles last filter and unfilter. If no last filter, exits filter mode and redraws.
Q quits with EXIT_FAILURE if no selection, else prints the selection to stdout and quits with EXIT_SUCCESS.
S shows the total size of non-filtered selected files listed in a directory. For directories, only the size of the directory is added by default. To add the size of the contents of a directory, switch to du mode.
Help & settings, file details and archive listing are shown in the $PAGER.
To change shortcuts modify key bindings in nnn.h and compile. Option -K detects collisions.
Repeat sort order key ^T to apply sort by time, size and default in the same order.
There are keymap patches available for the Colemak and Colemak-DH keyboard layouts in nnn's User Patch Framework.

Graphical map

( Léo Villeveygoux, based on Qwerty.svg)

SVG version

Mouse

Mouse click	Function
Left single on context number	Visit context
Left single on current path	Visit parent
Left single/double on last 2 rows	Toggle type-to-nav
Left single	Select context or entry
Left double	Select context or open entry
Right single	Add entry to selection
Middle single	User configured with `NNN_MCLICK`

Broken control keybind

Some control keybinds may not work if they are mapped by stty. To confirm, run stty -a and look for keybind conflicts. Some common ones are: ^Q (start), ^S (stop), ^V (lnext).

To remove the stty mapping:

stty start undef
stty stop undef
stty lnext undef

Symbols

File indicators

Listing 1 Listing 2

Indicator	File type
`/`	Directory
`*`	Executable
`\|`	Fifo
`=`	Socket

Indicator	File type
`@`	Symlink to file
`b`	Block device
`c`	Character device
`?`	Unknown

Note:

All links (hard/sym) are dimmed.

Status bar symbols

Symbol	Meaning
`x/y`	current file num / total
`+`/`*`(`n`)	selection mode on/range selection on (buffered selected count) [reversed]
`H`	hidden files are listed
`M`	modification time sorted
`A`	access time sorted
`C`	change time sorted
`S`	size sorted
`E`	file extension sorted
`V`	version sorted
`R`	reverse sorted
`du`	disk usage
`au`	apparent disk usage
`->`	symbolic link target
`n-n`	num hard links - inode number

File size

The minimum file size unit is byte (B). The rest are K, M, G, T, P, E, Z, Y (powers of 1024), same as the default units in ls.

Help

nnn -h
man nnn

To lookup keyboard shortcuts at runtime, press ?.

user1: How it compares to Midnight Commander ?
user2: It works in daylight too.
         - from a reddit conversation