path: root/README.md

<h1 align="center">n³ - <i>supercharge your productivity!</i></h1>

<p align="center">
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<p align="center"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2n5aGqou9E"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/MPWpmos.png" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><i>type-to-nav & du (click to see demo video)</i></p>

## 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` is also a du analyzer, an app launcher, a batch renamer and a file picker. The [plugin repository](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/tree/master/plugins#nnn-plugins) has tons of plugins and documentation to extend the capabilities further. You can _plug_ new functionality _and play_ with a hotkey. 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:

1. Load, sort, filter thousands of files instantly
2. Type to navigate with automatic dir selection
3. Select files from anywhere (not just a single dir)
4. Edit and preview markdown, man page, html
5. Open a file and auto-advance to the next
6. Export (filtered) list of visible files
7. Find files by mime-type and list in `nnn`
8. Unlimited bookmarks, plugins, commands with custom hotkeys
9. Write a plugin in any language you know
10. Configure the middle mouse click to do anything
11. Fuzzy search subtree and open the dir of a file
12. Load four dirs with custom settings at once
13. Notifications on cp, mv, rm completion
14. Auto-sync selection to system clipboard
15. Open text files detached in another pane/tab/window
16. Create files/dirs/duplicates with parents (like `mkdir -p`)
17. Toggle hidden with <kbd>.</kbd>, visit HOME with <kbd>~</kbd>, last dir with <kbd>-</kbd>
18. Pin a frequently visited dir at runtime
19. Mount any cloud storage service in a few keypresses
20. Mount and modify archives
21. Filter filtered entries
22. Sort files by access time and inode change time
23. Access selection from another instance of `nnn`
24. Compile out features you don't need
25. Watch matrix text fly or read fortune messages
26. Configure in 5 minutes!

Once installed (instructions below), _**read the fine manual**_. [![Wiki](https://img.shields.io/badge/nnn-Wiki-important?maxAge=2592000)](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki)

## Features

- Resource sensitive
  - 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, <kbd>~</kbd>, <kbd>-</kbd>, <kbd>@</kbd>), 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 app
  - 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 optional [deps](https://github.com/jarun/nnn#utility-dependencies) (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 <kbd>h</kbd> <kbd>j</kbd> <kbd>k</kbd> <kbd>l</kbd>), <kbd>/</kbd>, <kbd>q</kbd> suffice. <kbd>Tab</kbd> creates, cycles contexts. <kbd>?</kbd> lists shortcuts.

## Installation

No permission to install packages? Get the statically linked binary from the latest release.

#### Library dependencies

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

#### Utility dependencies

| Dependency | Installation | Operation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| xdg-open (Linux), open(1) (macOS), cygstart<br>(Cygwin), open (Haiku) | 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 bzip2, (g)zip, tar |
| archivemount, fusermount(3)/umount (macOS) | optional | mount, unmount archives |
| sshfs, [rclone](https://rclone.org/), fusermount(3)/umount (macOS) | optional | mount, unmount remotes |
| trash-cli | optional | trash files (default action: rm) |
| vlock (Linux), bashlock (macOS), lock(1) (BSD),<br>peaclock (Haiku) | optional | terminal locker (else `$NNN_LOCKER`) |
| advcpmv (Linux) ([integration](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki/Advanced-use-cases#cp-mv-progress)) | optional | copy, move progress |
| fortune | optional | random quotes in help screen |
| `$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.

<details><summary>Packaging status (expand)</summary>
<p>
<br>
<a href="https://repology.org/project/nnn/versions"><img src="https://repology.org/badge/vertical-allrepos/nnn.svg" alt="Packaging status"></a>
</p>
Unlisted packagers:
<p>
<br>
● CentOS (<code>yum --enablerepo=epel install nnn</code>)<br>
● <a href="https://notabug.org/milislinux/milis/src/master/talimatname/genel/n/nnn/talimat">Milis Linux</a> (<code>mps kur nnn</code>)<br>
● <a href="https://www.nutyx.org/en/?type=pkg&branch=rolling&arch=x86_64&searchpkg=nnn">NuTyX</a> (<code>cards install nnn</code>)<br>
● <a href="http://codex.sourcemage.org/test/shell-term-fm/nnn/">Source Mage</a> (<code>cast nnn</code>)<br>
</p>
</details>

#### Release packages

Packages for Arch Linux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu and a static binary are generated with the [latest release](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/releases/latest).

#### From source

Download the [latest release](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/releases/latest) or clone this repository (*risky*), install deps and compile. On Ubuntu 18.04:

```sh
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](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki/Developer-guides) for source verification, compilation notes on the Pi, Cygwin and other tips.

#### Shell completion

Completion scripts for Bash, Fish and Zsh are [available](misc/auto-completion). Refer to your shell's manual for installation instructions.

## 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/)

## 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)
- [Maxim Baz](https://github.com/maximbaz)
- and other contributors

`nnn` is actively developed. Visit the [ToDo list](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/issues/506) to contribute or see the features in progress.