Quick Start

Once you've installed Yazi, start the program with:

yazi

Press q to quit and ~ to open the help menu.

Shell wrapper

We suggest using this yy shell wrapper that provides the ability to change the current working directory when exiting Yazi.

Bash / Zsh

function yy() {
	local tmp="$(mktemp -t "yazi-cwd.XXXXXX")"
	yazi "$@" --cwd-file="$tmp"
	if cwd="$(cat -- "$tmp")" && [ -n "$cwd" ] && [ "$cwd" != "$PWD" ]; then
		cd -- "$cwd"
	fi
	rm -f -- "$tmp"
}

Fish

function yy
	set tmp (mktemp -t "yazi-cwd.XXXXXX")
	yazi $argv --cwd-file="$tmp"
	if set cwd (cat -- "$tmp"); and [ -n "$cwd" ]; and [ "$cwd" != "$PWD" ]
		cd -- "$cwd"
	end
	rm -f -- "$tmp"
end

Nushell

def --env yy [...args] {
	let tmp = (mktemp -t "yazi-cwd.XXXXXX")
	yazi ...$args --cwd-file $tmp
	let cwd = (open $tmp)
	if $cwd != "" and $cwd != $env.PWD {
		cd $cwd
	}
	rm -fp $tmp
}

PowerShell

function yy {
    $tmp = [System.IO.Path]::GetTempFileName()
    yazi $args --cwd-file="$tmp"
    $cwd = Get-Content -Path $tmp
    if (-not [String]::IsNullOrEmpty($cwd) -and $cwd -ne $PWD.Path) {
        Set-Location -Path $cwd
    }
    Remove-Item -Path $tmp
}

To use it, copy the function into the configuration file of your respective shell. Then use yy instead of yazi to start.

Keybindings

tip

For all keybindings, see the default keymap.toml file.

Navigation

To navigate between files and directories you can use the arrow keys ←, ↓, ↑ and → or Vim-like keys such as h, j, k, l:

Key binding	Alternate key	Action
k	↑	Move the cursor up
j	↓	Move the cursor down
l	→	Enter hovered directory
h	←	Leave the current directory and into its parent

Further navigation commands can be found in the table below.

Key binding	Action
K	Move the cursor up 5 lines
J	Move the cursor down 5 lines
g ⇒ g	Move cursor to the top
G	Move cursor to the bottom

Selection

To select files and directories, the following commands are available.

Key binding	Action
Space	Toggle selection of hovered file/directory
v	Enter visual mode (selection mode)
V	Enter visual mode (unset mode)
Ctrl + a	Select all files
Ctrl + r	Inverse selection of all files
Esc	Cancel selection

File/directory operations

To interact with selected files/directories use any of the commands below.

Key binding	Action
o	Open the selected files
O	Open the selected files interactively
Enter	Open the selected files
Ctrl + Enter	Open the selected files interactively (some terminals don't support it yet)
y	Yank the selected files (copy)
x	Yank the selected files (cut)
p	Paste the yanked files
P	Paste the yanked files (overwrite if the destination exists)
Y or X	Cancel the yank state (unyank)
-	Create a symbolic link to the yanked files (absolute path)
_	Create a symbolic link to the yanked files (relative path)
d	Move the files to the trash
D	Permanently delete the files
a	Create a file or directory (ends with "/" for directories)
r	Rename a file or directory
;	Run a shell command
:	Run a shell command (block the UI until the command finishes)
.	Toggle the visibility of hidden files
Ctrl + s	Cancel the ongoing search
z	Jump to a directory using zoxide
Z	Jump to a directory, or reveal a file using fzf

Copying paths

To copy paths, use any of the following commands below.

Observation: c ⇒ d indicates pressing the c key followed by pressing the d key.

Key binding	Action
c ⇒ c	Copy absolute path
c ⇒ d	Copy the path of the parent directory
c ⇒ f	Copy the name of the file
c ⇒ n	Copy the name of the file without the extension

Filtering files/directories

Key binding	Action
f	Filter the files/directories in CWD

Finding files/directories

Key binding	Action
/	Forward find file/directory in CWD
?	Backward find file/directory in CWD
n	Jump to next occurrence
N	Jump to previous occurrence

Searching files/directories

Key binding	Action
s	Search files by name using fd
S	Search files by content using ripgrep

Sorting

To sort files/directories use the following commands.

Observation: , ⇒ a indicates pressing the , key followed by pressing the a key.

Key binding	Action
, ⇒ m	Sort by modified time
, ⇒ M	Sort by modified time (reverse)
, ⇒ c	Sort by creation time
, ⇒ C	Sort by creation time (reverse)
, ⇒ e	Sort by file extension
, ⇒ E	Sort by file extension (reverse)
, ⇒ a	Sort alphabetically
, ⇒ A	Sort alphabetically (reverse)
, ⇒ n	Sort naturally
, ⇒ N	Sort naturally (reverse)
, ⇒ s	Sort by size
, ⇒ S	Sort by size (reverse)

Flavors

Check out our flavors repository, or cooking a flavor!