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
		builtin 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 -LiteralPath $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 operations

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

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

Copy 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 the file path
c ⇒ d	Copy the directory path
c ⇒ f	Copy the filename
c ⇒ n	Copy the filename without extension

Filter files

Key binding	Action
f	Filter files

Find files

Key binding	Action
/	Find next file
?	Find previous file
n	Go to the next found
N	Go to the previous found

Search files

Key binding	Action
s	Search files by name using fd
S	Search files by content using ripgrep
Ctrl + s	Cancel the ongoing search

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)
, ⇒ r	Sort randomly (Nightly version needs)

Multi-tab

Key binding	Action
t	Create a new tab with CWD
1, 2, ..., 9	Switch to the N-th tab
[	Switch to the previous tab
]	Switch to the next tab
{	Swap current tab with previous tab
}	Swap current tab with next tab
Ctrl + q (Ctrl + c on nightly)	Close the current tab

Flavors

Pick a color scheme you like from our flavors repository, or cooking a flavor!