1VIFM(1) General Commands Manual VIFM(1)
2
6 vifm - vi file manager
7
9 vifm [OPTION]...
10 vifm [OPTION]... path
11 vifm [OPTION]... path path
12
14 Vifm is an ncurses based file manager with vi like keybindings. If you
15 use vi, vifm gives you complete keyboard control over your files with‐
16 out having to learn a new set of commands.
17
19 vifm starts in the current directory unless it is given a different di‐
20 rectory on the command line or 'vifminfo' option includes "savedirs"
21 (in which case last visited directories are used as defaults).
22 - Read list of files from standard input stream and compose custom
24 view out of them (see "Custom views" section). Current working
25 directory is used as a base for relative paths.
26 <path> Starts Vifm in the specified path.
28 <path> <path>
30 Starts Vifm in the specified paths.
31 Specifying two directories triggers split view even when vifm was in
33 single-view mode on finishing previous run. To suppress this behaviour
34 :only command can be put in the vifmrc file.
35 When only one path argument is found on command-line, the left/top pane
37 is automatically set as the current view.
38 Paths to files are also allowed in case you want vifm to start with
40 some archive opened.
41 --select <path>
43 Open parent directory of the given path and select specified
44 file in it.
45 -f Makes vifm instead of opening files write selection to
47 $VIFM/vimfiles and quit.
48 --choose-files <path>|-
50 Sets output file to write selection into on exit instead of
51 opening files. "-" means standard output. Use empty value to
52 disable it.
53 --choose-dir <path>|-
55 Sets output file to write last visited directory into on exit.
56 "-" means standard output. Use empty value to disable it.
57 --delimiter <delimiter>
59 Sets separator for list of file paths written out by vifm.
60 Empty value means null character. Default is new line charac‐
61 ter.
62 --on-choose <command>
64 Sets command to be executed on selected files instead of opening
65 them. The command may use any of macros described in "Command
66 macros" section below. The command is executed once for whole
67 selection.
68 --plugins-dir <path>
70 Additional plugins directory (can appear multiple times). The
71 last one added has the highest priority.
72 --logging[=<startup log path>]
74 Log some operational details to $XDG_DATA_HOME/vifm/log or
75 $VIFM/log. If the optional startup log path is specified and
76 permissions allow to open it for writing, then logging of early
77 initialization (before configuration directories are determined)
78 is put there.
79 --server-list
81 List available server names and exit.
82 --server-name <name>
84 Name of target or this instance (sequential numbers are appended
85 on name conflict).
86 --remote
88 Sends the rest of the command line to another instance of vifm,
89 --server-name is treated just like any other argument and should
90 precede --remote on the command line. When there is no server,
91 quits silently. There is no limit on how many arguments can be
92 processed. One can combine --remote with -c <command> or +<com‐
93 mand> to execute commands in already running instance of vifm.
94 See also "Client-Server" section below.
95 --remote-expr
97 passes expression to vifm server and prints result. See also
98 "Client-Server" section below.
99 -c <command> or +<command>
101 Run command-line mode <command> on startup. Commands in such
102 arguments are executed in the order they appear in command line.
103 Commands with spaces or special symbols must be enclosed in dou‐
104 ble or single quotes or all special symbols should be escaped
105 (the exact syntax strongly depends on shell). "+" argument is
106 equivalent to "$" and thus picks last item of of the view.
107 --help, -h
109 Show a brief command summary and exit vifm.
110 --version, -v
112 Show version information and quit.
113 --no-configs
115 Skip reading vifmrc and vifminfo.
116 See "Startup" section below for the explanations on $VIFM.
119
121 Ctrl-C or Escape
122 cancel most operations (see "Cancellation" section below), clear
123 all selected files.
124 Ctrl-L clear and redraw the screen. Can also reload file list in ap‐
126 propriate modes (like normal and visual).
127
129 The basic vi key bindings are used to move through the files and pop-up
130 windows.
131 k, gk, or Ctrl-P
133 move cursor up one line.
134 j, gj or Ctrl-N
136 move cursor down one line.
137 h when 'lsview' is off move up one directory (moves to parent di‐
139 rectory node in tree view), otherwise move left one file.
140 l when 'lsview' is off move into a directory or launch a file,
142 otherwise move right one file. See "Selection" section below.
143 gg move to the first line of the file list.
145 G move to the last line in the file list.
147 gh go up one directory regardless of view representation (regular,
149 ls-like). Also can be used to leave custom views including tree
150 view.
151 gl or Enter
153 enter directory or launch a file. See "Selection" section be‐
154 low.
155 H move to the first file in the window.
157 M move to the file in the middle of the window.
159 L move to the last file in the window.
161 Ctrl-F or Page Down
163 move forward one page.
164 Ctrl-B or Page Up
166 move back one page.
167 Ctrl-D jump back one half page.
169 Ctrl-U jump forward one half page.
171 n% move to the file that is n percent from the top of the list (for
173 example 25%).
174 0 or ^ move cursor to the first column. See 'lsview' option descrip‐
176 tion.
177 $ move cursor to the last column. See 'lsview' option descrip‐
179 tion.
180 Space switch file lists.
182 gt switch to the next tab (wrapping around).
184 {n}gt switch to the tab number {n} (wrapping around).
186 gT switch to the previous tab (wrapping around).
188 {n}gT switch to {n}-th previous tab.
190
192 Most movement commands also accept a count, 12j would move down 12
193 files.
194 [count]%
196 move to percent of the file list.
197 [count]j
199 move down [count] files.
200 [count]k
202 move up [count] files.
203 [count]G or [count]gg
205 move to list position [count].
206 [count]h
208 go up [count] directories.
209
211 zt redraw pane with file in top of list.
212 zz redraw pane with file in center of list.
214 zb redraw pane with file in bottom of list.
216 Ctrl-E scroll pane one line down or column right (in transposed ls-like
218 view).
219 Ctrl-Y scroll pane one line up or column left (in transposed ls-like
221 view).
222
224 Second character can be entered with or without Control key.
225 Ctrl-W H
227 move the pane to the far left.
228 Ctrl-W J
230 move the pane to the very bottom.
231 Ctrl-W K
233 move the pane to the very top.
234 Ctrl-W L
236 move the pane to the far right.
237 Ctrl-W h
240 switch to the left pane.
241 Ctrl-W j
243 switch to the pane below.
244 Ctrl-W k
246 switch to the pane above.
247 Ctrl-W l
249 switch to the right pane.
250 Ctrl-W b
253 switch to bottom-right window.
254 Ctrl-W t
256 switch to top-left window.
257 Ctrl-W p
260 switch to previous window.
261 Ctrl-W w
263 switch to other pane.
264 Ctrl-W o
267 leave only one pane.
268 Ctrl-W s
270 split window horizontally.
271 Ctrl-W v
273 split window vertically.
274 Ctrl-W x
277 exchange panes.
278 Ctrl-W z
280 quit preview pane or view modes.
281 Ctrl-W -
284 decrease size of the view by count.
285 Ctrl-W +
287 increase size of the view by count.
288 Ctrl-W <
290 decrease size of the view by count.
291 Ctrl-W >
293 increase size of the view by count.
294 Ctrl-W |
297 set current view size to count.
298 Ctrl-W _
300 set current view size to count.
301 Ctrl-W =
303 make size of two views equal.
304 For Ctrl-W +, Ctrl-W -, Ctrl-W <, Ctrl-W >, Ctrl-W | and Ctrl-W _ com‐
306 mands count can be given before and/or after Ctrl-W. The resulting
307 count is a multiplication of those two. So "2 Ctrl-W 2 -" decreases
308 window size by 4 lines or columns.
309 Ctrl-W | and Ctrl-W _ maximise current view by default.
311
313 Marks are set the same way as they are in vi.
314 You can use these characters for marks [a-z][A-Z][0-9].
316 m[a-z][A-Z][0-9]
318 set a mark for the file at the current cursor position.
319 '[a-z][A-Z][0-9]
321 navigate to the file set for the mark.
322 There are also several special marks that can't be set manually:
325 - ' (single quote) - previously visited directory of the view, thus
327 hitting '' allows switching between two last locations
328 - < - the first file of the last visually selected block
330 - > - the last file of the last visually selected block
332
334 /regular expression pattern
335 search for files matching regular expression in forward direc‐
336 tion and advance cursor to next match.
337 / perform forward search with top item of search pattern history.
339 ?regular expression pattern
341 search for files matching regular expression in backward direc‐
342 tion and advance cursor to previous match.
343 ? perform backward search with top item of search pattern history.
345 Trailing slash for directories is taken into account, so /\/ searches
347 for directories and symbolic links to directories. At the moment //
348 works too, but this can change in the future, so consider escaping the
349 slash if not typing pattern by hand.
350 Matches are automatically selected if 'hlsearch' is set. Enabling
352 'incsearch' makes search interactive. 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' op‐
353 tions affect case sensitivity of search queries as well as local filter
354 and other things detailed in the description of 'caseoptions'.
355 [count]n
358 go to the next file matching last search pattern. Takes last
359 search direction into account.
360 [count]N
362 go to the previous file matching last search pattern. Takes
363 last search direction into account.
364 If 'hlsearch' option is set, hitting n/N to perform search and go to
366 the first matching item resets current selection in normal mode. It is
367 not the case if search was already performed on files in the directory,
368 thus selection is not reset after clearing selection with escape key
369 and hitting n/N key again.
370 See also "Regular expressions" section.
372 [count]f[character]
375 search forward for file with [character] as first character in
376 name. Search wraps around the end of the list.
377 [count]F[character]
379 search backward for file with [character] as first character in
380 name. Search wraps around the end of the list.
381 [count];
383 find the next match of f or F.
384 [count],
386 find the previous match of f or F.
387 Note: f, F, ; and , wrap around list beginning and end when they are
389 used alone and they don't wrap when they are used as selectors.
390
392 There are three basic file filters:
393 - dot files filter (does not affect "." and ".." special directories,
395 whose appearance is controlled by the 'dotdirs' option), see 'dot‐
396 files' option;
397 - permanent filter;
399 - local filter (see description of the "=" normal mode command).
401 Permanent filter essentially allows defining a group of files names
403 which are not desirable to be seen by default, like temporary or backup
404 files, which might be created alongside normal ones. Just like you
405 don't usually need to see hidden dot files (files starting with a dot).
406 Local filter on the other hand is for temporary immediate filtering of
407 file list at hand, to get rid of uninterested files in the view or to
408 make it possible to use % range in a :command.
409 For the purposes of more deterministic editing permanent filter is
411 split into two parts:
412 - one edited explicitly via :filter command;
414 - another one which is edited implicitly via zf shortcut.
416 Files are tested against both parts and a match counts if at least one
418 of the parts matched.
419 Each file list has its own copy of each filter.
422 Filtered files are not checked in / search or :commands.
424 Files and directories are filtered separately. This is done by append‐
426 ing a slash to a directory name before testing whether it matches the
427 filter. Examples:
428 " filter directories which names end with '.files'
431 :filter /^.*\.files\/$/
432 " filter files which names end with '.d'
434 :filter {*.d}
435 " filter files and directories which names end with '.o'
437 :filter /^.*\.o\/?$/
438 See also "Regular expressions" and "Patterns" sections.
440 The basic Vim folding key bindings are used for managing filters.
442 za toggle visibility of dot files.
445 zo show dot files.
447 zm hide dot files.
449 zf add selected files to permanent filter.
451 zO reset permanent filter.
453 zR save and reset all filters.
455 zr clear local filter.
457 zM restore all filters (undoes last zR).
459 zd exclude selection or current file from a custom view. Does
461 nothing for regular view. For tree view excluding directory ex‐
462 cludes that sub-tree. For compare views zd hides group of adja‐
463 cent identical files, count can be specified as 1 to exclude
464 just single file or selected items instead. Files excluded this
465 way are not counted as filtered out and can't be returned unless
466 view is reloaded.
467 =regular expression pattern
469 filter out files that don't match regular expression. Whether
470 view is updated as regular expression is changed depends on the
471 value of the 'incsearch' option. This kind of filter is auto‐
472 matically reset when directory is changed.
473
475 While some of the keys make sense outside of tree-view, they are most
476 useful in trees.
477 [z go to first sibling of current entry.
479 ]z go to last sibling of current entry.
481 zj go to next directory sibling of current entry or do nothing.
483 zk go to previous directory sibling of current entry or do nothing.
485 zx toggle fold under the cursor or parent entry of the current file
487 if cursor is not on a directory.
488
490 [count]:
491 enter command line mode. [count] generates range.
492 q: open external editor to prompt for command-line command. See
494 "Command line editing" section for details.
495 q/ open external editor to prompt for search pattern to be searched
497 in forward direction. See "Command line editing" section for
498 details.
499 q? open external editor to prompt for search pattern to be searched
501 in backward direction. See "Command line editing" section for
502 details.
503 q= open external editor to prompt for filter pattern. See "Command
505 line editing" section for details. Unlike other q{x} commands
506 this one doesn't work in Visual mode.
507 [count]!! and [count]!<selector>
509 enter command line mode with entered ! command. [count] modi‐
510 fies range.
511 Ctrl-O go backwards through directory history of current view. Nonex‐
513 istent directories are automatically skipped.
514 Ctrl-I if 'cpoptions' contains "t" flag, <tab> and <c-i> switch active
516 pane just like <space> does, otherwise it goes forward through
517 directory history of current view. Nonexistent directories are
518 automatically skipped.
519 Ctrl-G show a dialog with detailed information about current file. See
521 "Menus and dialogs" section for controls.
522 Shift-Tab
524 enter view mode (works only after activating view pane with
525 :view command).
526 ga calculate directory size. Uses cached directory sizes when pos‐
528 sible for better performance. As a special case calculating
529 size of ".." entry results in calculation of size of current di‐
530 rectory.
531 gA like ga, but force update. Ignores old values of directory
533 sizes.
534 If file under cursor is selected, each selected item is processed, oth‐
536 erwise only current file is updated.
537 gf find link destination (like l with 'followlinks' off, but also
539 finds directories). On Windows additionally follows .lnk-files.
540 gF Same as gf, but resolves final path of the chain of symbolic
542 links.
543 gr only for MS-Windows
545 same as l key, but tries to run program with administrative
546 privileges.
547 av go into visual mode for updating current selection, any existing
549 selection is preserved.
550 gv go into visual mode restoring last selection.
552 [reg]gs
554 if register is present, then all files listed in that register
555 that are visible in current view are selected.
556 When no register is specified, restore the last selection saved
558 for this view (similar to what gv does for visual mode selec‐
559 tion). When you leave a directory, its saved selection is re‐
560 membered for that path and visiting the directory again restores
561 it. Selection for up to 10 distinct file-system locations are
562 remembered.
563 gu<selector>
565 make names of selected files lowercase.
566 [count]guu and [count]gugu
568 make names of [count] files starting from the current one lower‐
569 case. Without [count] only current file is affected.
570 gU<selector>
572 make names of selected files uppercase.
573 [count]gUU and [count]gUgU
575 make names of [count] files starting from the current one upper‐
576 case. Without [count] only current file is affected.
577 e explore file in the current pane.
579 i handle file (even if it's an executable and 'runexec' option is
581 set).
582 cw change word is used to rename a file or files. If multiple
584 files are selected, behaves as :rename command run without argu‐
585 ments.
586 cW change WORD is used to change only name of file (without exten‐
588 sion).
589 cl change link target. If multiple files are selected, an editor
591 is spawn to edit paths.
592 co only for *nix
594 change file owner.
595 cg only for *nix
597 change file group.
598 [count]cp
600 change file attributes (permission on *nix and properties on
601 Windows). If [count] is specified, it's treated as numerical
602 argument for non-recursive `chmod` command (of the form
603 [0-7]{3,4}). See "Menus and dialogs" section for controls.
604 [count]C
606 clone file [count] times.
607 [count]dd or d[count]selector
609 move selected file or files to trash directory (if 'trash' op‐
610 tion is set, otherwise delete). See "Trash directory" section
611 below.
612 [count]DD or D[count]selector
614 like dd and d<selector>, but omitting trash directory (even when
615 'trash' option is set).
616 Y, [count]yy or y[count]selector
618 yank selected files.
619 p copy yanked files to the current directory or move the files to
621 the current directory if they were deleted with dd or :d[elete]
622 or if the files were yanked from trash directory. See "Trash
623 directory" section below.
624 P move the last yanked files. The advantage of using P instead of
626 d followed by p is that P moves files only once. This isn't im‐
627 portant in case you're moving files in the same file system
628 where your home directory is, but using P to move files on some
629 other file system (or file systems, in case you want to move
630 files from fs1 to fs2 and your home is on fs3) can save your
631 time.
632 al put symbolic links with absolute paths.
634 rl put symbolic links with relative paths.
636 t select or unselect (tag) the current file.
638 u undo last change.
640 Ctrl-R redo last change.
642 dp in compare view of "ofboth grouppaths" kind makes corresponding
644 entries of the other pane equal to the current one. If at least
645 one file is selected, the command processes selection, otherwise
646 current file.
647 The semantics is as follows:
648 - nothing is done for identical entries
649 - if file is missing in current view, its pair gets removed
650 - if file is missing or differs in other view, it's replaced
651 - file pairs are defined by matching relative paths
652 File removal obeys 'trash' option. When the option is enabled,
653 the operation can be undone/redone (although results won't be
654 visible automatically).
655 Unlike in Vim, this operation is performed on a single line
656 rather than a set of adjacent changes.
657 do same as dp, but applies changes in the opposite direction.
659 v or V enter visual mode, clears current selection.
661 [count]Ctrl-A
663 increment first number in file name by [count] (1 by default).
664 [count]Ctrl-X
666 decrement first number in file name by [count] (1 by default).
667 ZQ same as :quit!.
669 ZZ same as :quit.
671 . repeat last command-line command (not normal mode command) of
673 this run (does nothing right after startup or :restart command).
674 The command doesn't depend on command-line history and can be
675 used with completely disabled history.
676 ( go to previous group. Groups are defined by primary sorting
678 key. For name and iname members of each group have same first
679 letter, for all other sorting keys vifm uses size, uid, ...
680 ) go to next group. See ( key description above.
682 { speeds up navigation to closest previous entry of the opposite
684 type by moving to the first file backwards when cursor is on a
685 directory and to the first directory backwards when cursor is on
686 a file. This is essentially a special case of ( that is locked
687 on "dirs".
688 } same as {, but in forward direction.
690 [c go to previous mismatched entry in directory comparison view or
692 do nothing.
693 ]c go to next mismatched entry in directory comparison view or do
695 nothing.
696 [d go to previous directory entry or do nothing.
698 ]d go to next directory entry or do nothing.
700 [r same as :siblprev.
702 ]r same as :siblnext.
704 [R same as :siblprev!.
706 ]R same as :siblnext!.
708 [s go to previous selected entry or do nothing.
710 ]s go to next selected entry or do nothing.
712
714 You can use count with commands like yy.
715 [count]yy
717 yank count files starting from current cursor position downward.
718 Or you can use count with motions passed to y, d or D.
720 d[count]j
722 delete (count + 1) files starting from current cursor position
723 upward.
724
726 vifm supports multiple registers for temporary storing list of yanked
727 or deleted files.
728 Registers should be specified by hitting double quote key followed by a
730 register name. Count is specified after register name. By default
731 commands use unnamed register, which has double quote as its name.
732 Though all commands accept registers, most of commands ignores them
734 (for example H or Ctrl-U). Other commands can fill register or append
735 new files to it.
736 Presently vifm supports ", _, a-z and A-Z characters as register names.
738 As mentioned above " is unnamed register and has special meaning of the
740 default register. Every time when you use named registers (a-z and A-
741 Z) unnamed register is updated to contain same list of files as the
742 last used register.
743 _ is black hole register. It can be used for writing, but its list is
745 always empty.
746 Registers with names from a to z and from A to Z are named ones. Low‐
748 ercase registers are cleared before adding new files, while uppercase
749 aren't and should be used to append new files to the existing file list
750 of appropriate lowercase register (A for a, B for b, ...).
751 Registers can be changed on :empty command if they contain files under
753 trash directory (see "Trash directory" section below).
754 Registers do not contain one file more than once.
756 Example:
758 "a2yy
760 puts names of two files to register a (and to the unnamed register),
762 "Ad
764 removes one file and append its name to register a (and to the unnamed
766 register),
767 p or "ap or "Ap
769 inserts previously yanked and deleted files into current directory.
771
773 y, d, D, !, gu and gU commands accept selectors. You can combine them
774 with any of selectors below to quickly remove or yank several files.
775 Most of selectors are like vi motions: j, k, gg, G, H, L, M, %, f, F,
777 ;, comma, ', ^, 0 and $. But there are some additional ones.
778 a all files in current view.
780 s selected files.
782 S all files except selected.
784 Examples:
786 - dj - delete file under cursor and one below;
788 - d2j - delete file under cursor and two below;
790 - y6gg - yank all files from cursor position to 6th file in the list.
792 When you pass a count to whole command and its selector they are multi‐
794 plied. So:
795 - 2d2j - delete file under cursor and four below;
797 - 2dj - delete file under cursor and two below;
799 - 2y6gg - yank all files from cursor position to 12th file in the
801 list.
802
804 Visual mode has two generic operating submodes:
805 - plain selection as it is in Vim;
807 - selection editing submode.
809 Both modes select files in range from cursor position at which visual
811 mode was entered to current cursor position (let's call it "selection
812 region"). Each of two borders can be adjusted by swapping them via "o"
813 or "O" keys and updating cursor position with regular cursor motion
814 keys. Obviously, once initial cursor position is altered this way,
815 real start position becomes unavailable.
816 Plain Vim-like visual mode starts with cleared selection, which is not
818 restored on rejecting selection ("Escape", "Ctrl-C", "v", "V"). Con‐
819 trary to it, selection editing doesn't clear previously selected files
820 and restores them after reject. Accepting selection by performing an
821 operation on selected items (e.g. yanking them via "y") moves cursor to
822 the top of current selection region (not to the top most selected file
823 of the view).
824 In turn, selection editing supports three types of editing (look at
826 status bar to know which one is currently active):
827 - append - amend selection by selecting elements in selection region;
829 - remove - amend selection by deselecting elements in selection re‐
831 gion;
832 - invert - amend selection by inverting selection of elements in se‐
834 lection region.
835 No matter how you activate selection editing it starts in "append".
837 One can switch type of operation (in the order given above) via "Ctrl-
838 G" key.
839 Almost all normal mode keys work in visual mode, but instead of accept‐
841 ing selectors they operate on selected items.
842 Enter save selection and go back to normal mode not moving cursor.
844 av leave visual mode if in amending mode (restores previous selec‐
846 tion), otherwise switch to amending selection mode.
847 gv restore previous visual selection.
849 v, V, Ctrl-C or Escape
851 leave visual mode if not in amending mode, otherwise switch to
852 normal visual selection.
853 Ctrl-G switch type of amending by round robin scheme: append -> remove
855 -> invert.
856 : enter command line mode. Selection is cleared on leaving the
858 mode.
859 o switch active selection bound.
861 O switch active selection bound.
863 gu, u make names of selected files lowercase.
865 gU, U make names of selected files uppercase.
867 cl change target of symbolic link(s).
869 cw same as running :rename command without arguments.
871
873 This mode tries to imitate the less program. List of builtin shortcuts
874 can be found below. Shortcuts can be customized using :qmap, :qnoremap
875 and :qunmap command-line commands.
876 Shift-Tab, Tab, q, Q, ZZ
878 return to normal mode.
879 [count]e, [count]Ctrl-E, [count]j, [count]Ctrl-N, [count]Enter
881 scroll forward one line (or [count] lines).
882 [count]y, [count]Ctrl-Y, [count]k, [count]Ctrl-K, [count]Ctrl-P
884 scroll backward one line (or [count] lines).
885 [count]f, [count]Ctrl-F, [count]Ctrl-V, [count]Space
887 scroll forward one window (or [count] lines).
888 [count]b, [count]Ctrl-B, [count]Alt-V
890 scroll backward one window (or [count] lines).
891 [count]z
893 scroll forward one window (and set window to [count]).
894 [count]w
896 scroll backward one window (and set window to [count]).
897 [count]Alt-Space
899 scroll forward one window, but don't stop at end-of-file.
900 [count]d, [count]Ctrl-D
902 scroll forward one half-window (and set half-window to [count]).
903 [count]u, [count]Ctrl-U
905 scroll backward one half-window (and set half-window to
906 [count]).
907 r, Ctrl-R, Ctrl-L
909 repaint screen.
910 R reload view preserving scroll position.
912 F toggle automatic forwarding. Roughly equivalent to periodic
914 file reload and scrolling to the bottom. The behaviour is simi‐
915 lar to `tail -F` or F key in less.
916 a switch to the next viewer. Does nothing for preview constructed
918 via %q macro.
919 A switch to the previous viewer. Does nothing for preview con‐
921 structed via %q macro.
922 i toggle raw mode (ignoring of defined viewers). Does nothing for
924 preview constructed via %q macro.
925 [count]/pattern
927 search forward for ([count]‐th) matching line.
928 [count]?pattern
930 search backward for ([count]‐th) matching line.
931 [count]n
933 repeat previous search (for [count]‐th occurrence).
934 [count]N
936 repeat previous search in reverse direction (for [count]‐th oc‐
937 currence).
938 [count]g, [count]<, [count]Alt-<
940 scroll to the first line of the file (or line [count]).
941 [count]G, [count]>, [count]Alt->
943 scroll to the last line of the file (or line [count]).
944 [count]p, [count]%
946 scroll to the beginning of the file (or N percent into file).
947 v invoke an editor to edit the current file being viewed. The
949 command for editing is taken from the 'vicmd' or 'vixcmd' option
950 value and extended with middle line number prepended by a plus
951 sign and name of the current file.
952 All "Ctrl-W x" keys work the same was as in Normal mode. Active mode
954 is automatically changed on navigating among windows. When less-like
955 mode activated on file preview is left using one by "Ctrl-W x" keys,
956 its state is stored until another file is displayed using preview (it's
957 possible to leave the mode, hide preview pane, do something else, then
958 get back to the file and show preview pane again with previously stored
959 state in it).
960
962 These keys are available in all submodes of the command line mode: com‐
963 mand, search, prompt and filtering.
964 Down, Up, Left, Right, Home, End and Delete are extended keys and they
966 are not available if vifm is compiled with --disable-extended-keys op‐
967 tion.
968 Esc, Ctrl-C
970 leave command line mode, cancels input. Cancelled input is
971 saved into appropriate history and can be recalled later.
972 Ctrl-M, Enter
974 execute command and leave command line mode.
975 Ctrl-I, Tab
977 complete command or its argument.
978 Shift-Tab
980 complete in reverse order.
981 Ctrl-_ stop completion and return original input.
983 Ctrl-B, Left
985 move cursor to the left.
986 Ctrl-F, Right
988 move cursor to the right.
989 Ctrl-A, Home
991 go to line beginning.
992 Ctrl-E, End
994 go to line end.
995 Alt-B go to the beginning of previous word.
997 Alt-F go to the end of next word.
999 Ctrl-U remove characters from cursor position till the beginning of
1001 line.
1002 Ctrl-K remove characters from cursor position till the end of line.
1004 Ctrl-H, Backspace
1006 remove character before the cursor.
1007 Ctrl-D, Delete
1009 remove character under the cursor.
1010 Ctrl-W remove characters from cursor position till the beginning of
1012 previous word.
1013 Alt-D remove characters from cursor position till the beginning of
1015 next word.
1016 Ctrl-T swap the order of current and previous character and move cursor
1018 forward or, if cursor past the end of line, swap the order of
1019 two last characters in the line.
1020 Alt-. insert last part of previous command to current cursor position.
1022 Each next call will insert last part of older command.
1023 Ctrl-G edit command-line content in external editor. See "Command line
1025 editing" section for details.
1026 Ctrl-N recall more recent command-line from history.
1028 Ctrl-P recall older command-line from history.
1030 Up recall more recent command-line from history, that begins as the
1032 current command-line.
1033 Down recall older command-line from history, that begins as the cur‐
1035 rent command-line.
1036 Ctrl-] trigger abbreviation expansion.
1038 Ctrl-R =
1040 insert result of evaluating an expression. Expression is to be
1041 entered via nested command-line prompt (where this key does
1042 nothing). Expansion of an erroneous expression is empty.
1043
1045 In order to streamline navigation through directory tree, you can enter
1046 a special form of command-line mode from search or local filter prompt.
1047 Once activated, pressing Enter opens currently selected directory and
1048 clears the prompt in anticipation of the next component of the path.
1049 If entry under the cursor is a file, it is opened and the mode is fin‐
1050 ished.
1051 This behaviour is embedded in a command-line mode, but doesn't update
1053 input histories nor expands abbreviations and redefines some of the
1054 mode's mappings for the purpose of faster navigation through the file
1055 system rather than command-line editing. When on, prompt gets "nav"
1056 prefix.
1057 You can enable this behaviour on search by default via a mapping like:
1059 nnoremap / /<c-y>
1061 Ctrl-Y enter navigation mode. Works only for search and local filter
1064 started from a normal mode and only when 'incsearch' is set
1065 ('wrapscan' is also nice to have set for search).
1066 Ctrl-Y return to a regular command-line mode.
1068 Enter, Right
1070 either enter a directory under the cursor without leaving the
1071 mode and clear the prompt or leave the mode for files. If
1072 'navoptions' specifies "open:all" a file under the cursor is
1073 opened after leaving the mode.
1074 Ctrl-O, Left
1076 go to parent directory.
1077 Ctrl-J leave the mode without undoing cursor position or filter state.
1079 Ctrl-N, Down
1081 move view cursor down.
1082 Ctrl-P, Up
1084 move view cursor up.
1085 Page Down
1087 scroll view down.
1088 Page Up
1090 scroll view up.
1091 Home move view cursor to the first item.
1093 End move view cursor to the last item.
1095
1097 The shortcuts listed below insert specified values into current cursor
1098 position. Last key of every shortcut references value that it inserts:
1099 - c - [c]urrent file
1100 - d - [d]irectory path
1101 - e - [e]xtension of a file name
1102 - r - [r]oot part of a file name
1103 - t - [t]ail part of directory path
1104 - a - [a]utomatic filter
1106 - m - [m]anual filter
1107 - = - local filter, which is bound to "=" in normal mode
1108 Values related to filelist in current pane are available through Ctrl-X
1110 prefix, while values from the other pane have doubled Ctrl-X key as
1111 their prefix (doubled Ctrl-X is presumably easier to type than upper‐
1112 case letters; it's still easy to remap the keys to correspond to names
1113 of similar macros).
1114 Ctrl-X c
1116 name of the current file of the active pane.
1117 Ctrl-X d
1119 path to the current directory of the active pane.
1120 Ctrl-X e
1122 extension of the current file of the active pane.
1123 Ctrl-X r
1125 name root of current file of the active pane.
1126 Ctrl-X t
1128 the last component of path to the current directory of the ac‐
1129 tive pane.
1130 Ctrl-X Ctrl-X c
1132 name of the current file of the inactive pane.
1133 Ctrl-X Ctrl-X d
1135 path to the current directory of the inactive pane.
1136 Ctrl-X Ctrl-X e
1138 extension of the current file of the inactive pane.
1139 Ctrl-X Ctrl-X r
1141 name root of current file of the inactive pane.
1142 Ctrl-X Ctrl-X t
1144 the last component of path to the current directory of the inac‐
1145 tive pane.
1146 Ctrl-X a
1149 value of implicit permanent filter (old name "automatic") of the
1150 active pane.
1151 Ctrl-X m
1153 value of explicit permanent filter (old name "manual") of the
1154 active pane.
1155 Ctrl-X =
1157 value of local filter of the active pane.
1158 Ctrl-X /
1161 last pattern from search history.
1162
1164 vifm provides a facility to edit several kinds of data, that is usually
1165 edited in command-line mode, in external editor (using command speci‐
1166 fied by 'vicmd' or 'vixcmd' option). This has at least two advantages
1167 over built-in command-line mode:
1168 - one can use full power of Vim to edit text;
1169 - finding and reusing history entries becomes possible.
1170 The facility is supported by four input submodes of the command-line:
1172 - command;
1173 - forward search;
1174 - backward search;
1175 - file rename (see description of cw and cW normal mode keys).
1176 Editing command-line using external editor is activated by the Ctrl-G
1178 shortcut. It's also possible to do almost the same from Normal and
1179 Visual modes using q:, q/ and q? commands.
1180 Temporary file created for the purpose of editing the line has the fol‐
1182 lowing structure:
1183 1. First line, which is either empty or contains text already entered
1185 in command-line.
1186 2. 2nd and all other lines with history items starting with the most
1188 recent one. Altering this lines in any way won't change history
1189 items stored by vifm.
1190 After editing application is finished the first line of the file is
1192 taken as the result of operation, when the application returns zero
1193 exit code. If the application returns an error (see :cquit command in
1194 Vim), all the edits made to the file are ignored, but the initial value
1195 of the first line is saved in appropriate history.
1196
1198 This is the mode that appears when status bar content is so big that it
1199 doesn't fit on the screen. One can identify the mode by "-- More --"
1200 message at the bottom.
1201 The following keys are handled in this mode:
1203 Enter, Ctrl-J, j or Down
1206 scroll one line down.
1207 Backspace, k or Up
1209 scroll one line up.
1210 d scroll one page (half of a screen) down.
1213 u scroll one page (half of a screen) up.
1215 Space, f or PageDown
1218 scroll down a screen.
1219 b or PageUp
1221 scroll up a screen.
1222 G scroll to the bottom.
1225 g scroll to the top.
1227 q, Escape or Ctrl-C
1230 quit the mode.
1231 : switch to command-line mode.
1233
1235 Commands are executed with :command_name<Enter>
1236 Commented out lines should start with the double quote symbol ("),
1238 which may be preceded by whitespace characters intermixed with colons.
1239 Inline comments can be added at the end of the line after double quote
1240 symbol, only last line of a multi-line command can contain such com‐
1241 ment. Not all commands support inline comments as their syntax con‐
1242 flicts with names of registers and fields where double quotes are al‐
1243 lowed.
1244 Most of the commands have two forms: complete and the short one. Exam‐
1246 ple:
1247 :noh[lsearch]
1249 This means the complete command is nohlsearch, and the short one is
1251 noh.
1252 Most of command-line commands completely reset selection in the current
1254 view. However, there are several exceptions:
1255 - `:invert s` most likely leaves some files selected;
1257 - :view command;
1259 - :normal command (when it doesn't leave command-line mode);
1261 - :if and :else commands don't affect selection on successful execu‐
1263 tion.
1264 '|' can be used to separate commands, so you can give multiple commands
1266 in one line. If you want to use '|' in an argument, precede it with
1267 '\'.
1268 These commands see '|' as part of their arguments even when it's es‐
1270 caped:
1271 :[range]!
1273 :amap
1274 :anoremap
1275 :autocmd
1276 :cabbrev
1277 :cmap
1278 :cnoreabbrev
1279 :cnoremap
1280 :command
1281 :dmap
1282 :dnoremap
1283 :filetype
1284 :fileviewer
1285 :filextype
1286 :keepsel
1287 :map
1288 :mmap
1289 :mnoremap
1290 :nmap
1291 :nnoremap
1292 :noremap
1293 :normal
1294 :qmap
1295 :qnoremap
1296 :vmap
1297 :vnoremap
1298 :wincmd
1299 :windo
1300 :winrun
1301 To be able to use another command after one of these, wrap it with the
1303 :execute command. An example:
1304 if filetype('.') == 'reg' | execute '!!echo regular file' | endif
1306 :[count]
1308 :number
1310 move to the file number.
1311 :12 would move to the 12th file in the list.
1312 :0 move to the top of the list.
1313 :$ move to the bottom of the list.
1314 :[count]command
1316 The only builtin :[count]command are :[count]d[elete] and
1317 :[count]y[ank].
1318 :d3 would delete three files starting at the current file position
1320 moving down.
1321 :3d would delete one file at the third line in the list.
1323 :command [args]
1325 :[range]!program
1327 execute command via shell. Accepts macros.
1328 :[range]!command &
1330 same as above, but the command is run in the background using vifm's
1332 means.
1333 Programs that write to stderr create error dialogs showing errors of
1335 the command.
1336 Note the space before ampersand symbol, if you omit it, command will be
1338 run in the background using job control of your shell.
1339 Accepts macros.
1341 :!!
1343 :[range]!!command
1345 same as :!, but pauses before returning.
1346 :!! repeat the last command.
1348 :alink
1350 :[range]alink[!?]
1352 create absolute symbolic links to files in directory of inactive
1353 view. With "?" prompts for destination file names in an edi‐
1354 tor. "!" forces overwrite.
1355 :[range]alink[!] path
1357 create absolute symbolic links to files in directory specified
1358 by the path (absolute or relative to directory of inactive
1359 view).
1360 :[range]alink[!] name1 name2...
1362 create absolute symbolic links of files in directory of other
1363 view giving each next link a corresponding name from the argu‐
1364 ment list.
1365 :[range]alink[!?] -skip ...
1367 see "-skip parameter" section below.
1368 :apropos
1370 :apropos keyword...
1372 create a menu of items returned by the apropos command. Select‐
1373 ing an item in the menu opens corresponding man page. By de‐
1374 fault the command relies on the external "apropos" utility,
1375 which can be customized by altering value of the 'aproposprg'
1376 option. See "Menus and dialogs" section for controls.
1377 :autocmd
1379 :au[tocmd] {event} {pat} {cmd}
1381 register autocommand for the {event}, which can be:
1382 - DirEnter - triggered after directory is changed
1383 Event name is case insensitive.
1384 {pat} is a comma-separated list of modified globs patterns,
1386 which can contain tilde or environment variables. All paths use
1387 slash ('/') as directory separator. The pattern can start with
1388 a '!', which negates it. Patterns that do not contain slashes
1389 are matched against the last item of the path only (e.g. "dir"
1390 in "/path/dir"). Literal comma can be entered by doubling it.
1391 Two modifications to globs matching are as follows:
1392 - * - never matches a slash (i.e., can signify single direc‐
1393 tory level)
1394 - ** - matches any character (i.e., can match path of arbi‐
1395 trary depth)
1396 {cmd} is a :command or several of them separated with '|'.
1398 Examples of patterns:
1400 - conf.d - matches conf.d directory anywhere
1401 - *.d - matches directories ending with ".d" anywhere
1402 - **.git - matches something.git, but not .git anywhere
1403 - **/.git/** - matches /path/.git/objects, but not /path/.git
1404 - **/.git/**/ - matches /path/.git/ only (because of trailing
1405 slash)
1406 - /etc/* - matches /etc/conf.d/, /etc/X11, but not
1407 /etc/X11/fs
1408 - /etc/**/*.d - matches /etc/conf.d, /etc/X11/conf.d, etc.
1409 - /etc/**/* - matches /etc/ itself and any file below it
1410 - /etc/**/** - matches /etc/ itself and any file below it
1411 :au[tocmd] [{event}] [{pat}]
1413 list those autocommands that match given event-pattern combina‐
1414 tion.
1415 {event} and {pat} can be omitted to list all autocommands. To
1416 list any autocommands for specific pattern one can use * place‐
1417 holder in place of {event}.
1418 :au[tocmd]! [{event}] [{pat}]
1420 remove autocommands that match given event-pattern combination.
1421 Syntax is the same as for listing above.
1422 :apropos
1424 repeat last :apropos command.
1425 :bmark
1427 :bmark tag1 [tag2 [tag3...]]
1429 bookmark current directory with specified tags.
1430 :bmark! path tag1 [tag2 [tag3...]]
1432 same as :bmark, but allows bookmarking specific path instead of
1433 current directory. This is for use in vifmrc and for bookmark‐
1434 ing files.
1435 Path can contain macros that expand to single path (%c, %C, %d,
1437 %D) or those that can expand to multiple paths, but contain only
1438 one (%f, %F, %rx). The latter is done for convenience on using
1439 the command interactively. Complex macros that include spaces
1440 (e.g. "%c:gs/ /_") should be escaped.
1441 :bmarks
1443 :bmarks
1445 display all bookmarks in a menu.
1446 :bmarks [tag1 [tag2...]]
1448 display menu of bookmarks that include all of the specified
1449 tags. See "Menus and dialogs" section for controls.
1450 :bmgo
1452 :bmgo [tag1 [tag2...]]
1454 when there are more than one match acts exactly like :bmarks,
1455 otherwise navigates to single match immediately (and fails if
1456 there is no match).
1457 :cabbrev
1459 :ca[bbrev]
1461 display menu of command-line mode abbreviations. See "Menus and
1462 dialogs" section for controls.
1463 :ca[bbrev] lhs-prefix
1465 display command-line mode abbreviations which left-hand side
1466 starts with specified prefix.
1467 :ca[bbrev] lhs rhs
1469 register new or overwrites existing abbreviation for command-
1470 line mode. rhs can contain spaces and any special sequences ac‐
1471 cepted in rhs of mappings (see "Mappings" section below). Ab‐
1472 breviations are expanded non-recursively.
1473 :cnoreabbrev
1475 :cnorea[bbrev]
1477 display menu of command-line mode abbreviations. See "Menus and
1478 dialogs" section for controls.
1479 :cnorea[bbrev] lhs-prefix
1481 display command-line mode abbreviations which left-hand side
1482 starts with specified prefix.
1483 :cnorea[bbrev] lhs rhs
1485 same as :cabbrev, but mappings in rhs are ignored during expan‐
1486 sion.
1487 :cd
1489 :cd or :cd ~ or :cd $HOME
1491 change to home directory.
1492 :cd - go to the last visited directory.
1494 :cd ~/dir
1496 change directory to ~/dir.
1497 :cd /curr/dir /other/dir
1499 change directory of the current pane to /curr/dir and directory
1500 of the other pane to /other/dir. Relative paths are assumed to
1501 be relative to directory of current view. Command won't fail if
1502 one of directories is invalid. All forms of the command accept
1503 macros.
1504 :cd! /dir
1506 same as :cd /dir /dir.
1507 :cds
1509 :cds[!] pattern string
1511 navigate to path obtained by substituting first match in current
1512 path. Arguments can include slashes, but starting first argu‐
1513 ment with a separator will activate below form of the command.
1514 Specifying "!" changes directory of both panes.
1515 Available flags:
1517 - i - ignore case (the 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' options are not
1519 used)
1520 - I - don't ignore case (the 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' options are
1522 not used)
1523 :cds[!]/pattern/string/[flags]
1525 same as above, but with :substitute-like syntax. Other punctua‐
1526 tion characters can be used as separators.
1527 :change
1529 :c[hange]
1531 show a dialog to alter properties of files.
1532 :chmod
1534 :[range]chmod
1536 display file attributes (permission on *nix and properties on
1537 Windows) change dialog.
1538 :[range]chmod[!] arg...
1540 only for *nix
1541 change permissions for files. See `man 1 chmod` for arg format.
1542 "!" means set permissions recursively.
1543 :chown
1545 :[range]chown
1547 only for *nix
1548 same as co key in normal mode.
1549 :[range]chown [user][:][group]
1551 only for *nix
1552 change owner and/or group of files. Operates on directories re‐
1553 cursively.
1554 :clone
1556 :[range]clone[!?]
1558 clones files in current directory. With "?" vifm will open vi
1559 to edit file names. "!" forces overwrite. Macros are expanded.
1560 :[range]clone[!] path
1562 clones files to directory specified with the path (absolute or
1563 relative to current directory). "!" forces overwrite. Macros
1564 are expanded.
1565 :[range]clone[!] name1 name2...
1567 clones files in current directory giving each next clone a cor‐
1568 responding name from the argument list. "!" forces overwrite.
1569 Macros are expanded.
1570 :colorscheme
1572 :colo[rscheme]?
1574 print current color scheme name on the status bar.
1575 :colo[rscheme]
1577 display a menu with a list of available color schemes. You can
1578 choose primary color scheme here. It is used for view if no di‐
1579 rectory specific colorscheme fits current path. It's also used
1580 to set border color (except view titles) and colors in menus and
1581 dialogs. See "Menus and dialogs" section for controls.
1582 :colo[rscheme] color_scheme_name
1584 change primary color scheme to color_scheme_name. In case of
1585 errors (e.g. some colors are not supported by terminal) either
1586 nothing is changed or color scheme is reset to builtin colors to
1587 ensure that TUI is left in a usable state.
1588 :colo[rscheme] color_scheme_name directory
1590 associate directory with the color scheme. The directory argu‐
1591 ment can be either absolute or relative path when :colorscheme
1592 command is executed from command line, but mandatory should be
1593 an absolute path when the command is executed in scripts loaded
1594 at startup (until vifm is completely loaded).
1595 :colo[rscheme] color_scheme_name color_scheme_name...
1597 loads the first color scheme in the order given that exists and
1598 is supported by the terminal. If none matches, current one re‐
1599 mains unchanged. For example:
1600 " use a separate color scheme for panes which are inside FUSE mounts
1602 execute 'colorscheme in-fuse' &fusehome
1603 :comclear
1605 :comc[lear]
1607 remove all user defined commands.
1608 :command
1610 :com[mand]
1612 display a menu of user commands. See "Menus and dialogs" sec‐
1613 tion for controls.
1614 :com[mand] prefix
1616 display user defined commands that start with the prefix.
1617 :com[mand] name action[ &]
1619 set or redefine a user command.
1620 Use :com[mand]! to overwrite a previously set command of the
1621 same name. Builtin commands can't be redefined.
1622 User commands must start with an upper or lower case letter.
1623 Command name can't contain special symbols except for a single
1624 trailing '?' or '!'. Numbers are allowed provided that they
1625 don't cause parsing ambiguity (no command name prefix that pre‐
1626 cedes a digit can match an existing command unless it has a
1627 digit in the same place), for example:
1628 " good
1629 :command mp3 command
1630 " good
1631 :command mp4 command
1632 :command mp3! command
1633 :command mp4? command
1634 " bad
1635 :command mp command
1636 :command mp44 command
1637 " good
1638 :command mp4c command
1639 User commands are run in a shell by default (see below for syn‐
1641 tax of other options). To run a command in the background you
1642 must mark it as a background command by adding " &" after the
1643 command's action (e.g., `:com rm rm %f &`).
1644 User commands of all kinds have macros expanded in them. See
1645 "Command macros" section for more information.
1646 :com[mand] name /pattern
1648 set search pattern.
1649 :com[mand] name =pattern
1651 set local filter value.
1652 :com[mand] name filter{:filter args}
1654 set file name filter (see :filter command description). For ex‐
1655 ample:
1656 " display only audio files
1658 :command onlyaudio filter/.+.\(mp3|wav|mp3|flac|ogg|m4a|wma|ape\)$/i
1659 " display everything except audio files
1660 :command noaudio filter!/.+.\(mp3|wav|mp3|flac|ogg|m4a|wma|ape\)$/i
1661 :com[mand] name :commands
1663 set kind of an alias for internal commands (like in a shell).
1664 Passes range given to alias to an aliased command, so running
1665 :%cp after
1666 :command cp :copy %a
1667 equals
1668 :%copy
1669 :compare
1671 :compare [byname | bysize | bycontents |
1673 listall | listunique | listdups |
1674 ofboth | ofone |
1675 groupids | grouppaths |
1676 skipempty | withicase | withrcase |
1677 showidentical | showdifferent | showuniqueleft | showuni‐
1678 queright]...
1679 compare files in one or two views according to the arguments.
1680 The default is "bycontents listall ofboth grouppaths showidenti‐
1681 cal showdifferent showuniqueleft showuniqueright". See "Compare
1682 views" section below for details. Diff structure is incompati‐
1683 ble with alternative representations, so values of 'lsview' and
1684 'millerview' options are ignored.
1685 :compare! (showidentical | showdifferent | showuniqueleft |
1687 showuniqueright)... this invocation form works only when
1688 compare view is active and results in redoing of the previous
1689 :compare with toggled state of the passed in options.
1690 :copen
1692 :cope[n]
1694 reopens the last visible menu that has navigation to files by
1695 default, if any.
1696 :copy
1698 :[range]co[py][!?][ &]
1700 copy files to directory of other view. With "?" prompts for
1701 destination file names in an editor. "!" forces overwrite.
1702 :[range]co[py][!] path[ &]
1704 copy files to directory specified with the path (absolute or
1705 relative to directory of other view). "!" forces overwrite.
1706 :[range]co[py][!] name1 name2...[ &]
1708 copy files to directory of other view giving each next file a
1709 corresponding name from the argument list. "!" forces over‐
1710 write.
1711 :[range]co[py][!?] -skip ...[ &]
1713 see "-skip parameter" section below.
1714 :cquit
1716 :cq[uit][!]
1718 same as :quit, but also aborts directory choosing via
1719 --choose-dir (empties output file) and returns non-zero exit
1720 code.
1721 :cunabbrev
1723 :cuna[bbrev] lhs
1725 unregister command-line mode abbreviation by its lhs.
1726 :cuna[bbrev] rhs
1728 unregister command-line mode abbreviation by its rhs, so that
1729 abbreviation could be removed even after expansion.
1730 :delbmarks
1732 :delbmarks
1734 remove bookmarks from current directory.
1735 :delbmarks tag1 [tag2 [tag3...]]
1737 remove set of bookmarks that include all of the specified tags.
1738 :delbmarks!
1740 remove all bookmarks.
1741 :delbmarks! path1 [path2 [path3...]]
1743 remove bookmarks of listed paths.
1744 :delcommand
1746 :delc[ommand] user_command
1748 remove user defined command named user_command.
1749 :delete
1751 :[range]d[elete][!][ &]
1753 delete selected file or files. "!" means complete removal
1754 (omitting trash).
1755 :[range]d[elete][!] [reg] [count][ &]
1757 delete selected or [count] files to the reg register. "!" means
1758 complete removal (omitting trash).
1759 :delmarks
1761 :delm[arks]!
1763 delete all marks.
1764 :delm[arks] marks ...
1766 delete specified marks, each argument is treated as a set of
1767 marks.
1768 :delsession
1770 :delsession
1772 delete specified session if it was stored previously. Deleting
1773 current session doesn't detach it.
1774 :display
1776 :di[splay]
1778 display menu with registers content.
1779 :di[splay] list ...
1781 display the contents of the numbered and named registers that
1782 are mentioned in list (for example "az to display "", "a and "z
1783 content).
1784 :dirs
1786 :dirs display directory stack in a menu. See "Menus and dialogs" sec‐
1788 tion for controls.
1789 :echo
1791 :ec[ho] [<expr>...]
1793 evaluate each argument as an expression and output them sepa‐
1794 rated with a space. See help on :let command for a definition
1795 of <expr>.
1796 :edit
1798 :[range]e[dit] [file...]
1800 open selected or passed file(s) in editor. Macros and environ‐
1801 ment variables are expanded.
1802 :else
1804 :el[se]
1806 execute commands until next matching :endif if all other condi‐
1807 tions didn't match. See also help on :if and :endif commands.
1808 :elseif
1810 :elsei[f] {expr1}
1812 execute commands until next matching :elseif, :else or :endif if
1813 conditions of previous :if and :elseif branches were evaluated
1814 to zero. See also help on :if and :endif commands.
1815 :empty
1817 :empty permanently remove files from all existing non-empty trash di‐
1819 rectories (see "Trash directory" section below). Trash directo‐
1820 ries which are specified via %r and/or %u also get deleted com‐
1821 pletely. Also remove all operations from undolist that have no
1822 sense after :empty and remove all records about files located
1823 inside directories from all registers. Removal is performed as
1824 background task with undetermined amount of work and can be
1825 checked via :jobs menu.
1826 :endif
1828 :en[dif]
1830 end conditional block. See also help on :if and :else commands.
1831 :execute
1833 :exe[cute] [<expr>...]
1835 evaluate each argument as an expression and join results sepa‐
1836 rated by a space to get a single string which is then executed
1837 as a command-line command. See help on :let command for a defi‐
1838 nition of <expr>.
1839 :exit
1841 :exi[t][!]
1843 same as :quit.
1844 :file
1846 :f[ile][ &]
1848 display menu of programs set for the file type of the current
1849 file. " &" forces running associated program in background.
1850 See "Menus and dialogs" section for controls.
1851 :f[ile] arg[ &]
1853 run associated command that begins with the arg skipping opening
1854 menu. " &" forces running associated program in background.
1855 :filetype
1857 :filet[ype] pattern-list [{descr}]def_prog[ &],[{descr}]prog2[ &],...
1859 associate given program list to each of the patterns. Associ‐
1860 ated program (command) is used by handlers of l and Enter keys
1861 (and also in the :file menu). If you need to insert comma into
1862 command just double it (",,"). Space followed by an ampersand
1863 as two last characters of a command means running of the command
1864 in the background. Optional description can be given to each
1865 command to ease understanding of what command will do in the
1866 :file menu. Vifm will try the rest of the programs for an asso‐
1867 ciation when the default isn't found. When program entry
1868 doesn't contain any of vifm macros, name of current file is ap‐
1869 pended as if program entry ended with %c macro on *nix and %"c
1870 on Windows. On Windows path to executables containing spaces
1871 can (and should be for correct work with such paths) be double
1872 quoted. See "Patterns" section below for pattern definition and
1873 "Selection" section for how selection is handled. See also "Au‐
1874 tomatic FUSE mounts" section below. Example for zip archives
1875 and several actions:
1876 filetype *.zip,*.jar,*.war,*.ear
1878 \ {Mount with fuse-zip}
1879 \ FUSE_MOUNT|fuse-zip %SOURCE_FILE %DESTINATION_DIR,
1880 \ {View contents}
1881 \ zip -sf %c | less,
1882 \ {Extract here}
1883 \ tar -xf %c,
1884 Note that on OS X when `open` is used to call an app, vifm is
1886 unable to check whether that app is actually available. So if
1887 automatic skipping of programs that aren't there is desirable,
1888 `open` should be replaced with an actual command.
1889 :filet[ype] filename
1891 list (in menu mode) currently registered patterns that match
1892 specified file name. Same as ":filextype filename".
1893 :filextype
1895 :filex[type] pattern-list [{ description }] def_program,program2,...
1897 same as :filetype, but this command is ignored if not running in
1898 X. In X :filextype is equal to :filetype. See "Patterns" sec‐
1899 tion below for pattern definition and "Selection" section for
1900 how selection is handled. See also "Automatic FUSE mounts" sec‐
1901 tion below.
1902 For example, consider the following settings (the order might
1904 seem strange, but it's for the demonstration purpose):
1905 filetype *.html,*.htm
1907 \ {View in lynx}
1908 \ lynx
1909 filextype *.html,*.htm
1910 \ {Open with dwb}
1911 \ dwb %f %i &,
1912 filetype *.html,*.htm
1913 \ {View in links}
1914 \ links
1915 filextype *.html,*.htm
1916 \ {Open with firefox}
1917 \ firefox %f &,
1918 \ {Open with uzbl}
1919 \ uzbl-browser %f %i &,
1920 If you're using vifm inside a terminal emulator that is running
1922 in graphical environment (when X is used on *nix; always on Win‐
1923 dows), vifm attempts to run application in this order:
1924 1. lynx
1926 2. dwb
1927 3. links
1928 4. firefox
1929 5. uzbl
1930 If there is no graphical environment (checked by presence of
1932 non-empty $DISPLAY or $WAYLAND_DISPLAY environment variable on
1933 *nix; never happens on Windows), the list will look like:
1934 1. lynx
1936 2. links
1937 Just as if all :filextype commands were not there.
1939 The purpose of such differentiation is to allow comfortable use
1941 of vifm with same settings in desktop environment/through remote
1942 connection (SSH)/in native console.
1943 Note that on OS X $DISPLAY isn't defined unless you define it,
1945 so :filextype should be used only if you set $DISPLAY in some
1946 way.
1947 :filext[ype] filename
1949 list (in menu mode) currently registered patterns that match
1950 specified file name. Same as ":filetype filename".
1951 :fileviewer
1953 :filev[iewer] pattern-list command1,command2,...
1955 register specified list of commands as viewers for each of the
1956 patterns. Viewer is a command which output is captured and dis‐
1957 played in one of the panes of vifm after pressing "e" or running
1958 :view command. When the command doesn't contain any of vifm
1959 macros, name of current file is appended as if command ended
1960 with %c macro. Comma escaping and missing commands processing
1961 rules as for :filetype apply to this command. See "Patterns"
1962 section below for pattern definition. Supports Lua handlers.
1963 Example for zip archives:
1965 fileviewer *.zip,*.jar,*.war,*.ear zip -sf %c, echo "No zip to preview:"
1967 :filev[iewer] filename
1969 list (in menu mode) currently registered patterns that match
1970 specified filename.
1971 :filter
1973 :filter[!] {pattern}
1975 filter files matching the pattern out of directory listings.
1976 '!' controls state of filter inversion after updating filter
1977 value (see also 'cpoptions' description). Filter is matched
1978 case sensitively on *nix and case insensitively on Windows. See
1979 "File Filters" and "Patterns" sections.
1980 Example:
1982 " filter all files ending in .o from the filelist.
1984 :filter /.o$/
1985 :filter[!] {empty-pattern}
1988 same as above, but use last search pattern as pattern value.
1989 Example:
1991 :filter //I
1993 :filter
1996 reset filter (set it to an empty string) and show all files.
1997 :filter!
1999 same as :invert.
2000 :filter?
2002 show information on local, name and auto filters.
2003 :find
2005 :[range]fin[d] pattern
2007 display results of find command in the menu. Searches among se‐
2008 lected files if any. Accepts macros. By default the command
2009 relies on the external "find" utility, which can be customized
2010 by altering value of the 'findprg' option.
2011 :[range]fin[d] -opt...
2013 same as :find above, but user defines all find arguments.
2014 Searches among selected files if any.
2015 :[range]fin[d] path -opt...
2017 same as :find above, but user defines all find arguments. Ig‐
2018 nores selection and range.
2019 :[range]fin[d]
2021 repeat last :find command.
2022 :finish
2024 :fini[sh]
2026 stop sourcing a script. Can only be used in a vifm script file.
2027 This is a quick way to skip the rest of the file.
2028 :goto
2030 :go[to]
2032 change directory if necessary and put specified path under the
2033 cursor. The path should be existing non-root path. Macros and
2034 environment variables are expanded.
2035 :grep
2037 :[range]gr[ep][!] pattern
2039 will show results of grep command in the menu. Add "!" to re‐
2040 quest inversion of search (look for lines that do not match pat‐
2041 tern). Searches among selected files if any and no range given.
2042 Ignores binary files by default. By default the command relies
2043 on the external "grep" utility, which can be customized by al‐
2044 tering value of the 'grepprg' option.
2045 :[range]gr[ep][!] -opt...
2047 same as :grep above, but user defines all grep arguments, which
2048 are not escaped. Searches among selected files if any.
2049 :[range]gr[ep][!]
2051 repeat last :grep command. "!" of this command inverts "!" in
2052 repeated command.
2053 :help
2055 :h[elp]
2057 show the help file.
2058 :h[elp] argument
2060 is the same as using ':h argument' in vim. Use vifm-<something>
2061 to get help on vifm (tab completion works). This form of the
2062 command doesn't work when 'vimhelp' option is off.
2063 :hideui
2065 :hideui
2067 hide interface to show previous commands' output.
2068 :highlight
2070 :hi[ghlight]
2072 display information about all highlight groups active at the mo‐
2073 ment.
2074 :hi[ghlight] clear
2076 reset all highlighting to builtin defaults and removed all file‐
2077 name-specific rules.
2078 :hi[ghlight] clear ( {pat1,pat2,...} | /regexp/ )
2080 remove specified rule.
2081 :hi[ghlight] ( group-name | {pat1,pat2,...} | /regexp/ )
2083 display information on given highlight group or file name pat‐
2084 tern of color scheme used in the active view.
2085 :hi[ghlight] ( group-name | {pat1,pat2,...} | /regexp/[iI] )
2087 cterm=style | ctermfg=color | ctermbg=color | gui=style | guifg=color |
2088 guibg=color
2089 set style (cterm, gui), foreground (ctermfg, guifg) and/or back‐
2090 ground (ctermbg, guibg) parameters of highlight group or file
2091 name pattern for color scheme used in the active view.
2092 All style values as well as color names are case insensitive.
2094 Available style values (some of them can be combined):
2096 - bold
2097 - underline
2098 - reverse or inverse
2099 - standout
2100 - italic (on unsupported systems becomes reverse)
2101 - combine - add attributes of current group to attributes of the par‐
2102 ent in group hierarchy (see below) instead of replacing them
2103 - none
2104 Available group-name values:
2106 - Win - color of all windows (views, dialogs, menus) and default color
2107 for their content (e.g. regular files in views)
2108 - AuxWin - color of auxiliary areas of windows
2109 - OtherWin - color of inactive pane
2110 - Border - color of vertical parts of the border
2111 - TabLine - tab line color (for 'tabscope' set to "global")
2112 - TabLineSel - color of the tip of selected tab (regardless of 'tab‐
2113 scope')
2114 - TopLine - top line color of the other pane
2115 - TopLineSel - top line color of the current pane
2116 - CmdLine - the command line/status bar color
2117 - ErrorMsg - color of error messages in the status bar
2118 - StatusLine - color of the line above the status bar
2119 - JobLine - color of job line that appears above the status line
2120 - WildMenu - color of the wild menu items
2121 - SuggestBox - color of key suggestion box
2122 - CurrLine - line at cursor position in active view
2123 - OtherLine - line at cursor position in inactive view
2124 - OddLine - color of every second entry line in a pane
2125 - LineNr - line number column of views
2126 - Selected - color of selected files
2127 - Directory - color of directories
2128 - Link - color of symbolic links in the views
2129 - BrokenLink - color of broken symbolic links
2130 - HardLink - color of regular files with more than one hard link
2131 - Socket - color of sockets
2132 - Device - color of block and character devices
2133 - Executable - color of executable files
2134 - Fifo - color of fifo pipes
2135 - CmpMismatch - color of mismatched files in side-by-side comparison
2136 by path
2137 - CmpUnmatched - comparison file entry that has no pair in the other
2138 pane
2139 - CmpBlank - entry placeholder in a compare view, paired with CmpUn‐
2140 matched
2141 - User1..User20 - 20 colors which can be used via %* 'statusline'
2142 macro
2143 Available colors:
2145 - -1 or default or none - default or transparent
2146 - black and lightblack
2147 - red and lightred
2148 - green and lightgreen
2149 - yellow and lightyellow
2150 - blue and lightblue
2151 - magenta and lightmagenta
2152 - cyan and lightcyan
2153 - white and lightwhite
2154 - 0-255 - corresponding colors from 256-color palette (for ctermfg and
2155 ctermbg)
2156 - #rrggbb - direct ("gui", "true", 24-bit) color in hex-notation, each
2157 of the three compontents are in the range 0x00 to 0xff (for guifg and
2158 guibg)
2159 Light versions of colors are regular colors with bold attribute set au‐
2161 tomatically in terminals that have less than 16 colors. So order of
2162 arguments of :highlight command is important and it's better to put
2163 "cterm" in front of others to prevent it from overwriting attributes
2164 set by "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" arguments.
2165 For convenience of color scheme authors xterm-like names for 256 color
2167 palette is also supported. The mapping is taken from
2168 http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Xterm256_color_names_for_console_Vim
2169 Duplicated entries were altered by adding an underscore followed by nu‐
2170 merical suffix.
2171 0 Black 86 Aquamarine1 172 Orange3
2173 1 Red 87 DarkSlateGray2 173 LightSalmon3_2
2174 2 Green 88 DarkRed_2 174 LightPink3
2175 3 Yellow 89 DeepPink4_2 175 Pink3
2176 4 Blue 90 DarkMagenta 176 Plum3
2177 5 Magenta 91 DarkMagenta_2 177 Violet
2178 6 Cyan 92 DarkViolet 178 Gold3_2
2179 7 White 93 Purple 179 LightGoldenrod3
2180 8 LightBlack 94 Orange4_2 180 Tan
2181 9 LightRed 95 LightPink4 181 MistyRose3
2182 10 LightGreen 96 Plum4 182 Thistle3
2183 11 LightYellow 97 MediumPurple3 183 Plum2
2184 12 LightBlue 98 MediumPurple3_2 184 Yellow3_2
2185 13 LightMagenta 99 SlateBlue1 185 Khaki3
2186 14 LightCyan 100 Yellow4 186 LightGoldenrod2
2187 15 LightWhite 101 Wheat4 187 LightYellow3
2188 16 Grey0 102 Grey53 188 Grey84
2189 17 NavyBlue 103 LightSlateGrey 189 LightSteelBlue1
2190 18 DarkBlue 104 MediumPurple 190 Yellow2
2191 19 Blue3 105 LightSlateBlue 191 DarkOliveGreen1
2192 20 Blue3_2 106 Yellow4_2 192 DarkOliveG‐
2193 reen1_2
2194 21 Blue1 107 DarkOliveGreen3 193 DarkSeaGreen1_2
2195 22 DarkGreen 108 DarkSeaGreen 194 Honeydew2
2196 23 DeepSkyBlue4 109 LightSkyBlue3 195 LightCyan1
2197 24 DeepSkyBlue4_2 110 LightSkyBlue3_2 196 Red1
2198 25 DeepSkyBlue4_3 111 SkyBlue2 197 DeepPink2
2199 26 DodgerBlue3 112 Chartreuse2_2 198 DeepPink1
2200 27 DodgerBlue2 113 DarkOliveGreen3_2 199 DeepPink1_2
2201 28 Green4 114 PaleGreen3_2 200 Magenta2_2
2202 29 SpringGreen4 115 DarkSeaGreen3 201 Magenta1
2203 30 Turquoise4 116 DarkSlateGray3 202 OrangeRed1
2204 31 DeepSkyBlue3 117 SkyBlue1 203 IndianRed1
2205 32 DeepSkyBlue3_2 118 Chartreuse1 204 IndianRed1_2
2206 33 DodgerBlue1 119 LightGreen_2 205 HotPink
2207 34 Green3 120 LightGreen_3 206 HotPink_2
2208 35 SpringGreen3 121 PaleGreen1 207 MediumOrchid1_2
2209 36 DarkCyan 122 Aquamarine1_2 208 DarkOrange
2210 37 LightSeaGreen 123 DarkSlateGray1 209 Salmon1
2211 38 DeepSkyBlue2 124 Red3 210 LightCoral
2212 39 DeepSkyBlue1 125 DeepPink4_3 211 PaleVioletRed1
2213 40 Green3_2 126 MediumVioletRed 212 Orchid2
2214 41 SpringGreen3_2 127 Magenta3 213 Orchid1
2215 42 SpringGreen2 128 DarkViolet_2 214 Orange1
2216 43 Cyan3 129 Purple_2 215 SandyBrown
2217 44 DarkTurquoise 130 DarkOrange3 216 LightSalmon1
2218 45 Turquoise2 131 IndianRed 217 LightPink1
2219 46 Green1 132 HotPink3 218 Pink1
2220 47 SpringGreen2_2 133 MediumOrchid3 219 Plum1
2221 48 SpringGreen1 134 MediumOrchid 220 Gold1
2222 49 MediumSpringGreen 135 MediumPurple2 221 LightGolden‐
2223 rod2_2
2224 50 Cyan2 136 DarkGoldenrod 222 LightGolden‐
2225 rod2_3
2226 51 Cyan1 137 LightSalmon3 223 NavajoWhite1
2227 52 DarkRed 138 RosyBrown 224 MistyRose1
2228 53 DeepPink4 139 Grey63 225 Thistle1
2229 54 Purple4 140 MediumPurple2_2 226 Yellow1
2230 55 Purple4_2 141 MediumPurple1 227 LightGoldenrod1
2231 56 Purple3 142 Gold3 228 Khaki1
2232 57 BlueViolet 143 DarkKhaki 229 Wheat1
2233 58 Orange4 144 NavajoWhite3 230 Cornsilk1
2234 59 Grey37 145 Grey69 231 Grey100
2235 60 MediumPurple4 146 LightSteelBlue3 232 Grey3
2236 61 SlateBlue3 147 LightSteelBlue 233 Grey7
2237 62 SlateBlue3_2 148 Yellow3 234 Grey11
2238 63 RoyalBlue1 149 DarkOliveGreen3_3 235 Grey15
2239 64 Chartreuse4 150 DarkSeaGreen3_2 236 Grey19
2240 65 DarkSeaGreen4 151 DarkSeaGreen2 237 Grey23
2241 66 PaleTurquoise4 152 LightCyan3 238 Grey27
2242 67 SteelBlue 153 LightSkyBlue1 239 Grey30
2243 68 SteelBlue3 154 GreenYellow 240 Grey35
2244 69 CornflowerBlue 155 DarkOliveGreen2 241 Grey39
2245 70 Chartreuse3 156 PaleGreen1_2 242 Grey42
2246 71 DarkSeaGreen4_2 157 DarkSeaGreen2_2 243 Grey46
2247 72 CadetBlue 158 DarkSeaGreen1 244 Grey50
2248 73 CadetBlue_2 159 PaleTurquoise1 245 Grey54
2249 74 SkyBlue3 160 Red3_2 246 Grey58
2250 75 SteelBlue1 161 DeepPink3 247 Grey62
2251 76 Chartreuse3_2 162 DeepPink3_2 248 Grey66
2252 77 PaleGreen3 163 Magenta3_2 249 Grey70
2253 78 SeaGreen3 164 Magenta3_3 250 Grey74
2254 79 Aquamarine3 165 Magenta2 251 Grey78
2255 80 MediumTurquoise 166 DarkOrange3_2 252 Grey82
2256 81 SteelBlue1_2 167 IndianRed_2 253 Grey85
2257 82 Chartreuse2 168 HotPink3_2 254 Grey89
2258 83 SeaGreen2 169 HotPink2 255 Grey93
2259 84 SeaGreen1 170 Orchid
2260 85 SeaGreen1_2 171 MediumOrchid1
2261 There are two colors (foreground and background) and only one bold at‐
2263 tribute. Thus single bold attribute affects both colors when "reverse"
2264 attribute is used in vifm run inside terminal emulator. At the same
2265 time linux native console can handle boldness of foreground and back‐
2266 ground colors independently, but for consistency with terminal emula‐
2267 tors this is available only implicitly by using light versions of col‐
2268 ors. This behaviour might be changed in the future.
2269 Although vifm supports 256 colors in a sense they are supported by UI
2271 drawing library, whether you will be able to use all of them highly de‐
2272 pends on your terminal. To set up terminal properly, make sure that
2273 $TERM in the environment you run vifm is set to name of 256-color ter‐
2274 minal (on *nixes it can also be set via X resources), e.g.
2275 xterm-256color. One can find list of available terminal names by list‐
2276 ing /usr/lib/terminfo/. Number of colors supported by terminal with
2277 current settings can be checked via "tput colors" command.
2278 In order to use 24-bit colors one needs a terminal that supports them,
2280 corresponding terminfo record (probably ends in "-direct" like in
2281 "xterm-direct") and $TERM pointing to it. When vifm detects direct
2282 color support "cterm*" values are ignored for groups which have at
2283 least one of "gui*" values set, otherwise they are used after translat‐
2284 ing via a builtin palette.
2285 Here is the hierarchy of highlight groups, which you need to know for
2287 using transparency:
2288 JobLine
2289 SuggestBox
2290 StatusLine
2291 WildMenu
2292 User1..User20
2293 Border
2294 CmdLine
2295 ErrorMsg
2296 Win
2297 OtherWin
2298 AuxWin
2299 OddLine
2300 File name specific highlights
2301 Directory
2302 Link
2303 BrokenLink
2304 HardLink
2305 Socket
2306 Device
2307 Fifo
2308 Executable
2309 CmpMismatch
2310 CmpUnmatched
2311 CmpBlank
2312 Selected
2313 CurrLine
2314 LineNr (in active pane)
2315 OtherLine
2316 LineNr (in inactive pane)
2317 TopLine
2318 TopLineSel
2319 TabLineSel (for pane tabs)
2320 User1..User20
2321 TabLine
2322 TabLineSel
2323 User1..User20
2324 "none" means default terminal color for highlight groups at the first
2326 level of the hierarchy and transparency for all others.
2327 Here file name specific highlights mean those configured via globs ({})
2329 or regular expressions (//). At most one of them is applied per file
2330 entry, namely the first that matches file name, hence order of :high‐
2331 light commands might be important in certain cases.
2332 :history
2334 :his[tory]
2336 display a menu with list of visited directories. See "Menus and
2337 dialogs" section for controls.
2338 :his[tory] x
2340 x can be:
2341 d[ir] or . show directory history.
2342 c[md] or : show command line history.
2343 s[earch] or / show search history and search forward on l
2344 key.
2345 f[search] or / show search history and search forward on l
2346 key.
2347 b[search] or ? show search history and search backward on l
2348 key.
2349 i[nput] or @ show prompt history (e.g. on one file renam‐
2350 ing).
2351 fi[lter] or = show local filter history (see description of
2352 the "=" normal mode command).
2353 e[xprreg] show expression register history (see descrip‐
2354 tion of Ctrl+R = in command-line mode).
2355 See "Menus and dialogs" section for controls.
2356 :histnext
2358 :histnext
2360 same as <c-i>. The main use case for this command is to work
2361 around the common pain point of <tab> and <c-i> being the same
2362 ASCII character: one could alter the terminal emulator settings
2363 to emit, for example, the `F1` keycode when Ctrl-I is pressed,
2364 then `:noremap <f1> :histnext<cr>` in vifm, add "t" flag to the
2365 'cpoptions', and thus have both <c-i> and <tab> working as ex‐
2366 pected.
2367 :histprev
2369 :histprev
2371 same as <c-o>.
2372 :if
2374 :if {expr1}
2376 start conditional block. Commands are executed until next
2377 matching :elseif, :else or :endif command if {expr1} evaluates
2378 to non-zero, otherwise they are ignored. See also help on :else
2379 and :endif commands.
2380 Example:
2382 if $TERM == 'screen.linux'
2384 highlight CurrLine ctermfg=lightwhite ctermbg=lightblack
2385 elseif $TERM == 'tmux'
2386 highlight CurrLine cterm=reverse ctermfg=black ctermbg=white
2387 else
2388 highlight CurrLine cterm=bold,reverse ctermfg=black ctermbg=white
2389 endif
2390 :invert
2392 :invert [f]
2394 invert file name filter.
2395 :invert? [f]
2397 show current filter state.
2398 :invert s
2400 invert selection.
2401 :invert o
2403 invert sorting order of the primary sorting key.
2404 :invert? o
2406 show sorting order of the primary sorting key.
2407 :jobs
2409 :jobs display menu of current backgrounded processes. See "Menus and
2411 dialogs" section for controls.
2412 :keepsel
2414 :keepsel [command...]
2416 preserve selection during some :command by default. Note that
2417 this doesn't save and restore selection to preserve it no matter
2418 what, but precludes its clearing at the end of a command and
2419 thus won't help if selection is cleared explicitly during opera‐
2420 tion.
2421 Example:
2423 :keepsel view
2425 :let
2427 :let $ENV_VAR = <expr>
2429 set an environment variable. Warning: setting environment vari‐
2430 able to an empty string on Windows removes it.
2431 :let $ENV_VAR .= <expr>
2433 append value to environment variable.
2434 :let &[l:|g:]opt = <expr>
2436 sets option value.
2437 :let &[l:|g:]opt .= <expr>
2439 append value to string option.
2440 :let &[l:|g:]opt += <expr>
2442 increasing option value, adding sub-values.
2443 :let &[l:|g:]opt -= <expr>
2445 decreasing option value, removing sub-values.
2446 Where <expr> could be a single-quoted string, double-quoted string, an
2448 environment variable, function call or a concatanation of any of them
2449 in any order using the '.' operator. Any whitespace is ignored.
2450 :locate
2452 :locate filename
2454 use "locate" command to create a menu of filenames. Selecting a
2455 file from the menu will reload the current file list in vifm to
2456 show the selected file. By default the command relies on the
2457 external "locate" utility (it's assumed that its database is al‐
2458 ready built), which can be customized by altering value of the
2459 'locateprg' option. See "Menus and dialogs" section for con‐
2460 trols.
2461 :locate
2463 repeat last :locate command.
2464 :ls
2466 :ls lists windows of active terminal multiplexer (only when terminal
2468 multiplexer is used). This is achieved by issuing proper com‐
2469 mand for active terminal multiplexer, thus the list is not han‐
2470 dled by vifm.
2471 :lstrash
2473 :lstrash
2475 display a menu with list of files in trash. Each element of the
2476 list is original path of a deleted file, thus the list can con‐
2477 tain duplicates. See "Menus and dialogs" section for controls.
2478 :mark
2480 :[range]ma[rk][?] x [/full/path] [filename]
2482 Set mark x (a-zA-Z0-9) at /full/path and filename. By default
2483 current directory is being used. If no filename was given and
2484 /full/path is current directory then last file in [range] is
2485 used. Using of macros is allowed. Question mark will stop com‐
2486 mand from overwriting existing marks.
2487 :marks
2489 :marks create a pop-up menu of marks. See "Menus and dialogs" section
2491 for controls.
2492 :marks list ...
2494 display the contents of the marks that are mentioned in list.
2495 :media
2497 :media only for *nix
2499 display media management menu. See "Menus and dialogs" section
2500 for controls. See also 'mediaprg' option.
2501 :messages
2503 :mes[sages]
2505 shows previously given messages (up to 50).
2506 :mkdir
2508 :[line]mkdir[!] dir ...
2510 create directories at specified paths. The [line] can be used
2511 to pick node in a tree-view. "!" means make parent directories
2512 as needed. Macros are expanded.
2513 :move
2515 :[range]m[ove][!?][ &]
2517 move files to directory of other view. With "?" prompts for
2518 destination file names in an editor. "!" forces overwrite.
2519 :[range]m[ove][!] path[ &]
2521 move files to directory specified with the path (absolute or
2522 relative to directory of other view). "!" forces overwrite.
2523 :[range]m[ove][!] name1 name2...[ &]
2525 move files to directory of other view giving each next file a
2526 corresponding name from the argument list. "!" forces over‐
2527 write.
2528 :[range]m[ove][!?] -skip ...[ &]
2530 see "-skip parameter" section below.
2531 :nohlsearch
2533 :noh[lsearch]
2535 clear selection in current pane.
2536 :normal
2538 :norm[al][!] commands
2540 execute normal mode commands. If "!" is used, user defined map‐
2541 pings are ignored. Unfinished last command is aborted as if
2542 <esc> or <c-c> was typed. A ":" should be completed as well.
2543 Commands can't start with a space, so put a count of 1 (one) be‐
2544 fore it.
2545 :only
2547 :on[ly]
2549 switch to a one window view.
2550 :plugin
2552 :plugin load
2554 loads all plugins. To be used in configuration file to manually
2555 load plugins at an earlier point. The plugins can be loaded
2556 only once, additional calls will do nothing.
2557 :plugin blacklist {plugin}
2560 adds {plugin} to the list of plugins to be ignored.
2561 :plugin whitelist {plugin}
2563 adds {plugin} to the list of plugins to be loaded while ignoring
2564 all other plugins. This list should normally be empty.
2565 :plugins
2567 :plugins
2569 open plugins menu. See "Menus and dialogs" section for con‐
2570 trols.
2571 :popd
2573 :popd remove pane directories from stack.
2575 :pushd
2577 :pushd[!] /curr/dir [/other/dir]
2579 add pane directories to stack and process arguments like :cd
2580 command.
2581 :pushd exchange the top two items of the directory stack.
2583 :put
2585 :[line]pu[t][!] [reg] [ &]
2587 put files from specified register (" by default) into current
2588 directory. The [line] can be used to pick node in a tree-view.
2589 "!" moves files "!" moves files from their original location in‐
2590 stead of copying them. During this operation no confirmation
2591 dialogs will be shown, all checks are performed beforehand.
2592 :pwd
2594 :pw[d] show the present working directory.
2596 :qall
2598 :qa[ll][!]
2600 exit vifm (add ! to skip saving changes and checking for active
2601 backgrounded commands).
2602 :quit
2604 :q[uit][!]
2606 if there is more than one tab, close the current one, otherwise
2607 exit vifm (add ! to skip saving state and checking for active
2608 backgrounded commands).
2609 :redraw
2611 :redr[aw]
2613 redraw the screen immediately.
2614 :regedit
2616 :rege[dit] [{reg}]
2618 edit register contents using external editor. If {reg} is omit‐
2619 ted, unnamed register will be edited by default. Edited paths
2620 are normalized (no extra `.`, `..`, `/`, etc.) and all relative
2621 paths are treated as starting in the directory of the current
2622 view.
2623 :registers
2625 :reg[isters]
2627 display menu with registers content.
2628 :reg[isters] list ...
2630 display the contents of the numbered and named registers that
2631 are mentioned in list (for example "az to display "", "a and "z
2632 content).
2633 :regular
2635 :regular
2637 switch to regular view leaving custom view.
2639 :rename
2640 :[range]rename[!]
2642 rename files by editing their names in an editor. "!" renames
2643 files recursively in subdirectories. See "External Renaming"
2644 section.
2645 :[range]rename name1 name2...
2647 rename each of selected files to a corresponding name.
2648 :restart
2650 :restart
2652 free a lot of things (histories, commands, etc.), reread
2653 vifminfo, vifmrc and session files and run startup commands
2654 passed in the argument list, thus losing all unsaved changes
2655 (e.g. recent history or keys mapped after starting this in‐
2656 stance). Session that wasn't yet stored gets reset.
2657 While many things get reset, some basic UI state and current lo‐
2659 cations are preserved, including tabs.
2660 :restart full
2662 variation of :restart that makes no attempt to preserve any‐
2663 thing.
2664 :restore
2666 :[range]restore
2668 restore file from trash directory, doesn't work outside one of
2669 trash directories. See "Trash directory" section below.
2670 :rlink
2672 :[range]rlink[!?]
2674 create relative symbolic links to files in directory of other
2675 view. With "?" prompts for destination file names in an editor.
2676 "!" forces overwrite.
2677 :[range]rlink[!] path
2679 create relative symbolic links of files in directory specified
2680 with the path (absolute or relative to directory of other view).
2681 "!" forces overwrite.
2682 :[range]rlink[!] name1 name2...
2684 create relative symbolic links of files in directory of other
2685 view giving each next link a corresponding name from the argu‐
2686 ment list. "!" forces overwrite.
2687 :[range]rlink[!?] -skip ...[ &]
2689 see "-skip parameter" section below.
2690 :screen
2692 :screen
2694 toggle whether to use the terminal multiplexer or not.
2695 A terminal multiplexer uses pseudo terminals to allow multiple
2696 windows to be used in the console or in a single xterm. Start‐
2697 ing vifm from terminal multiplexer with appropriate support
2698 turned on will cause vifm to open a new terminal multiplexer
2699 window for each new file edited or program launched from vifm.
2700 This requires screen version 3.9.9 or newer for the screen -X
2701 argument or tmux (1.8 version or newer is recommended).
2702 :screen!
2704 enable integration with terminal multiplexers.
2705 :screen?
2707 display whether integration with terminal multiplexers is en‐
2708 abled.
2709 Note: the command is called screen for historical reasons (when tmux
2711 wasn't yet supported) and might be changed in future releases, or get
2712 an alias.
2713 :select
2715 :[range]select
2717 select files in the given range (current file if no range is
2718 given).
2719 :select {pattern}
2721 select files that match specified pattern. Possible {pattern}
2722 forms are described in "Patterns" section below. Trailing slash
2723 for directories is taken into account, so `:select! */ | invert
2724 s` selects only files.
2725 :select //[iI]
2727 same as item above, but reuses last search pattern.
2728 :select !{external command}
2730 select files from the list supplied by external command. Files
2731 are matched by full paths, relative paths are converted to abso‐
2732 lute ones beforehand.
2733 :[range]select! [{pattern}]
2735 same as above, but resets previously selected items before pro‐
2736 ceeding.
2737 :session
2739 :session?
2741 print name of the current session.
2742 :session
2744 detach current session without saving it. Resets v:session.
2745 :session name
2747 create or load and switch to a session with the specified name.
2748 Name can't contain slashes. Session active at the moment is
2749 saved before the switch. Session is also automatically saved
2750 when quiting the application in usual ways. Sets v:session.
2751 :session -
2753 switch to a previous session if it still exists (wasn't removed
2754 or detached from without saving).
2755 :set
2757 :se[t] display all options that differ from their default value.
2759 :se[t] all
2761 display all options.
2762 :se[t] opt1=val1 opt2='val2' opt3="val3" ...
2764 sets given options. For local options both values are set.
2765 You can use following syntax:
2766 - for all options - option, option? and option&
2767 - for boolean options - nooption, invoption and option!
2768 - for integer options - option=x, option+=x and option-=x
2769 - for string options - option=x and option+=x
2770 - for string list options - option=x, option+=x, option-=x and
2771 option^=x
2772 - for enumeration options - option=x, option+=x and option-=x
2773 - for set options - option=x, option+=x, option-=x and op‐
2774 tion^=x
2775 - for charset options - option=x, option+=x, option-=x and op‐
2776 tion^=x
2777 the meaning:
2779 - option - turn option on (for boolean) or print its value (for
2780 all others)
2781 - nooption - turn option off
2782 - invoption - invert option state
2783 - option! - invert option state
2784 - option? - print option value
2785 - option& - reset option to its default value
2786 - option=x or option:x - set option to x
2787 - option+=x - add/append x to option
2788 - option-=x - remove (or subtract) x from option
2789 - option^=x - toggle x presence among values of the option
2790 Option name can be prepended and appended by any number of
2792 whitespace characters.
2793 :setglobal
2795 :setg[lobal]
2797 display all global options that differ from their default value.
2798 :setg[lobal] all
2800 display all global options.
2801 :setg[lobal] opt1=val1 opt2='val2' opt3="val3" ...
2803 same as :set, but changes/prints only global options or global
2804 values of local options. Changes to the latter might be not
2805 visible until directory is changed.
2806 :setlocal
2808 :setl[ocal]
2810 display all local options that differ from their default value.
2811 :setl[ocal] all
2813 display all local options.
2814 :setl[ocal] opt1=val1 opt2='val2' opt3="val3" ...
2816 same as :set, but changes/prints only local values of local op‐
2817 tions.
2818 :shell
2820 :sh[ell][!]
2822 start a shell in current directory. "!" suppresses spawning
2823 dedicated window of terminal multiplexer for a shell. To make
2824 vifm adaptive to environment it uses $SHELL if it's defined,
2825 otherwise 'shell' value is used.
2826 :siblnext
2829 :[count]siblnext[!]
2831 change directory to [count]th next sibling directory after cur‐
2833 rent path using value of global sort option of current pane.
2834 "!" enables wrapping.
2835 For example, say, you're at /boot and root listing starts like
2837 this:
2838 bin/
2840 boot/
2841 dev/
2842 ...
2843 Issuing :siblnext will navigate to /dev.
2845 :siblprev
2848 :[count]siblprev[!]
2850 same as :siblnext, but in the opposite direction.
2851 :sort
2853 :sor[t]
2855 display dialog with different sorting methods, where one can se‐
2856 lect the primary sorting key. When 'viewcolumns' options is
2857 empty and 'lsview' is off, changing primary sorting key will
2858 also affect view look (in particular the second column of the
2859 view will be changed). See "Menus and dialogs" section for con‐
2860 trols.
2861 :source
2863 :so[urce] file
2865 read command-line commands from the file.
2866 :split
2868 :sp[lit]
2870 switch to a two window horizontal view.
2871 :sp[lit]!
2873 toggle horizontal window splitting.
2874 :sp[lit] path
2876 splits the window horizontally to show both file directories.
2877 Also changes other pane to path (absolute or relative to current
2878 directory of active pane).
2879 :stop
2881 :st[op]
2883 suspend vifm (same as pressing Ctrl-Z). Does nothing if this
2884 instance isn't running in a shell. The command exists to allow
2885 mapping to the action of Ctrl-Z.
2886 :substitute
2888 :[range]s[ubstitute]/pattern/string/[flags]
2890 for each file in range replace a match of pattern with string.
2891 String can contain \0...\9 to link to capture groups (\0 - all match,
2893 \1 - first group, etc.).
2894 Pattern is stored in search history.
2896 Available flags:
2898 - i - ignore case (the 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' options are not
2900 used)
2901 - I - don't ignore case (the 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' options are
2903 not used)
2904 - g - substitute all matches in each file name (each g toggles this)
2906 :[range]s[ubstitute]/pattern
2908 substitute pattern with an empty string.
2909 :[range]s[ubstitute]//string/[flags]
2911 use last pattern from search history.
2912 :[range]s[ubstitute]
2914 repeat previous substitution command.
2915 :sync
2917 :sync [relative path]
2919 change the other pane to the current pane directory or to some
2920 path relative to the current directory. Using macros is al‐
2921 lowed.
2922 :sync! change the other pane to the current pane directory and synchro‐
2924 nize cursor position. If current pane displays custom list of
2925 files, position before entering it is used (current one might
2926 not make any sense).
2927 :sync! [location | cursorpos | localopts | filters | filelist | tree |
2930 all]...
2931 change enumerated properties of the other pane to match corre‐
2932 sponding properties of the current pane. Arguments have the
2933 following meanings:
2934 - location - current directory of the pane;
2936 - cursorpos - cursor position (doesn't make sense without "lo‐
2938 cation");
2939 - localopts - all local options;
2941 - filters - all filters;
2943 - filelist - list of files for custom view (implies "loca‐
2945 tion");
2946 - tree - tree structure for tree view (implies "location");
2948 - all - all of the above.
2950 :tabclose
2952 :tabc[lose]
2954 close current tab, unless it's the only one open at current
2955 scope.
2956 :tabmove
2958 :tabm[ove] [N]
2960 without the argument or with `$` as the argument, current tab
2961 becomes the last tab. With the argument, current tab is moved
2962 after the tab with the specified number. Argument of `0` moves
2963 current tab to the first position.
2964 :tabname
2966 :tabname [name]
2968 set, update or reset (when no argument is provided) name of the
2969 current tab.
2970 :tabnew
2972 :tabnew [path]
2974 create new tab. Accepts optional path for the new tab. Macros
2975 and environment variables are expanded.
2976 :tabnext
2978 :tabn[ext]
2980 switch to the next tab (wrapping around).
2981 :tabn[ext] {n}
2983 go to the tab number {n}. Tab numeration starts with 1.
2984 :tabonly
2986 :tabo[nly]
2988 close all tabs but the current one. Closes pane tabs only at
2989 the active side.
2990 :tabprevious
2992 :tabp[revious]
2994 switch to the previous tab (wrapping around).
2995 :tabp[revious] {n}
2997 go to the {n}-th previous tab. Note that :tabnext handles its
2998 argument differently.
2999 :touch
3001 :[line]touch file...
3003 create files at specified paths. Aborts on errors. Doesn't up‐
3004 date time of existing files. The [line] can be used to pick
3005 node in a tree-view. Macros are expanded.
3006 :tr
3008 :[range]tr/pattern/string/
3010 for each file in range transliterate the characters which appear
3011 in pattern to the corresponding character in string. When
3012 string is shorter than pattern, it's padded with its last char‐
3013 acter.
3014 :trashes
3016 :trashes
3018 lists all valid trash directories in a menu. Only non-empty and
3019 writable trash directories are shown. This is exactly the list
3020 of directories that are cleared when :empty command is executed.
3021 :trashes?
3023 same as :trashes, but also displays size of each trash direc‐
3024 tory.
3025 :tree
3027 :tree turn pane into tree view with current directory as its root.
3029 The tree view is implemented on top of a custom view, but is au‐
3030 tomatically kept in sync with file system state and considers
3031 all the filters. Thus the structure corresponds to what one
3032 would see on visiting the directories manually. As a special
3033 case for trees built out of custom view file-system tracking
3034 isn't performed.
3035 To leave tree view go up from its root or use gh at any level of
3037 the tree. Any command that changes directory will also do, in
3038 particular, `:cd ..`.
3039 Tree structure is incompatible with alternative representations,
3041 so values of 'lsview' and 'millerview' options are ignored.
3042 The "depth" argument specifies nesting level on which loading of
3044 subdirectories won't happen (they will be folded). Values start
3045 at 1.
3046 :tree! toggle current view in and out of tree mode.
3048 :undolist
3050 :undol[ist]
3052 display list of latest changes. Use "!" to see actual commands.
3053 See "Menus and dialogs" section for controls.
3054 :unlet
3056 :unl[et][!] $ENV_VAR1 $ENV_VAR2 ...
3058 remove environment variables. Add ! to omit displaying of warn‐
3059 ings about nonexistent variables.
3060 :unselect
3062 :[range]unselect
3064 unselect files in the given range (current file if no range is
3065 given).
3066 :unselect {pattern}
3068 unselect files that match specified pattern. Possible {pattern}
3069 forms are described in "Patterns" section below. Trailing slash
3070 for directories is taken into account, so `:unselect */` unse‐
3071 lects directories.
3072 :unselect !{external command}
3074 unselect files from the list supplied by external command.
3075 Files are matched by full paths, relative paths are converted to
3076 absolute ones beforehand.
3077 :unselect //[iI]
3079 same as item above, but reuses last search pattern.
3080 :version
3082 :ve[rsion]
3084 show menu with version information.
3085 :vifm
3087 :vifm same as :version.
3089 :view
3091 :vie[w]
3093 toggle on and off the quick file view (preview of file's con‐
3094 tents). See also 'quickview' option.
3095 :vie[w]!
3097 turn on quick file view if it's off.
3098 :volumes
3100 :volumes
3102 only for MS-Windows
3103 display menu with volume list. Hitting l (or Enter) key opens
3104 appropriate volume in the current pane. See "Menus and dialogs"
3105 section for controls.
3106 :vsplit
3108 :vs[plit]
3110 switch to a two window vertical view.
3111 :vs[plit]!
3113 toggle window vertical splitting.
3114 :vs[plit] path
3116 split the window vertically to show both file directories. And
3117 changes other pane to path (absolute or relative to current di‐
3118 rectory of active pane).
3119 :wincmd
3121 :[count]winc[md] {arg}
3123 same as running Ctrl-W [count] {arg}.
3124 :windo
3126 :windo [command...]
3128 execute command for each pane (same as :winrun % command).
3129 :winrun
3131 :winrun type [command...]
3133 execute command for pane(s), which is determined by type argu‐
3134 ment:
3135 - ^ - top-left pane
3136 - $ - bottom-right pane
3137 - % - all panes
3138 - . - current pane
3139 - , - other pane
3140 :write
3142 :w[rite]
3144 write current state to vifminfo and session files (if a session
3145 is active).
3146 :wq
3148 :wq[!] same as :quit, but ! disables only the check of backgrounded
3150 commands, while state of the application is always written.
3151 :wqall
3152 :wqa[ll][!]
3154 same as :qall, but ! disables only the check of backgrounded
3155 commands, while state of the application is always written.
3156 :xall
3158 :xa[ll][!]
3160 same as :qall.
3161 :xit
3163 :x[it][!]
3165 same as :quit.
3166 :yank
3168 :[range]y[ank] [reg] [count]
3170 will yank files to the reg register.
3171 :map lhs rhs
3173 :map lhs rhs
3175 map lhs key sequence to rhs in normal and visual modes.
3176 :map! lhs rhs
3178 map lhs key sequence to rhs in command line mode.
3179 :amap :cmap :dmap :mmap :nmap :qmap
3182 :vmap
3183 :amap lhs rhs
3185 map lhs to rhs in navigation mode.
3186 :cm[ap] lhs rhs
3188 map lhs to rhs in command line mode.
3189 :dm[ap] lhs rhs
3191 map lhs to rhs in dialog modes.
3192 :mm[ap] lhs rhs
3194 map lhs to rhs in menu mode.
3195 :nm[ap] lhs rhs
3197 map lhs to rhs in normal mode.
3198 :qm[ap] lhs rhs
3200 map lhs to rhs in view mode.
3201 :vm[ap] lhs rhs
3203 map lhs to rhs in visual mode.
3204 :*map
3207 :amap list all maps in navigation mode.
3209 :cm[ap]
3211 list all maps in command line mode.
3212 :dm[ap]
3214 list all maps in dialog modes.
3215 :mm[ap]
3217 list all maps in menu mode.
3218 :nm[ap]
3220 list all maps in normal mode.
3221 :qm[ap]
3223 list all maps in view mode.
3224 :vm[ap]
3226 list all maps in visual mode.
3227 :*map beginning
3229 :amap beginning
3231 list all maps in navigation mode that start with the beginning.
3232 :cm[ap] beginning
3234 list all maps in command line mode that start with the begin‐
3235 ning.
3236 :dm[ap] beginning
3238 list all maps in dialog modes that start with the beginning.
3239 :mm[ap] beginning
3241 list all maps in menu mode that start with the beginning.
3242 :nm[ap] beginning
3244 list all maps in normal mode that start with the beginning.
3245 :qm[ap] beginning
3247 list all maps in view mode that start with the beginning.
3248 :vm[ap] beginning
3250 list all maps in visual mode that start with the beginning.
3251 :noremap
3253 :no[remap] lhs rhs
3255 map the key sequence lhs to rhs for normal and visual modes, but
3256 don't expand user mappings in rhs.
3257 :no[remap]! lhs rhs
3259 map the key sequence lhs to rhs for command line mode, but don't
3260 expand user mappings in rhs.
3261 :anoremap :cnoremap :dnoremap :mnoremap :nnoremap :qnoremap
3263 :vnoremap
3264 :anoremap lhs rhs
3266 map the key sequence lhs to rhs for navigation mode, but don't
3267 expand user mappings in rhs.
3268 :cno[remap] lhs rhs
3270 map the key sequence lhs to rhs for command line mode, but don't
3271 expand user mappings in rhs.
3272 :dn[oremap] lhs rhs
3274 map the key sequence lhs to rhs for dialog modes, but don't ex‐
3275 pand user mappings in rhs.
3276 :mn[oremap] lhs rhs
3278 map the key sequence lhs to rhs for menu mode, but don't expand
3279 user mappings in rhs.
3280 :nn[oremap] lhs rhs
3282 map the key sequence lhs to rhs for normal mode, but don't ex‐
3283 pand user mappings in rhs.
3284 :qn[oremap] lhs rhs
3286 map the key sequence lhs to rhs for view mode, but don't expand
3287 user mappings in rhs.
3288 :vn[oremap] lhs rhs
3290 map the key sequence lhs to rhs for visual mode, but don't ex‐
3291 pand user mappings in rhs.
3292 :unmap
3294 :unm[ap] lhs
3296 remove user mapping of lhs from normal and visual modes.
3297 :unm[ap]! lhs
3299 remove user mapping of lhs from command line mode.
3300 :aunmap :cunmap :dunmap :munmap :nunmap :qunmap
3302 :vunmap
3303 :aunmap lhs
3305 remove user mapping of lhs from navigation mode.
3306 :cu[nmap] lhs
3308 remove user mapping of lhs from command line mode.
3309 :du[nmap] lhs
3311 remove user mapping of lhs from dialog modes.
3312 :mu[nmap] lhs
3314 remove user mapping of lhs from menu mode.
3315 :nun[map] lhs
3317 remove user mapping of lhs from normal mode.
3318 :qun[map] lhs
3320 remove user mapping of lhs from view mode.
3321 :vu[nmap] lhs
3323 remove user mapping of lhs from visual mode.
3324
3326 The ranges implemented include:
3327 2,3 - from second to third file in the list (including it)
3328 % - the entire directory.
3329 . - the current position in the filelist.
3330 $ - the end of the filelist.
3331 't - the mark position t.
3332 Examples:
3334 :%delete
3336 would delete all files in the directory.
3338 :2,4delete
3340 would delete the files in the list positions 2 through 4.
3342 :.,$delete
3344 would delete the files from the current position to the end of the
3346 filelist.
3347 :3delete4
3349 would delete the files in the list positions 3, 4, 5, 6.
3351 If a backward range is given :4,2delete - an query message is given and
3353 user can chose what to do next.
3354 The builtin commands that accept a range are :d[elete] and :y[ank].
3356
3358 Some of the command-line commands accept parameters in the form of
3359 `-paramname`. Arguments of such commands can be split into two groups:
3360 parameters and positional arguments. Items from the two groups cannot
3361 be interleaved and parameters always come first. List of parameters is
3362 terminated implicitly by the first argument that doesn't start with a
3363 dash ("-") or explicitly via "--" separator (needs to be a separate ar‐
3364 gument), which is just discarded. These strict rules allow arbitrary
3365 positional arguments, such as file names that start with a dash.
3366 -skip parameter
3369 This parameter makes :copy, :move, :alink and :rlink automati‐
3370 cally skip source files that already exist at the destination
3371 rather than refusing to perform the operation.
3372
3374 The command macros may be used in user commands.
3375 %a User arguments. When user arguments contain macros, they are
3377 expanded before preforming substitution of %a.
3378 %c %"c The current file under the cursor.
3380 %C %"C The current file under the cursor in the other directory.
3382 %f %"f All of the selected files or the current file, but see "Selec‐
3384 tion" section below.
3385 %F %"F Same as %f, %"f, but for the inactive pane.
3387 %l %"l List of selected files. Unlike %f from above, this is only for
3389 explicit selection (i.e., not via a range) and is empty if no
3390 files are selected.
3391 %L %"L Same as %l, %"l, but for the inactive pane.
3393 %b %"b Same as %f %F.
3395 %d %"d Full path to current directory.
3397 %D %"D Full path to other file list directory.
3399 %rx %"rx
3401 Full paths to files in the register {x}. In case of invalid
3402 symbol in place of {x}, it's processed with the rest of the line
3403 and default register is used.
3404 %m Show command output in a menu.
3406 %M Same as %m, but l (or Enter) key is handled like for :locate and
3408 :find commands.
3409 %u Process command output as list of paths and compose custom view
3411 out of it.
3412 %U Same as %u, but implies less list updates inside vifm, which is
3414 absence of sorting at the moment.
3415 %Iu Same as %u, but gives up terminal before running external com‐
3417 mand.
3418 %IU Same as %U, but gives up terminal before running external com‐
3420 mand.
3421 %S Show command output in the status bar.
3423 %q Redirect command output to quick view, which is activated if
3425 disabled.
3426 %s Execute command in horizontally split window of active terminal
3428 multiplexer (ignored if not running inside one).
3429 %v Same as %s, but splits vertically.
3431 %n Forbid use of terminal multiplexer to run the command.
3433 %N Do not detach viewer from terminal session (keeps `/dev/tty`
3435 available) or process group (keeps the command in the set of
3436 foreground clients of the terminal).
3437 %i Run in background and suppress error dialogs, but collect errors
3439 internally for viewing via :jobs menu.
3440 %Pl Pipe list of files to standard input of a command.
3442 %Pz Same as %Pl, but separates paths by null ('\0') character.
3444 %pc Marks the end of the main command and the beginning of the clear
3446 command for graphical preview, which is invoked on closing pre‐
3447 view of a file.
3448 %pd Marks a preview command as one that directly communicates with
3450 the terminal. Beware that this is for things like sixel which
3451 are self-contained sequences that depend only on current cursor
3452 position, using this with anything else is likely to mangle ter‐
3453 minal state.
3454 %pu Uncached preview. Intended to be used for commands that just
3456 send file path somewhere for preview.
3457 The following dimensions and coordinates are in characters:
3459 %px x coordinate of top-left corner of preview area.
3461 %py y coordinate of top-left corner of preview area.
3463 %pw width of preview area.
3465 %ph height of preview area.
3467 Use %% if you need to put a percent sign in your command.
3470 Note that %i, %Iu, %IU, %m, %M, %n, %q, %s, %S, %u, %U and %v macros
3472 are mutually exclusive. Only the last one of them on the command will
3473 take effect.
3474 Note that %Pl and %Pz are mutually exclusive. Only the last one of
3476 them on the command will take effect.
3477 You can use file name modifiers after %c, %C, %f, %F, %b, %d and %D
3479 macros. Supported modifiers are:
3480 - :p - full path
3482 - :u - UNC name of path (e.g. "\\server" in
3484 "\\server\share"), Windows only. Expands to current computer name
3485 for not UNC paths.
3486 - :~ - relative to the home directory
3488 - :. - relative to current directory
3490 - :h - head of the file name
3492 - :t - tail of the file name
3494 - :r - root of the file name (without last extension)
3496 - :e - extension of the file name (last one)
3498 - :s?pat?sub? - substitute the first occurrence of pat with sub.
3500 You can use any character for '?', but it must not occur in pat or
3501 sub.
3502 - :gs?pat?sub? - like :s, but substitutes all occurrences of pat with
3504 sub.
3505 See ':h filename-modifiers' in Vim's documentation for the detailed de‐
3507 scription.
3508 Using %x means expand corresponding macro escaping all characters that
3510 have special meaning. And %"x means using of double quotes and escape
3511 only backslash and double quote characters, which is more useful on
3512 Windows systems.
3513 Position and quantity (if there is any) of %m, %M, %S or %s macros in
3515 the command is unimportant. All their occurrences are removed from the
3516 resulting command.
3517 %c and %f macros are expanded to file names only, when %C and %F are
3519 expanded to full paths. %f and %F follow this in %b too.
3520 :com move mv %f %D
3522 set the :move command to move all of the files selected in the
3523 current directory to the other directory.
3524 The %a macro is replaced with any arguments given to an alias command.
3526 All arguments are considered optional.
3527 :com lsl !!ls -l %a - set the lsl command to execute ls -l with
3528 or without an argument.
3529 :lsl<Enter>
3531 will list the directory contents of the current directory.
3532 :lsl filename<Enter>
3534 will list only the given filename.
3535 The macros can also be used in directly executing commands. ":!mv %f
3537 %D" would move the current directory selected files to the other direc‐
3538 tory.
3539 Appending & to the end of a command causes it to be executed in the
3541 background. Typically you want to run two kinds of external commands
3542 in the background:
3543 - GUI applications that doesn't fork thus block vifm (:!sxiv %f &);
3545 - console tools that do not work with terminal (:!mv %f %D &).
3547 You don't want to run terminal commands, which require terminal input
3549 or output something in background because they will mess up vifm's TUI.
3550 Anyway, if you did run such a command, you can use Ctrl-L key to update
3551 vifm's TUI.
3552 Rewriting the example command with macros given above with background‐
3554 ing:
3555 %m, %M, %s, %S, %u and %U macros cannot be combined with background
3557 mark (" &") as it doesn't make much sense.
3558
3560 Copy and move operation can take a lot of time to proceed. That's why
3561 vifm supports backgrounding of this two operations. To run :copy,
3562 :move or :delete command in the background just add " &" at the end of
3563 a command.
3564 For each background operation a new thread is created. Job cancella‐
3566 tion can be requested in the :jobs menu via dd shortcut.
3567 You can see if command is still running in the :jobs menu. Back‐
3569 grounded commands have progress instead of process id at the line be‐
3570 ginning.
3571 Background operations cannot be undone.
3573
3575 Note that cancellation works somewhat different on Windows platform due
3576 to different mechanism of break signal propagation. One also might
3577 need to use Ctrl-Break shortcut instead of Ctrl-C.
3578 There are two types of operations that can be cancelled:
3580 - file system operations;
3582 - mounting with FUSE (but not unmounting as it can cause loss of
3584 data);
3585 - calls of external applications.
3587 Note that vifm never terminates applications, it sends SIGINT signal
3589 and lets the application quit normally.
3590 When one of set of operations is cancelled (e.g. copying of 5th file of
3592 10 files), further operations are cancelled too. In this case undo
3593 history will contain only actually performed operations.
3594 Cancelled operations are indicated by "(cancelled)" suffix appended to
3596 information message on status bar.
3597 File system operations
3599 Currently the following commands can be cancelled: :alink, :chmod,
3601 :chown, :clone, :copy, :delete, :mkdir, :move, :restore, :rlink,
3602 :touch. File putting (on p/P key) can be cancelled as well. It's not
3603 hard to see that these are mainly long-running operations.
3604 Cancelling commands when they are repeated for undo/redo operations is
3606 allowed for convenience, but is not recommended as further undo/redo
3607 operations might get blocked by side-effects of partially cancelled
3608 group of operations.
3609 These commands can't be cancelled: :empty, :rename, :substitute, :tr.
3611 Mounting with FUSE
3613 It's not considered to be an error, so only notification on the status
3615 bar is shown.
3616 External application calls
3618 Each of this operations can be cancelled: :apropos, :find, :grep, :lo‐
3620 cate.
3621
3623 If there is a selection, it's stashed before proceeding further unless
3624 file under the cursor is part of that selection. This means that when
3625 macros are expanded for :filetype or :filextype programs, `%f` and `%F`
3626 become equivalent to `%c` and `%C` respectively if current file is not
3627 selected. So you run selection by running one of selected files, oth‐
3628 erwise you're running a single file even if there are other selected
3629 entries.
3630 When running a selection it must not include broken symbolic links, has
3632 to be consistent and set of file handlers must be compatible. Consis‐
3633 tency means that selection contains either only directories (including
3634 links to them) or only files, but not their mix.
3635 Compatibility is a more sophisticated check, but it's defined in a nat‐
3637 ural way so that you get what you'd expect. The following properties
3638 of selection are taken into account while checking it for compatibility
3639 and deciding how to handle it:
3640 1. If there any files for which handler isn't defined, then all files
3643 are opened using 'vicmd' or 'vixcmd'.
3644 2. If all handlers match the following criteria:
3647 - backgrounded
3648 - include `%c` and/or `%C`
3649 - include neither `%f` nor `%F`
3650 then each file is executed independently of the rest.
3651 3. If all handlers are equal, the common handler is executed. This
3654 handler might ignore selection and process only file under the
3655 cursor.
3656 4. Otherwise, an error is reported, because handlers differ and they
3659 don't support parallel execution.
3660
3662 :highlight, :filetype, :filextype, :fileviewer commands and 'classify'
3663 option support globs, regular expressions and mime types to match file
3664 names or their paths.
3665 There are six possible ways to write a single pattern:
3667 1. [!]{comma-separated-name-globs}
3669 2. [!]{{comma-separated-path-globs}}
3671 3. [!]/name-regular-expression/[iI]
3673 4. [!]//path-regular-expression//[iI]
3675 5. [!]<comma-separated-mime-type-globs>
3677 6. undecorated-pattern
3679 First five forms can include leading exclamation mark that negates pat‐
3681 tern matching.
3682 The last form is implicitly refers to one of others. :highlight does
3684 not accept undecorated form, while :filetype, :filextype, :fileviewer,
3685 :select, :unselect and 'classify' treat it as list of name globs.
3686 Path patterns receive absolute path of the file that includes its name
3688 component as well.
3689 To combine several patterns (AND them), make sure you're using one of
3691 the first five forms and write patterns one after another, like this:
3692 <text/plain>{*.vifm}
3693 Mind that if you make a mistake the whole string will be treated as the
3694 sixth form.
3695 :filetype, :filextype and :fileviewer commands accept comma-separated
3697 list of patterns instead of a single pattern, thus effectively handling
3698 OR operation on them:
3699 <text/plain>{*.vifm},<application/pdf>{*.pdf}
3700 Forms that accept comma-separated lists of patterns also process them
3701 as lists of alternatives.
3702 Patterns with regular expressions
3704 Regular expression patterns are case insensitive by default, see de‐
3706 scription of commands, which might override default behaviour.
3707 Flags of regular expressions mean the following:
3709 - "i" makes filter case insensitive;
3710 - "I" makes filter case sensitive. They can be repeated multiple
3711 times, but the later one takes precedence (e.g. "iiiI" is equivalent
3712 to "I" and "IiIi" is the same as "i").
3713 There are no implicit `^` or `$`, so make sure to specify them explic‐
3715 itly if the pattern should match the whole name or path.
3716 Patterns with globs
3718 "Globs" section below provides short overview of globs and some impor‐
3720 tant points that one needs to know about them.
3721 Patterns with mime-types
3723 Mime type matching is essentially globs matching applied to mime type
3725 of a file instead of its name/path. Note: mime types aren't detected
3726 on Windows.
3727 Examples
3729 Associate `evince` to PDF-files only inside `/home/user/downloads/` di‐
3731 rectory (excluding its subdirectories):
3732 :filextype //^/home/user/downloads/[^/]*.pdf$// evince %f
3734
3737 All regular expressions are modern/extended. See `man 7 regex` for
3738 more details on what's supported.
3739 The following special sequences are additionally parsed:
3741 - `\c` forces matching ignoring case of letters
3742 - `\C` forces matching respecting case of letters
3743 `\c` and `\C` have the highest priority in determining whether case is
3745 matched or not and exist to override 'ignorecase', 'smartcase' and
3746 `i`/`I` flags when necessary.
3747 If multiple sequences are present, the one which appears later takes
3749 precedence.
3750 Note that unlike in Vim character classes are affected by settings and
3752 sequences that control case sensitivity in regular expressions.
3753
3755 Globs are always case insensitive as it makes sense in general case.
3756 `*`, `?`, `[` and `]` are treated as special symbols in the pattern.
3758 E.g.
3759 :filetype * less %c
3761 matches all files. One can use character classes for escaping, so
3763 :filetype [*] less %c
3765 matches only one file name, the one which contains only asterisk sym‐
3767 bol.
3768 `*` means any number of any characters (possibly an empty substring),
3770 with one exception: asterisk at the pattern beginning doesn't match dot
3771 in the first position. E.g.
3772 :fileviewer *.zip,*.jar zip -sf %c
3774 associates using of `zip` program to preview all files with `zip` or
3776 `jar` extensions as listing of their content, but `.file.zip` won't be
3777 matched.
3778 `?` means any character at this position. E.g.
3780 :fileviewer ?.out file %c
3782 calls `file` tool for all files which have exactly one character before
3784 their extension (e.g. a.out, b.out).
3785 Square brackets designate character class, which means that whole char‐
3787 acter class matches against any of characters listed in it. For exam‐
3788 ple
3789 :fileviewer *.[ch] highlight -O xterm256 -s dante --syntax c %c
3791 makes vifm call `highlight` program to colorize source and header files
3793 in C language for a 256-color terminal. Equal command would be
3794 :fileviewer *.c,*.h highlight -O xterm256 -s dante --syntax c %c
3796 Inside square brackets `^` or `!` can be used for symbol class negotia‐
3799 tion and the `-` symbol to set a range. `^` and `!` should appear
3800 right after the opening square bracket. For example
3801 :filetype *.[!d]/ inspect_dir
3803 associates `inspect_dir` as additional handler for all directories that
3805 have one character extension unless it's "d" letter. And
3806 :filetype [0-9].jpg sxiv
3808 associates `sxiv` picture viewer only for JPEG-files that contain sin‐
3810 gle digit in their name.
3811 If you need to include literal comma, which is normally separates mul‐
3813 tiple globs, double it.
3814
3816 Local options
3817 These are kind of options that are local to a specific view. So
3818 you can set ascending sorting order for left pane and descending
3819 order for right pane.
3820 In addition to being local to views, each such option also has
3822 two values:
3823 - local to current directory (value associated with current
3825 location);
3826 - global to current directory (value associated with the
3828 pane).
3829 The idea is that current directory can be made a temporary ex‐
3831 ception to regular configuration of the view, until directory
3832 change. Use :setlocal for that. :setglobal changes view value
3833 not affecting settings until directory change. :set applies
3834 changes immediately to all values.
3835 'aproposprg'
3838 type: string
3839 default: "apropos %a"
3840 Specifies format for an external command to be invoked by the
3841 :apropos command. The format supports expanding of macros, spe‐
3842 cific for a particular *prg option, and %% sequence for insert‐
3843 ing percent sign literally. This option should include the %a
3844 macro to specify placement of arguments passed to the :apropos
3845 command. If the macro is not used, it will be implicitly added
3846 after a space to the value of this option.
3847 'autocd'
3849 type: boolean
3850 default: false
3851 When enabled unknown command-line commands are interpreted as
3852 implicit invocation of :cd with one argument and no escaping.
3853 Tilde is expanded, but not macros or environment variables.
3854 'autochpos'
3856 type: boolean
3857 default: true
3858 When disabled vifm will set cursor to the first line in the view
3859 after :cd and :pushd commands instead of saved cursor position.
3860 Disabling this will also make vifm clear information about cur‐
3861 sor position in the view history on :cd and :pushd commands (and
3862 on startup if 'autochpos' is disabled in the vifmrc). l key in
3863 the ":history ." and ":trashes" menus are treated like :cd com‐
3864 mand. This option also affects marks so that navigating to a
3865 mark doesn't restore cursor position.
3866 When this option is enabled, more fine grained control over cur‐
3868 sor position is available via 'histcursor' option.
3869 'columns' 'co'
3871 type: integer
3872 default: terminal width on startup
3873 Terminal width in characters.
3874 'caseoptions'
3876 type: charset
3877 default: ""
3878 This option gives additional control over case sensitivity by
3879 allowing overriding default behaviour to either always be case
3880 sensitive or always be case insensitive. Possible values form
3881 pairs of lower and upper case letters that configure specific
3882 aspect of behaviour:
3883 p - always ignore case of paths during completion.
3884 P - always match case of paths during completion.
3885 g - always ignore case of characters for f/F/;/,.
3886 G - always match case of characters for f/F/;/,.
3887 At most one item of each pair takes affect, if both or more are
3889 present, only the last one matters. When none of pair's ele‐
3890 ments are present, the behaviour is default (depends on operat‐
3891 ing system for path completion and on values of 'ignorecase' and
3892 'smartcase' options for file navigation).
3893 'cdpath' 'cd'
3895 type: string list
3896 default: value of $CDPATH with commas instead of colons
3897 Specifies locations to check on changing directory with relative
3898 path that doesn't start with "./" or "../". When non-empty,
3899 current directory is examined after directories listed in the
3900 option.
3901 This option doesn't affect completion of :cd command.
3903 Example:
3905 set cdpath=~
3907 This way ":cd bin" will switch to "~/bin" even if directory
3909 named "bin" exists in current directory, while ":cd ./bin" com‐
3910 mand will ignore value of 'cdpath'.
3911 'chaselinks'
3913 type: boolean
3914 default: false
3915 When enabled path of view is always resolved to real path (with
3916 all symbolic links expanded).
3917 'classify'
3919 type: string list
3920 default: ":dir:/"
3921 Specifies file name prefixes and suffixes depending on file type
3922 or name. The format is either of:
3923 - [{prefix}]:{filetype}:[{suffix}]
3924 - [{prefix}]::{pattern}::[{suffix}]
3925 Possible {pattern} forms are described in "Patterns" section
3926 above.
3927 Priority rules:
3929 - file name patterns have priority over type patterns
3930 - file name patterns are matched in left-to-right order of
3931 their appearance in this option
3932 Either {prefix} or {suffix} or both can be omitted (which is the
3934 default for all unspecified file types), this means empty {pre‐
3935 fix} and/or {suffix}. {prefix} and {suffix} should consist of
3936 at most eight characters. Elements are separated by commas.
3937 Neither prefixes nor suffixes are part of file names, so they
3938 don't affect commands which operate on file names in any way.
3939 Comma (',') character can be inserted by doubling it. List of
3940 file type names can be found in the description of filetype()
3941 function.
3942 'confirm' 'cf'
3944 type: set
3945 default: delete,permdelete
3946 Defines which operations require confirmation:
3947 - delete - moving files to trash (on d or :delete);
3948 - permdelete - permanent deletion of files (on D or :delete!
3949 command or on undo/redo operation).
3950 'cpoptions' 'cpo'
3952 type: charset
3953 default: "fst"
3954 Contains a sequence of single-character flags. Each flag en‐
3955 ables behaviour of older versions of vifm. Flags:
3956 - f - when included, running :filter command results in not in‐
3957 verted (matching files are filtered out) and :filter! in in‐
3958 verted (matching files are left) filter, when omitted, meaning
3959 of the exclamation mark changes to the opposite;
3960 - s - when included, yy, dd and DD normal mode commands act on
3961 selection, otherwise they operate on current file only;
3962 - t - when included, <tab> (thus <c-i>) behave as <space> and
3963 switches active pane, otherwise <tab> and <c-i> go forward in
3964 the view history. It's possible to make both <tab> and <c-i> to
3965 work as expected by setting up the terminal to emit a custom se‐
3966 quence when <c-i> is pressed; see :histnext for details.
3967 'cvoptions'
3969 type: set
3970 default:
3971 Specifies whether entering/leaving custom views triggers events
3972 that normally happen on entering/leaving directories:
3973 - autocmds - trigger autocommands on entering/leaving custom
3974 views;
3975 - localopts - reset local options on entering/leaving custom
3976 views;
3977 - localfilter - reset local filter on entering/leaving custom
3978 views.
3979 'deleteprg'
3981 type: string
3982 default: ""
3983 Specifies program to run on files that are permanently removed.
3984 When empty, files are removed as usual, otherwise this command
3985 is invoked on each file by appending its name. If the command
3986 doesn't remove files, they will remain on the file system.
3987 'dirsize'
3989 type: enumeration
3990 default: size
3991 Controls how size of directories is displayed in file views.
3992 The following values are possible:
3993 - size - size of directory (i.e., size used to store list of
3994 files)
3995 - nitems - number of entries in the directory (excluding . and
3996 ..)
3997 Size obtained via ga/gA overwrites this setting so seeing count
3999 of files and occasionally size of directories is possible.
4000 'dotdirs'
4002 type: set
4003 default: nonrootparent,treeleafsparent
4004 Controls displaying of dot directories. The following values
4005 are possible:
4006 - rootparent - show "../" in root directory of file system
4007 - nonrootparent - show "../" in non-root directories of file
4008 system
4009 - treeleafsparent - show "../" in empty directories of tree
4010 view
4011 Note that empty directories always contain "../" entry regard‐
4013 less of value of this option. "../" disappears at the moment at
4014 least one file is created.
4015 'dotfiles'
4017 type: boolean
4018 default: false
4019 Whether dot files are shown in the view. Can be controlled with
4020 z* bindings.
4021 'fastrun'
4023 type: boolean
4024 default: false
4025 With this option turned on you can run partially entered com‐
4026 mands with unambiguous beginning using :! (e.g. :!Te instead of
4027 :!Terminal or :!Te<tab>).
4028 'fillchars' 'fcs'
4030 type: string list
4031 default: ""
4032 Sets characters used to fill borders.
4033 item default used for
4035 vborder:c ' ' left, middle and right vertical bor‐
4036 ders
4037 hborder:c '' middle horizontal border
4038 A null string for vborder is equivalent to a space.
4040 A null string for hborder omits the horizontal border.
4042 Example:
4044 set fillchars=vborder:".",hborder:""
4046 'findprg'
4048 type: string
4049 default: "find %s %a -print , -type d \( ! -readable -o ! -exe‐
4050 cutable \) -prune"
4051 Specifies format for an external command to be invoked by the
4052 :find command. The format supports expansion of macros specific
4053 for this particular option and %% sequence for inserting percent
4054 sign literally. The macros are:
4055 macro value/meaning
4057 %s literal arguments of :find or
4058 list of paths to search in
4059 %A empty or
4061 literal arguments of :find
4062 %a empty or
4063 literal arguments of :find or
4064 predicate followed by escaped arguments of :find
4065 %p empty or
4066 literal arguments of :find or
4067 escaped arguments (parameters) of :find
4068 %u redirect output to custom view instead of showing a
4070 menu
4071 %U redirect output to unsorted custom view instead of
4072 showing a menu
4073 Predicate in %a is "-name" on *nix and "-iname" on Windows.
4075 If both %u and %U are specified, %U is chosen.
4077 Some macros can be added implicitly:
4079 - if %s isn't present, it's appended
4080 - if neither of %a, %A and %p is present, %a is appended
4081 - if neither of %s, %a, %A and %p is present, %s and %a are ap‐
4082 pended in this order
4083 The macros slightly change their meaning depending on format of
4085 :find's arguments:
4086 - if the first argument points to an existing directory, %s is
4087 assigned all arguments while %a, %A and %p are left empty
4088 - otherwise:
4089 - %s is assigned a dot (".") meaning current directory or
4090 list of selected file names, if any
4091 - %a, %A and %p are assigned literal arguments when first
4092 argument starts with a dash ("-"), otherwise %a gets an escaped
4093 version of the arguments with a predicate and %p contains es‐
4094 caped version of the arguments
4095 Starting with Windows Server 2003 a `where` command is avail‐
4097 able. One can configure vifm to use it in the following way:
4098 set findprg="where /R %s %A"
4100 As the syntax of this command is rather limited, one can't use
4102 :find command with selection of more than one item because the
4103 command ignores all directory paths except for the last one.
4104 When using find port on Windows, another option is to setup
4106 'findprg' like this:
4107 set findprg="find %s %a"
4109 'followlinks'
4112 type: boolean
4113 default: true
4114 Follow links on l or Enter. That is navigate to destination
4115 file instead of treating the link as if it were target file.
4116 Doesn't affects links to directories, which are always entered
4117 (use gf key for directories).
4118 'fusehome'
4120 type: string
4121 default: "($XDG_DATA_HOME/vifm | $VIFM)/fuse/"
4122 Directory to be used as a root dir for FUSE mounts. Value of
4123 the option can contain environment variables (in form "$en‐
4124 vname"), which will be expanded (prepend it with a slash to pre‐
4125 vent expansion). The value should expand to an absolute path.
4126 If you change this option, vifm won't remount anything. It af‐
4128 fects future mounts only. See "Automatic FUSE mounts" section
4129 below for more information.
4130 'gdefault' 'gd'
4132 type: boolean
4133 default: false
4134 When on, 'g' flag is on for :substitute by default.
4135 'grepprg'
4137 type: string
4138 default: "grep -n -H -I -r %i %a %s"
4139 Specifies format for an external command to be invoked by the
4140 :grep command. The format supports expanding of macros, spe‐
4141 cific for a particular *prg option, and %% sequence for insert‐
4142 ing percent sign literally. This option should include the %i
4143 macro to specify placement of "-v" string when inversion of re‐
4144 sults is requested, %a or %A macro to specify placement of argu‐
4145 ments passed to the :grep command and the %s macro to specify
4146 placement of list of files to search in. If some of the macros
4147 are not used, they will be implicitly added after a space to the
4148 value of the 'grepprg' option in the following order: %i, %a,
4149 %s. Note that when neither %a nor %A are specified, it's %a
4150 which is added implicitly.
4151 Optional %u or %U macro could be used (if both specified %U is
4153 chosen) to force redirection to custom or unsorted custom view
4154 respectively.
4155 See 'findprg' option for description of difference between %a
4157 and %A.
4158 Example of setup to use ack (http://beyondgrep.com/) instead of
4160 grep:
4161 set grepprg='ack -H -r %i %a %s'
4163 or The Silver Searcher (https://github.com/ggreer/the_sil‐
4165 ver_searcher):
4166 set grepprg='ag --line-numbers %i %a %s'
4168 'histcursor'
4172 type: set
4173 default: startup,dirmark,direnter
4174 Defines situations when cursor should be moved according to di‐
4175 rectory history:
4176 - startup - on loading file lists during startup
4177 - dirmark - after navigating to a mark that doesn't specify
4178 file
4179 - direnter - on opening directory from a file list
4180 This option has no effect when 'autochpos' is disabled.
4182 Note that the list is not exhaustive and there are other situa‐
4184 tions when cursor is positioned automatically.
4185 'history' 'hi'
4187 type: integer
4188 default: 15
4189 Maximum number of stored items in all histories.
4190 'hlsearch' 'hls'
4192 type: boolean
4193 default: true
4194 Automatically select files that are search matches.
4195 'iec' type: boolean
4197 default: false
4198 Use KiB, MiB, ... suffixes instead of K, M, ... when printing
4199 size in human-friendly format.
4200 'ignorecase' 'ic'
4202 type: boolean
4203 default: false
4204 Ignore case in search patterns (:substitute, / and ? commands),
4205 local filter (but not the rest of filters) and other things de‐
4206 tailed in the description of 'caseoptions'.
4207 'incsearch' 'is'
4209 type: boolean
4210 default: false
4211 When this option is set, search and view update for local filter
4212 is be performed starting from initial cursor position each time
4213 search pattern is changed.
4214 'iooptions'
4216 type: set
4217 default: datasync
4218 Controls details of file operations. The following values are
4219 available:
4220 - datasync - periodically synchronize writes on copying files
4221 when 'syscalls' is set.
4222 (This makes copying last as long as it takes to
4223 actually write
4224 data to the medium, which is slower than you might
4225 expect;
4226 however, this also prevents system hanging due to
4227 filling memory
4228 with file-system cache.)
4229 - fastfilecloning - perform fast file cloning (copy-on-write),
4230 when available (available on Linux and btrfs file system).
4231 'laststatus' 'ls'
4233 type: boolean
4234 default: true
4235 Controls if status bar is visible.
4236 'lines'
4238 type: integer
4239 default: terminal height on startup
4240 Terminal height in lines.
4241 'locateprg'
4243 type: string
4244 default: "locate %a"
4245 Specifies format for an external command to be invoked by the
4246 :locate command. The format supports expanding of macros, spe‐
4247 cific for a particular *prg option, and %% sequence for insert‐
4248 ing percent sign literally. This option should include the %a
4249 macro to specify placement of arguments passed to the :locate
4250 command. If the macro is not used, it will be implicitly added
4251 after a space to the value of this option.
4252 Optional %u or %U macro could be used (if both specified %U is
4254 chosen) to force redirection to custom or unsorted custom view
4255 respectively.
4256 'mediaprg'
4258 type: string
4259 default: path to bundled script that supports udevil, udisks and
4260 udisks2
4261 (using udisks2 requires python with dbus module in‐
4262 stalled)
4263 OS X: path points to a python script that uses diskutil
4264 {only for *nix}
4265 Specifies command to be used to manage media devices. Used by
4266 :media command.
4267 The command can be passed the following parameters:
4269 - list -- list media
4270 - mount {device} -- mount a device
4271 - unmount {path} -- unmount given mount point
4272 The output of `list` subcommand is parsed in search of lines
4274 that start with one of the following prefixes:
4275 - device= - specifies device path (e.g., "/dev/sde")
4276 - label= - specifies optional device label (e.g., "Memory
4277 card")
4278 - info= - specifies arbitrary text to display next to
4279 device (by
4280 default "[label]" is used, if label is pro‐
4281 vided)
4282 - mount-point= - specifies a mount point (can be absent or ap‐
4283 pear more than once)
4284 All other lines are ignored. Each `device=` starts a new sec‐
4286 tion describing a device which should include two other possible
4287 prefixes.
4288 `list` subcommand is assumed to always succeed, while exit code
4290 of `mount` and `unmount` is taken into account to determine
4291 whether operation was performed successfully.
4292 'lsoptions'
4294 type: string list
4295 default: ""
4296 scope: local
4297 Configures ls-like view.
4299 item used for
4301 columncount fixed number of columns to display or 0
4302 transposed filling view grid by columns rather than by
4303 lines
4304 'lsview'
4307 type: boolean
4308 default: false
4309 scope: local
4310 When this option is set, directory view will be displayed in
4311 multiple columns with file names similar to output of `ls -x`
4312 command. See "ls-like view" section below for format descrip‐
4313 tion. This option has no effect if 'millerview' is on.
4314 'milleroptions'
4316 type: string list
4317 default: "lsize:1,csize:1,rsize:1,rpreview:dirs"
4318 scope: local
4319 Configures miller view.
4321 item default used for
4323 lsize:num 0 left column
4324 csize:num 1 center column (can't be disabled)
4325 rsize:num 0 right column
4326 rpreview:str dirs right column
4327 *size specifies ratios of columns. Each ratio is in the range
4329 from 0 to 100 and values are adjusted to fit the limits. Zero
4330 disables a column, but central (main) column can't be disabled.
4331 rpreview specifies what file-system objects should be previewed
4333 in the right column and takes three values: dirs (only directo‐
4334 ries), files (only files) or all. Neither value enables preview
4335 of parent directory ("..").
4336 Example of two-column mode which is useful in combination with
4338 :view command:
4339 set milleroptions=lsize:1,csize:2
4341 'millerview'
4344 type: boolean
4345 default: false
4346 scope: local
4347 When this option is set, directory view will be displayed in
4348 multiple cascading columns. Ignores 'lsview'.
4349 'mintimeoutlen'
4351 type: integer
4352 default: 150
4353 The fracture of 'timeoutlen' in milliseconds that is waited be‐
4354 tween subsequent input polls, which affects various asynchronous
4355 operations (detecting changes made by external applications,
4356 monitoring background jobs, redrawing UI). There are no strict
4357 guarantees, however the higher this value is, the less is CPU
4358 load in idle mode.
4359 'mouse'
4361 type: charset
4362 default: ""
4363 Contains a sequence of single-character flags:
4365 - a - all supported modes (a shorthand for all the rest and fu‐
4366 ture additions)
4367 - c - command-line mode (includes navigation mode)
4368 - m - menu mode
4369 - n - normal mode
4370 - q - view mode
4371 - v - visual mode
4372 'navoptions'
4374 type: string list
4375 default: "open:dirs"
4376 Configures behaviour of navigation mode.
4378 item default
4380 open:str dirs
4381 The "open" item specifies what file-system objects should be
4383 opened on Enter and can take two values: dirs (only directories)
4384 or all.
4385 'number' 'nu'
4387 type: boolean
4388 default: false
4389 scope: local
4390 Print line number in front of each file name when 'lsview' op‐
4391 tion is turned off. Use 'numberwidth' to control width of line
4392 number. Also see 'relativenumber'.
4393 'numberwidth' 'nuw'
4395 type: integer
4396 default: 4
4397 scope: local
4398 Minimal number of characters for line number field.
4399 'previewoptions'
4401 type: string list
4402 default: "graphicsdelay:50000"
4403 Tweaks how previewing is done (in quick view, miller view's col‐
4405 umn and view mode).
4406 item default meaning
4408 graphicsdelay:num 0 delay before drawing graphics (mi‐
4409 croseconds)
4410 hardgraphicsclear unset redraw screen to get rid of graph‐
4411 ics
4412 maxtreedepth:num 0 max number of levels in preview
4413 tree
4414 toptreestats unset show file counts before the tree
4415 graphicsdelay is needed if terminal requires some timeout before
4417 it can draw graphics (otherwise it gets lost).
4418 hardgraphicsclear seems to be necessary to get rid of sixel
4420 graphics in some terminals, where it otherwise lingers. This
4421 can cause flicker on the screen due to erasure followed by re‐
4422 drawing.
4423 0 for maxtreedepth means "unlimited", 1 will only show selected
4425 directory, 2 adds its children, and so forth.
4426 Default value is used when item is missing from the option.
4428 'previewprg'
4430 type: string
4431 default: ""
4432 scope: local
4433 External command to be used instead of preview programs config‐
4435 ured via :fileviewer command.
4436 Example:
4438 " always show git log in preview of files inside some repository
4440 au DirEnter '~/git-repo/**/*' setl previewprg='git log --color -- %c 2>&1'
4441 'quickview'
4443 type: boolean
4444 default: false
4445 Whether quick view (:view) is currently active or not.
4446 'relativenumber' 'rnu'
4448 type: boolean
4449 default: false
4450 scope: local
4451 Print relative line number in front of each file name when
4452 'lsview' option is turned off. Use 'numberwidth' to control
4453 width of line number. Various combinations of 'number' and
4454 'relativenumber' lead to such results:
4455 nonumber number
4457 norelativenumber | first | 1 first
4459 | second | 2 second
4460 | third | 3 third
4461 relativenumber | 1 first | 1 first
4463 | 0 second |2 second
4464 | 1 third | 1 third
4465 'rulerformat' 'ruf'
4468 type: string
4469 default: "%l/%S "
4470 Determines the content of the ruler. Its minimal width is 13
4471 characters and it's right aligned. Following macros are sup‐
4472 ported:
4473 %= - separation point between left and right aligned halves of
4474 the line
4475 %l - file number
4476 %L - total number of files in view (including filtered out
4477 ones)
4478 %x - number of files excluded by filters
4479 %0- - old name for %x macro
4480 %P - percentage through file list (All, Top, xx% or Bot), al‐
4481 ways 3 in length
4482 %S - number of displayed files
4483 %= - separation point between left and right align items
4484 %% - literal percent sign
4485 %[ - designates beginning of an optional block
4486 %] - designates end of an optional block
4487 Percent sign can be followed by optional minimum field width.
4489 Add '-' before minimum field width if you want field to be right
4490 aligned.
4491 Optional blocks are ignored unless at least one macro inside of
4493 them is expanded to a non-empty value.
4494 Example:
4496 set rulerformat='%2l-%S%[ +%x%]'
4498 'runexec'
4500 type: boolean
4501 default: false
4502 Run executable file on Enter, l or Right Arrow key. Behaviour
4503 of the last two depends on the value of the 'lsview' option.
4504 'scrollbind' 'scb'
4506 type: boolean
4507 default: false
4508 When this option is set, vifm will try to keep difference of
4509 scrolling positions of two windows constant.
4510 'scrolloff' 'so'
4512 type: integer
4513 default: 0
4514 Minimal number of screen lines to keep above and below the cur‐
4515 sor. If you want cursor line to always be in the middle of the
4516 view (except at the beginning or end of the file list), set this
4517 option to some large value (e.g. 999).
4518 'sessionoptions' 'ssop'
4520 sessionoptions ssop
4521 type: set
4522 default: tui,state,tabs,savedirs,dhistory
4523 An equivalent of 'vifminfo' for sessions, uses the same values.
4524 When both options include the same value, data from session file
4525 has higher priority (data from vifminfo isn't necessarily com‐
4526 pletely discarded, instead it's merged with the state of a ses‐
4527 sion the same way state of multiple instances is merged on
4528 exit).
4529 'shell' 'sh'
4531 type: string
4532 default: $SHELL or "/bin/sh" or "cmd" (on MS-Windows)
4533 Full path to the shell to use to run external commands. On *nix
4534 a shell argument can be supplied.
4535 'shellcmdflag' 'shcf'
4537 type: string
4538 default: "-c" or "/C" (for cmd.exe on MS-Windows)
4539 Command-line option used to pass a command to 'shell'. It's
4540 used in contexts where command comes from the user.
4541 Note that using this option to force interactive mode of the
4543 shell is most likely a BAD IDEA. In general interactive host
4544 and interactive child shell can't share the same terminal ses‐
4545 sion. You can't even run such a shell in background. Consider
4546 writing a wrapper for your shell that preloads aliases and com‐
4547 mands without making the shell interactive and ending up using
4548 it in a way it was not meant to be used.
4549 Note that this option is ignored when 'shell' is set to Power‐
4551 Shell due to the internal use of `-encodedCommand`.
4552 'shortmess' 'shm'
4554 type: charset
4555 default: "p"
4556 Contains a sequence of single-character flags. Each flag en‐
4557 ables shortening of some message displayed by vifm in the TUI.
4558 Flags:
4559 - L - display only last directory in tab line instead of full
4560 path.
4561 - M - shorten titles in windows of terminal multiplexers cre‐
4562 ated by vifm down to file name instead of using full path.
4563 - T - truncate status bar messages in the middle if they are
4564 too long to fit on the command line. "..." will appear in the
4565 middle.
4566 - p - use tilde shortening in view titles.
4567 'showtabline' 'stal'
4570 type: enumeration
4571 default: multiple
4572 Specifies when tab line should be displayed. Possible values:
4573 - never - never display tab line
4574 - multiple - show tab line only when there are at least two
4575 tabs
4576 - always - display tab line always
4577 Alternatively 0, 1 and 2 Vim-like values are also accepted and
4579 correspond to "never", "multiple" and "always" respectively.
4580 'sizefmt'
4583 type: string list
4584 default: "units:iec"
4585 Configures the way size is formatted in human-friendly way.
4586 item value meaning
4588 units: iec Use 1024 byte units (K or KiB,
4589 etc.).
4590 See 'iec' option.
4591 si Use 1000 byte units (KB, etc.).
4592 precision: i > 0 How many fraction digits to con‐
4593 sider.
4594 {not set} Precision of 1 for integer part
4595 < 10,
4596 0 otherwise (provides old behav‐
4597 iour).
4598 space {present} Insert space before unit sym‐
4599 bols.
4600 This is the default.
4601 nospace {present} Do not insert space before unit
4602 symbols.
4603 Numbers are rounded from zero. Trailing zeros are dropped.
4605 Example:
4607 set sizefmt=units:iec,precision:2,nospace
4609 'slowfs'
4612 type: string list
4613 default: ""
4614 only for *nix
4615 A list of mounter fs name beginnings (first column in /etc/mtab
4616 or /proc/mounts) or paths prefixes for fs/directories that work
4617 too slow for you. This option can be used to stop vifm from
4618 making some requests to particular kinds of file systems that
4619 can slow down file browsing. Currently this means don't check
4620 if directory has changed, skip check if target of symbolic links
4621 exists, assume that link target located on slow fs to be a di‐
4622 rectory (allows entering directories and navigating to files via
4623 gf). If you set the option to "*", it means all the systems are
4624 considered slow (useful for cygwin, where all the checks might
4625 render vifm very slow if there are network mounts).
4626 Example for autofs root /mnt/autofs:
4628 set slowfs+=/mnt/autofs
4630 'smartcase' 'scs'
4632 type: boolean
4633 default: false
4634 Overrides the ignorecase option if a pattern contains at least
4635 one upper case character. Only used when 'ignorecase' option is
4636 enabled.
4637 'sort' type: string list
4639 default: +name on *nix and +iname on Windows
4640 scope: local
4641 Sets list of sorting keys (first item is primary key, second is
4642 secondary key, etc.):
4643 [+-]ext - extension of files and directories
4644 [+-]fileext - extension of files only
4645 [+-]name - name (including extension)
4646 [+-]iname - name (including extension, ignores case)
4647 [+-]type - file type
4648 (dir/reg/exe/link/char/block/sock/fifo)
4649 [+-]dir - directory grouping (directory < file)
4650 [+-]gid - group id (*nix only)
4651 [+-]gname - group name (*nix only)
4652 [+-]mode - file type derived from its mode (*nix only)
4653 [+-]perms - permissions string (*nix only)
4654 [+-]uid - owner id (*nix only)
4655 [+-]uname - owner name (*nix only)
4656 [+-]nlinks - number of hard links (*nix only)
4657 [+-]inode - inode number (*nix only)
4658 [+-]size - size
4659 [+-]nitems - number of items in a directory (zero for files)
4660 [+-]groups - groups extracted via regexps from 'sortgroups'
4661 [+-]target - symbolic link target (empty for other file
4662 types)
4663 [+-]atime - time accessed (e.g., read, executed)
4664 [+-]ctime - time changed (changes in metadata, like mode)
4665 [+-]mtime - time modified (when file contents is changed)
4666 Note: look for st_atime, st_ctime and st_mtime in "man 2 stat"
4668 for more information on time keys.
4669 '+' means ascending sort for this key, and '-' means descending
4671 sort.
4672 "dir" key is somewhat similar in this regard but it's added im‐
4674 plicitly: when "dir" is not specified, sorting behaves as if it
4675 was the first key in the list. That's why if one wants sorting
4676 algorithm to mix directories and files, "dir" should be appended
4677 to sorting option, for example like this:
4678 set sort+=dir
4680 or
4682 set sort=-size,dir
4684 Value of the option is checked to include dir key and default
4686 sorting key (name on *nix, iname on Windows). Here is what hap‐
4687 pens if one of them is missing:
4688 - type key is added at the beginning;
4690 - default key is added at the end;
4692 all other keys are left untouched (at most they are moved).
4694 This option also changes view columns according to primary sort‐
4696 ing key set, unless 'viewcolumns' option is not empty.
4697 'sortnumbers'
4699 type: boolean
4700 default: false
4701 scope: local
4702 Natural sort of (version) numbers within text.
4703 'sortgroups'
4705 type: string
4706 default: ""
4707 scope: local
4708 Sets comma-separated list of regular expressions for group type
4709 of sorting. Double the comma to insert it literally.
4710 The regular expressions are used to extract substrings of file
4712 names to serve as keys for sorting. It is essentially a way to
4713 ignore uninteresting parts of file names during sorting by name.
4714 Each expression should contain at least one group or its value
4716 will be considered to be always empty. Also, only the first
4717 match of regular expression is processed.
4718 The first group divides list of files into sub-groups, each of
4720 which is then sorted by substrings extracted using second regu‐
4721 lar expression and so on recursively.
4722 Example:
4724 set sortgroups=-(todo|done).*
4725 this would group files with "-done" in their names and files
4726 with "-todo" separately. On ascending sorting, group containing
4727 "-done" would appear before the other one.
4728 'sortorder'
4730 type: enumeration
4731 default: ascending
4732 Sets sort order for primary key: ascending, descending.
4733 'statusline' 'stl'
4735 type: string
4736 default: ""
4737 Determines the content of the status line (the line right above
4738 command-line). Empty string means use same format like in pre‐
4739 vious versions. Following macros are supported:
4740 - %N - line break (increases height of the status line accord‐
4742 ingly), ignores %[ %] blocks
4743 - %t - file name (considering value of the 'classify' option)
4745 - %T - symbolic link target (empty for other filetypes)
4747 - %f - file name relative to current directory (considers 'clas‐
4749 sify')
4750 - %A - file attributes (permissions on *nix or properties on
4752 Windows)
4753 - %o - file permissions in octal form on *nix (nothing on Win‐
4755 dows)
4756 - %u - user name or uid (if it cannot be resolved)
4758 - %g - group name or gid (if it cannot be resolved)
4760 - %s - file size in human readable format
4762 - %E - size of selected files in human readable format, same as
4764 %s when no files are selected, except that it will never show
4765 size of ../ in visual mode, since it cannot be selected
4766 - %d - file modification date (uses 'timefmt' option)
4768 - %D - path of the other pane for single-pane layout
4770 - %a - amount of free space available on current FS
4772 - %c - size of current FS
4774 - %z - short tips/tricks/hints that chosen randomly after one
4776 minute period
4777 - %{<expr>} - evaluate arbitrary vifm expression '<expr>', e.g.
4779 '&sort'
4780 - %* - resets or applies one of User1..User20 highlight groups;
4782 reset happens when width field is 0 or not specified, one of
4783 the groups gets picked when width field is in the range from 1
4784 to 20
4785 - all 'rulerformat' macros
4787 Percent sign can be followed by optional minimum field width.
4789 Add '-' before minimum field width if you want field to be right
4790 aligned.
4791 On Windows file properties include the following flags (upper
4793 case means flag is on):
4794 A - archive
4795 H - hidden
4796 I - content isn't indexed
4797 R - readonly
4798 S - system
4799 C - compressed
4800 D - directory
4801 E - encrypted
4802 P - reparse point (e.g. symbolic link)
4803 Z - sparse file
4804 Example without colors:
4806 set statusline=" %t%= %A %10u:%-7g %15s %20d %{&sort} "
4808 Example with colors:
4810 highlight User1 ctermbg=yellow
4812 highlight User2 ctermbg=blue ctermfg=white cterm=bold
4813 set statusline="%1* %-26t %2* %= %1* %A %2* %7u:%-7g %1* %-5s %2* %d "
4814 'suggestoptions'
4817 type: string list
4818 default:
4819 Controls when, for what and how suggestions are displayed. The
4820 following values are available:
4821 - normal - in normal mode;
4822 - visual - in visual mode;
4823 - view - in view mode;
4824 - otherpane - use other pane to display suggestions, when
4825 available;
4826 - delay[:num] - display suggestions after a small delay (to
4827 do not annoy if you just want to type a fast shortcut consisting
4828 of multiple keys), num specifies the delay in ms (500 by de‐
4829 fault), 'timeoutlen' at most;
4830 - keys - include shortcuts (commands and selectors);
4831 - foldsubkeys - fold multiple keys with common prefix;
4832 - marks - include marks;
4833 - registers[:num] - include registers, at most num files (5 by
4834 default).
4835 'syncregs'
4837 type: string
4838 default: ""
4839 Specifies identifier of group of instances that share registers
4840 among each other. When several instances of vifm have this op‐
4841 tion set to identical value, they automatically synchronize con‐
4842 tents of their registers on operations which use them.
4843 'syscalls'
4845 type: boolean
4846 default: false
4847 When disabled, vifm will rely on external applications to per‐
4848 form file-system operations, otherwise system calls are used in‐
4849 stead (much faster and supports progress tracking). The option
4850 should eventually be removed. Mostly *nix-like systems are af‐
4851 fected.
4852 'tablabel'
4854 type: string
4855 default: ""
4856 When non-empty and 'tabline' isn't set, determines format of the
4857 main part of a single tab's label.
4858 When empty, tab label is set to either tab name for named tabs
4860 or to view title (usually current path) for unnamed tabs.
4861 The following macros can appear in the format (see below for
4863 what a flag is):
4864 - %C - flag of a current tab
4866 - %N - number of the tab
4868 - %T - flag of a tree mode
4870 - %c - description of a custom view
4872 - %n - name of the tab
4874 - %p - path of the view (handles filename modifiers)
4876 - %t - title of the view (affected by 'shortmess' flags)
4878 - %% - literal percent sign
4880 - %[ - designates beginning of an optional block
4882 - %] - designates end of an optional block
4884 - %*, %0* - resets highlighting
4886 - %1*-%20* - applies one of User1..User20 highlight groups
4888 In global tabs the view in bullets above refers to currently ac‐
4890 tive view of that tab.
4891 Flag macros are a special kind of macros that always expand to
4893 an empty value and are meant to be used inside optional blocks
4894 to control their visibility.
4895 Optional blocks are ignored unless at least one macro inside of
4897 them is expanded to a non-empty value or is a set flag macro.
4898 " %[(%n)%] -- optional name of the tab
4900 " %[ -- optional description of the view
4901 " %[%T{tree}%] -- mark of tree mode
4902 " %[{%c}%] -- description of custom view
4903 " @ -- just an extra separator before the path
4904 ' %]
4905 " %p:t -- tail part of view's location
4906 set tablabel=%[(%n)%]%[%[%T{tree}%]%[{%c}%]@%]%p:t
4907 'tabline' 'tal'
4909 type: string
4910 default: ""
4911 When non-empty, determines format of the tab line. Note that
4912 mouse clicks won't be handled when this option is non-empty.
4913 The following macros can appear in the format:
4915 - %*, %0* - resets highlighting
4917 - %1*-%20* - applies one of User1..User20 highlight groups
4919 'tabprefix'
4921 type: string
4922 default: "[%N:"
4923 Determines prefix of a tab's label. Formatting is done as for
4924 'tablabel' option.
4925 'tabscope'
4927 type: enumeration
4928 default: global
4929 Picks style of tabs, which defines what a single tab contains.
4930 Possible values:
4931 - global - tab describes complete UI of two views and how they
4932 are arranged
4933 - pane - tab is located "inside" a pane and manages it and
4934 quick view
4935 'tabstop' 'ts'
4937 type: integer
4938 default: value from curses library
4939 Number of spaces that a Tab in the file counts for.
4940 'tabsuffix'
4942 type: string
4943 default: "]"
4944 Determines suffix of a tab's label. Formatting is done as for
4945 'tablabel' option.
4946 'timefmt'
4948 type: string
4949 default: "%m/%d %H:%M"
4950 Format of time in file list. See "man 1 date" or "man 3 strf‐
4951 time" for details.
4952 'timeoutlen' 'tm'
4954 type: integer
4955 default: 1000
4956 The time in milliseconds that is waited for a mapped key in case
4957 of already typed key sequence is ambiguous.
4958 'title'
4960 type: boolean
4961 default: true when title can be restored, false otherwise
4962 When enabled, title of the terminal or terminal multiplexer's
4963 window is updated according to current location. Because not
4964 all terminals support setting title, this works only if `$TERM`
4965 value matches one of the following conditions:
4966 - equals "xterm" or starts with "xterm-"
4967 - equals "rxvt" or starts with "rxvt-"
4968 - equals "screen" or starts with "screen-"
4969 - equals "aterm"
4970 - equals "Eterm"
4971 'trash'
4973 type: boolean
4974 default: true
4975 Use trash directory. See "Trash directory" section below.
4976 'trashdir'
4978 type: string
4979 default:
4980 on *nix:
4981 "%r/.vifm-Trash-%u,$XDG_DATA_HOME/vifm/Trash,%r/.vifm-Trash"
4982 or
4983 "%r/.vifm-Trash-%u,$VIFM/Trash,%r/.vifm-Trash"
4984 on Windows:
4985 "%r/.vifm-Trash,$XDG_DATA_HOME/vifm/Trash"
4986 or
4987 "%r/.vifm-Trash,$VIFM/vifm/Trash"
4988 List of trash directory path specifications, separated with com‐
4989 mas. Each list item either defines an absolute path to trash
4990 directory or a path relative to a mount point root when list el‐
4991 ement starts with "%r/". Value of the option can contain envi‐
4992 ronment variables (of form "$envname"), which will be expanded
4993 (prepend $ with a slash to prevent expansion). Environment
4994 variables are expanded when the option is set.
4995 On *nix, if element ends with "%u", the mark is replaced with
4997 real user ID and permissions are set so that only that only
4998 owner is able to use it.
4999 Note that even this setup is not completely secure when combined
5000 with "%r/" and it's overall safer to keep files in home direc‐
5001 tory, but that implies cost of copying files between partitions.
5002 When new file gets cut (deleted) vifm traverses each element of
5004 the option in the order of their appearance and uses first trash
5005 directory that it was able to create or that is already
5006 writable.
5007 Default value tries to use trash directory per mount point and
5009 falls back to trash common trash directory on failure.
5010 Will attempt to create the directory if it does not exist. See
5012 "Trash directory" section below.
5013 'tuioptions' 'to'
5015 type: charset
5016 default: "psv"
5017 Each flag configures some aspect of TUI appearance. The flags
5018 are:
5019 p - when included:
5020 * file list inside a pane gets additional single character
5021 padding on left and right sides;
5022 * quick view and view mode get single character padding.
5023 s - when included, left and right borders (side borders, hence
5024 "s" character) are visible.
5025 u - use Unicode characters in the TUI (Unicode ellipsis instead
5026 of "...").
5027 v - vary width of vertical middle border to equalize view sizes.
5028 Each pane title contains the path of the listed directory. If
5030 too large, the path is truncated on the left for the active pane
5031 and on the right for the other pane. This can be modified with:
5032 l - truncation is always on the left.
5034 r - truncation is always on the right.
5035 'undolevels' 'ul'
5037 type: integer
5038 default: 100
5039 Maximum number of changes that can be undone. Note that here
5040 single file operation is used as a unit, not operation, i.e.
5041 deletion of 101 files will exceed default limit.
5042 'vicmd'
5044 type: string
5045 default: "vim"
5046 Command used to edit files in various contexts. Ampersand sign
5047 at the end (regardless whether it's preceded by space or not)
5048 means backgrounding of command.
5049 Background flag is ignored in certain context where vifm waits
5051 for the editor to finish. Such contexts include any command
5052 that spawns editor to change list of file names or a command,
5053 with :rename being one example. `-f` is also appended to pre‐
5054 vent forking in such cases, so the command needs to handle the
5055 flag.
5056 Additionally `+{num}` and `+'call cursor()'` arguments are used
5058 to position cursor when location is known.
5059 'viewcolumns'
5061 type: string
5062 default: ""
5063 scope: local
5064 Format string containing list of columns in the view. When this
5065 option is empty, view columns to show are chosen automatically
5066 using sorting keys (see 'sort') as a base. Value of this option
5067 is ignored if 'lsview' is set. See "Column view" section below
5068 for format description.
5069 An example of setting the options for both panes (note :windo
5071 command):
5072 windo set viewcolumns=-{name}..,6{size},11{perms}
5074 'vixcmd'
5076 type: string
5077 default: value of 'vicmd'
5078 Same as 'vicmd', but takes precedence over it when running in‐
5079 side a graphical environment.
5080 'vifminfo'
5082 type: set
5083 default: bookmarks,bmarks
5084 Controls what will be saved in the $VIFM/vifminfo file.
5085 bmarks - named bookmarks (see :bmark command)
5087 bookmarks - marks, except special ones like '< and '>
5088 tui - state of the user interface (sorting, number of
5089 windows, quick
5090 view state, active view)
5091 dhistory - directory history
5092 state - file name and dot filters and terminal multiplex‐
5093 ers integration
5094 state
5095 cs - primary color scheme
5096 savedirs - save last visited directory
5097 chistory - command line history
5098 ehistory - expression register history (see description of
5099 Ctrl+R =
5100 in command-line mode)
5101 shistory - search history (/ and ? commands)
5102 phistory - prompt history
5103 fhistory - history of local filter (see description of the
5104 "=" normal mode
5105 command)
5106 dirstack - directory stack overwrites previous stack, unless
5107 stack of
5108 current instance is empty
5109 registers - registers content
5110 tabs - global or pane tabs
5111 options - all options that can be set with the :set command
5112 (obsolete)
5113 filetypes - associated programs and viewers (obsolete)
5114 commands - user defined commands (see :command description)
5115 (obsolete)
5116 'vimhelp'
5118 type: boolean
5119 default: false
5120 Use vim help format.
5121 'wildmenu' 'wmnu'
5123 type: boolean
5124 default: false
5125 Controls whether possible matches of completion will be shown
5126 above the command line.
5127 'wildstyle'
5129 type: enumeration
5130 default: bar
5131 Picks presentation style of wild menu. Possible values:
5132 - bar - one-line with left-to-right cursor
5133 - popup - multi-line with top-to-bottom cursor
5134 'wordchars'
5136 type: string list
5137 default: "1-8,14-31,33-255" (that is all non-whitespace charac‐
5138 ters)
5139 Specifies which characters in command-line mode should be con‐
5140 sidered as part of a word. Value of the option is comma-sepa‐
5141 rated list of ranges. If both endpoints of a range match, sin‐
5142 gle endpoint is enough (e.g. "a" = "a-a"). Both endpoints are
5143 inclusive. There are two accepted forms: character representing
5144 itself or number encoding character according to ASCII table.
5145 In case of ambiguous characters (dash, comma, digit) use numeric
5146 form. Accepted characters are in the range from 0 to 255. Any
5147 Unicode character with code greater than 255 is considered to be
5148 part of a word.
5149 The option affects Alt-D, Alt-B and Alt-F, but not Ctrl-W. This
5151 is intentionally to allow two use cases:
5152 - Moving by WORDS and deletion by words.
5154 - Moving by words and deletion by WORDS.
5155 To get the latter use the following mapping:
5157 cnoremap <c-w> <a-b><a-d>
5159 Also used for abbreviations.
5161 'wrap' type: boolean
5163 default: true
5164 Controls whether to wrap text in quick view.
5165 'wrapscan' 'ws'
5167 type: boolean
5168 default: true
5169 Searches wrap around end of the list.
5170
5172 A user mapping like `nnoremap lhs rhs` defines a substitution of the
5173 left-hand-side (LHS) with the right-hand-side (RHS) in the input
5174 stream. A regular mapping (without "nore" in :command's name) expands
5175 recognized sequences in the RHS, while "*noremap" mapping always inter‐
5176 prets RHS as if no user mappings were defined and each key has its
5177 builtin meaning. In most cases you want to use noremap variant and if
5178 your RHS includes LHS, only noremap variant will work because recursion
5179 in a mapping is not allowed.
5180 In order to define a mapping determine in which mode you want to acti‐
5182 vate it and use an appropriate "*noremap" :command (e.g., :nnoremap for
5183 a normal mode mapping). RHS doesn't have to limit itself to the mode
5184 in which the mapping was started and can span multiple modes.
5185 Map arguments
5187 LHS of mappings can be preceded by arguments which take the form of
5189 special sequences:
5190 <silent>
5192 Postpone UI updates until RHS is completely processed.
5193 <wait> In case of builtin mapping causing conflict for a user-defined
5195 mapping (e.g., `t` builtin to a partially typed `ta` user-de‐
5196 fined mapping), ignore the builtin mapping and wait for input
5197 indefinitely as opposed to default behaviour of triggering the
5198 builtin mapping after a delay defined by 'timeoutlen'. Example:
5199 nnoremap <wait> tw :set wrap!<cr>
5201 nnoremap <wait> tn :set number!<cr>
5202 nnoremap <wait> tr :set relativenumber!<cr>
5203 Special sequences
5205 Since it's not easy to enter special characters there are several spe‐
5207 cial sequences that can be used in place of them. They are:
5208 <cr> Enter key.
5210 <esc> Escape key.
5212 <space>
5214 Space key.
5215 <lt> Less-than character (<).
5217 <nop> provides a way to disable a mapping (by mapping it to <nop>).
5219 <bs> Backspace key (see key conflict description below).
5221 <tab> <s-tab>
5223 Tabulation and Shift+Tabulation keys.
5224 <home> <end>
5226 Home/End.
5227 <left> <right> <up> <down>
5229 Arrow keys.
5230 <pageup> <pagedown>
5232 PageUp/PageDown.
5233 <del> <delete>
5235 Delete key. <del> and <delete> mean different codes, but
5236 <delete> is more common.
5237 <insert>
5239 Insert key.
5240 <s-home> <s-end>
5242 <s-left> <s-right> <s-up> <s-down>
5243 <s-pageup> <s-pagedown>
5244 <s-delete> <s-insert>
5245 Shift + one of the keys from above, if terminal and its ter‐
5246 minfo supports it.
5247 <c-a>,<c-b>,...,<c-z>,<c-[>,<c->,<c-]>,<c-^>,<c-_>
5249 Control + some key (see key conflict description below).
5250 <c-@> {only for *nix}
5252 Control + Space.
5253 <a-a>,<a-b>,...,<a-z>
5255 <m-a>,<m-b>,...,<m-z>
5256 <a-0>,<a-1>,...,<a-9> {only for *nix}
5257 <m-0>,<m-1>,...,<m-9> {only for *nix}
5258 Alt + some key.
5259 <a-s-a>,<a-s-b>,...,<a-s-z> {only for *nix}
5261 <s-a-a>,<s-a-b>,...,<s-a-z> {only for *nix}
5262 <m-s-a>,<m-s-b>,...,<m-s-z> {only for *nix}
5263 <s-m-a>,<s-m-b>,...,<s-m-z> {only for *nix}
5264 Alt + Shift + some key.
5265 <a-c-a>,<a-c-b>,...,<a-c-z> {only for *nix}
5267 <m-c-a>,<m-c-b>,...,<m-c-z> {only for *nix}
5268 Alt + Ctrl + some key.
5269 <f0> - <f63>
5271 Functional keys.
5272 <c-f1> - <c-f12> {only for MS-Windows}
5274 functional keys with Control key pressed.
5275 <a-f1> - <a-f12> {only for MS-Windows}
5277 functional keys with Alt key pressed.
5278 <s-f1> - <s-f12> {only for MS-Windows}
5280 functional keys with Shift key pressed.
5281 Note that due to the way terminals process their input, several key‐
5283 board keys might be mapped to single key code, for example:
5284 - <cr> and <c-m>;
5286 - <tab> and <c-i>;
5288 - <c-h> and <bs> and <del>;
5290 - etc.
5292 Most of the time they are defined consistently and don't cause sur‐
5294 prises, but <c-h> and <bs> are treated differently in different envi‐
5295 ronments (although they match each other all the time), that's why they
5296 correspond to different keys in vifm. As a consequence, if you map <c-
5297 h> or <bs> be sure to repeat the mapping with the other one so that it
5298 works in all environments. Alternatively, provide your mapping in one
5299 form and add one of the following:
5300 " if mappings with <c-h> in the LHS work
5302 map <c-h> <bs>
5303 " if mappings with <bs> in the LHS work
5304 map <bs> <c-h>
5305 Also sometimes neither of them might work and it's <del> key which cor‐
5307 responds to your backspace (don't mind the name).
5308 Whitespace
5310 vifm removes whitespace characters at the beginning and end of com‐
5312 mands. That's why you may want to use <space> at the end of rhs in
5313 mappings. For example:
5314 cmap <f1> man<space>
5316 will put "man " in line when you hit the <f1> key in the command line
5318 mode.
5319
5321 Supported expressions is a subset of what VimL provides.
5322 Expression syntax summary, from least to most significant:
5324 expr1 expr2
5326 expr2 || expr2 .. logical OR
5327 expr2 expr3
5329 expr3 && expr3 .. logical AND
5330 expr3 expr4
5332 expr4 == expr4 equal
5333 expr4 != expr4 not equal
5334 expr4 > expr4 greater than
5335 expr4 >= expr4 greater than or equal
5336 expr4 < expr4 smaller than
5337 expr4 <= expr4 smaller than or equal
5338 expr4 expr5
5340 expr5 + expr5 .. number addition
5341 expr5 - expr5 .. number subtraction
5342 expr5 expr6
5344 expr6 . expr6 .. string concatenation
5345 expr6 expr7
5347 - expr6 unary minus
5348 + expr6 unary plus
5349 ! expr6 logical NOT
5350 expr7 number number constant
5352 "string" string constant, \ is special
5353 'string' string constant, ' is doubled
5354 &option option value
5355 $VAR environment variable
5356 v:var builtin variable
5357 function(expr1, ...) function call
5358 (expr1) nested expression
5359 ".." indicates that the operations in this level can be concatenated.
5361 expr1
5363 -----
5364 expr2 || expr2
5365 Arguments are converted to numbers before evaluation.
5367 Result is non-zero if at least one of arguments is non-zero.
5369 It's right associative and with short-circuiting, so sub-expressions
5371 are evaluated from left to right until result of whole expression is
5372 determined (i.e., until first non-zero) or end of the expression.
5373 expr2
5375 -----
5376 expr3 && expr3
5377 Arguments are converted to numbers before evaluation.
5379 Result is non-zero only if both arguments are non-zero.
5381 It's right associative and with short-circuiting, so sub-expressions
5383 are evaluated from left to right until result of whole expression is
5384 determined (i.e., until first zero) or end of the expression.
5385 expr3
5387 -----
5388 expr4 {cmp} expr4
5389 Compare two expr4 expressions, resulting in a 0 if it evaluates to
5391 false or 1 if it evaluates to true.
5392 equal ==
5394 not equal !=
5395 greater than >
5396 greater than or equal >=
5397 smaller than <
5398 smaller than or equal <=
5399 Examples:
5401 'a' == 'a' == 1
5403 'a' > 'b' == 1
5404 'a' == 'b' == 0
5405 '2' > 'b' == 0
5406 2 > 'b' == 1
5407 2 > '1b' == 1
5408 2 > '9b' == 0
5409 -1 == -'1' == 1
5410 0 == '--1' == 1
5411 expr4
5413 -----
5414 expr5 + expr5 .. number addition expr5 - expr5 .. number sub‐
5415 traction
5416 Examples:
5418 1 + 3 - 3 == 1
5420 1 + '2' == 3
5421 expr5
5423 -----
5424 expr6 . expr6 .. string concatenation
5425 Examples:
5427 'a' . 'b' == 'ab'
5429 'aaa' . '' . 'c' == 'aaac'
5430 expr6
5432 -----
5433 - expr6 unary minus
5435 + expr6 unary plus
5436 ! expr6 logical NOT
5437 For '-' the sign of the number is changed.
5439 For '+' the number is unchanged.
5440 For '!' non-zero becomes zero, zero becomes one.
5441 A String will be converted to a Number first.
5443 These operations can be repeated and mixed. Examples:
5445 --9 == 9
5447 ---9 == -9
5448 -+9 == 9
5449 !-9 == 0
5450 !'' == 1
5451 !'x' == 0
5452 !!9 == 1
5453 expr7
5455 -----
5456 number number constant
5458 -----
5459 Decimal number. Examples:
5461 0 == 0
5463 0000 == 0
5464 01 == 1
5465 123 == 123
5466 10000 == 10000
5467 string
5469 ------
5470 "string" string constant
5471 Note that double quotes are used.
5473 A string constant accepts these special characters:
5475 \b backspace <bs>
5476 \e escape <esc>
5477 \n newline
5478 \r return <cr>
5479 \t tab <tab>
5480 \\ backslash
5481 \" double quote
5482 Examples:
5484 "\"Hello,\tWorld!\""
5486 "Hi,\nthere!"
5487 literal-string
5489 --------------
5490 'string' string constant
5491 Note that single quotes are used.
5493 This string is taken as it is. No backslashes are removed or have a
5495 special meaning. The only exception is that two quotes stand for one
5496 quote.
5497 Examples:
5499 'All\slashes\are\saved.'
5501 'This string contains doubled single quotes ''here'''
5502 option
5504 ------
5505 &option option value (local one is preferred, if exists)
5506 &g:option global option value &l:option local
5507 option value
5508 Examples:
5510 echo 'Terminal size: '.&columns.'x'.&lines
5512 if &columns > 100
5513 Any valid option name can be used here (note that "all" in ":set all"
5515 is a pseudo option). See ":set options" section above.
5516 environment variable
5518 --------------------
5519 $VAR environment variable
5520 The String value of any environment variable. When it is not defined,
5522 the result is an empty string.
5523 Examples:
5525 'This is my $PATH env: ' . $PATH
5527 'vifmrc at ' . $MYVIFMRC . ' is used.'
5528 builtin variable
5530 --------------------
5531 v:var builtin variable
5532 Information exposed by vifm for use in scripting.
5534 v:count
5536 count passed to : command, 0 by default. Can be used in mappings to
5537 passthe count to a different command.
5538 v:count1
5539 same as v:count, but 1 by default.
5540 v:jobcount
5541 number of active jobs (as can be seen in the :jobs menu).
5542 v:session
5543 name of the current session or empty string.
5544 v:servername
5545 See below.
5546 function call
5548 -------------
5549 function(expr1, ...) function call
5550 See "Functions" section below.
5552 Examples:
5554 "'" . filetype('.') . "'"
5556 filetype('.') == 'reg'
5557 expression nesting
5559 ------------------
5560 (expr1) nested expression
5561 Groups any other expression of arbitrary complexity enforcing order in
5563 which operators are applied.
5564
5567 USAGE RESULT DESCRIPTION
5568 chooseopt({opt}) String Queries choose parameters passed on
5570 startup.
5571 executable({expr}) Integer Checks whether {expr} command avail‐
5572 able.
5573 expand({expr}) String Expands special keywords in {expr}.
5574 extcached({cache}, {path}, {extcmd})
5575 String Caches output of {extcmd} per {cache}
5576 and
5577 {path} combination.
5578 filereadable({path}) Integer Checks whether {expr} points to a
5579 non-directory that can be read.
5580 filetype({fnum} [, {resolve}])
5581 String Returns file type from position.
5582 fnameescape({expr}) String Escapes {expr} for use in a :command.
5583 getpanetype() String Returns type of current pane.
5584 has({property}) Integer Checks whether instance has {prop‐
5585 erty}.
5586 input({prompt} [, {initial} [, {completion}]])
5587 String Prompts user for an input on command-
5588 line.
5589 layoutis({type}) Integer Checks whether layout is of type
5590 {type}.
5591 paneisat({loc}) Integer Checks whether current pane is at
5592 {loc}.
5593 system({command}) String Executes shell command and returns
5594 its output.
5595 tabpagenr([{arg}]) Integer Returns number of current or last
5596 tab.
5597 term({command}) String Like system(), but for interactive
5598 commands.
5599 chooseopt({opt})
5601 Retrieves values of options related to file choosing. {opt} can be one
5603 of:
5604 files returns argument of --choose-files or empty string
5605 dir returns argument of --choose-dir or empty string
5606 cmd returns argument of --on-choose or empty string
5607 delimiter returns argument of --delimiter or the default one (\n)
5608 executable({expr})
5610 If {expr} is absolute or relative path, checks whether path destination
5612 exists and refers to an executable, otherwise checks whether command
5613 named {expr} is present in directories listed in $PATH. Checks for
5614 various executable extensions on Windows. Returns boolean value de‐
5615 scribing result of the check.
5616 Example:
5618 " use custom default viewer script if it's available and installed
5620 " in predefined system directory, otherwise try to find it elsewhere
5621 if executable('/usr/local/bin/defviewer')
5622 fileview * /usr/local/bin/defviewer %c
5623 else
5624 if executable('defviewer')
5625 fileview * defviewer %c
5626 endif
5627 endif
5628 expand({expr})
5630 Expands environment variables and macros in {expr} (in this order).
5632 Returns a string. See "Command macros" section above.
5633 Examples:
5635 " percent sign
5637 :echo expand('%%')
5638 " the last part of directory name of the other pane
5639 :echo expand('%D:t')
5640 " $PATH environment variable (same as `:echo $PATH`)
5641 :echo expand('$PATH')
5642 " full path to the current file with backslashes
5643 :echo expand('%c:p:gs!/!\!')
5644 extcached({cache}, {path}, {extcmd})
5646 Caches value of {extcmd} external command automatically updating it as
5648 necessary based on monitoring change date of a {path}. The cache is
5649 invalidated when file or its meta-data is updated. A single path can
5650 have multiple caches associated with it.
5651 {path} value is normalized, but symbolic links in it aren't resolved.
5653 Example:
5655 " display number and size of blocks actually used by a file or directory
5657 set statusline+=" Uses: %{ extcached('uses',
5658 expand('%c'),
5659 expand('stat --format=%%bx%%B %c')) }"
5660 filereadable({path})
5662 Checks whether {path} exists and refers to a non-directory entry and
5664 its permissions allow reading. Returns boolean value describing result
5665 of the check.
5666 filetype({fnum} [, {resolve}])
5668 The result is a string, which represents file type and is one of the
5670 list:
5671 exe executables
5672 reg regular files
5673 link symbolic links
5674 broken broken symbolic links (appears only when resolving)
5675 dir directories
5676 char character devices
5677 block block devices
5678 fifo pipes
5679 sock *nix domain sockets
5680 ? unknown file type (should not normally happen) or
5681 non-file (pseudo-entries in compare view)
5682 The result can also be an empty string in case of invalid argument.
5684 Parameter {fnum} can have following values:
5686 - '.' to get type of file under the cursor in the active pane
5687 - numerical value base 1 to get type of file on specified line num‐
5688 ber
5689 Optional parameter {resolve} is treated as a boolean and specifies
5691 whether symbolic links should be resolved.
5692 fnameescape({expr})
5694 Escapes parameter to make it suitable for use as an argument of a :com‐
5696 mand. List of escaped characters includes %, which is doubled.
5697 Usage example:
5699 " navigate to most recently modified file in current directory
5701 execute 'goto' fnameescape(system('ls -t | head -1'))
5702 getpanetype()
5704 Retrieves string describing type of current pane. Possible return val‐
5706 ues:
5707 regular regular file listing of some directory
5708 custom custom file list (%u)
5709 very-custom very custom file list (%U)
5710 tree tree view
5711 compare compare view
5712 has({property})
5714 Allows examining internal parameters from scripts to e.g. figure out
5716 environment in which application is running. Returns 1 if property is
5717 true/present, otherwise 0 is returned. Currently the following proper‐
5718 ties are supported (anything else will yield 0):
5719 unix runs in *nix-like environment (including Cygwin)
5720 win runs on Windows
5721 #* whether particular Lua handler exists
5722 Usage example:
5724 " skip user/group on Windows
5726 if !has('win')
5727 let $RIGHTS = '%10u:%-7g '
5728 endif
5729 execute 'set' 'statusline=" %t%= %A '.$RIGHTS.'%15E %20d "'
5731 input({prompt} [, {initial} [, {completion}]])
5733 Creates a command-line prompt to obtain user's input. Initial value
5735 can be supplied as an optional second parameter, otherwise empty string
5736 is used.
5737 Optional third parameter specifies kind of completion, which can be one
5739 of:
5740 dir paths to directories
5741 file paths to files and directories
5742 "" (empty string, default) no completion
5743 Note that behaviour differs from Vim where executing a mapping like
5745 nnoremap j :echo input('text: ')<cr>input
5746 leaves you in a prompt mode with "input" typed in. Vifm will wait for
5747 leaving the prompt and then continue executing the mapping.
5748 Usage example:
5750 nnoremap ,m : let $DIR_NAME = input('mkdir: ', '', 'dir')
5752 \| if $DIR_NAME != ''
5753 \| execute 'mkdir' fnameescape($DIR_NAME)
5754 \| endif<cr>
5755 layoutis({type})
5757 Checks whether current interface layout is {type} or not, where {type}
5759 can be:
5760 only single-pane mode
5761 split double-pane mode (either vertical or horizontal split)
5762 vsplit vertical split (left and right panes)
5763 hsplit horizontal split (top and bottom panes)
5764 Usage example:
5766 " automatically split vertically before enabling preview
5768 :nnoremap w :if layoutis('only') | vsplit | endif | view!<cr>
5769 paneisat({loc})
5771 Checks whether position of active pane in current layout matches one of
5773 the following locations:
5774 top pane reaches top border
5775 bottom pane reaches bottom border
5776 left pane reaches left border
5777 right pane reaches right border
5778 system({command})
5780 Runs the command in shell and returns its output (joined standard out‐
5782 put and standard error streams). All trailing newline characters are
5783 stripped to allow easy appending to command output. Ctrl-C should in‐
5784 terrupt the command.
5785 Use this function to consume output of external commands that don't re‐
5787 quire user interaction and term() for interactive commands that make
5788 use of terminal and are capable of handling stream redirection.
5789 Usage example:
5791 " command to enter .git/ directory of git-repository (when ran inside one)
5793 command! cdgit :execute 'cd' fnameescape(system('git rev-parse --git-dir'))
5794 tabpagenr([{arg}])
5796 When called without arguments returns number of current tab page base
5798 one.
5799 When called with "$" as an argument returns number of the last tab page
5801 base one, which is the same as number of tabs.
5802 term({command})
5804 Same as system() function, but user interface is shutdown during the
5806 execution of the command, which makes sure that external interactive
5807 applications won't affect the way terminal is used by vifm.
5808 Usage example:
5810 " command to change directory by picking it via fzf
5812 command! fzfcd :execute 'cd'
5813 fnameescape(term('find -type d | fzf 2> /dev/tty'))
5814
5816 When navigating to some path from a menu there is a difference in end
5817 location depending on whether path has trailing slash or not. Files
5818 normally don't have trailing slashes so "file/" won't work and one can
5819 only navigate to a file anyway. On the other hand with directories
5820 there are two options: navigate to a directory or inside of it. To al‐
5821 low both use cases, the first one is used on paths like "dir" and the
5822 second one for "dir/".
5823 Commands
5825 :range navigate to a menu line.
5827 :exi[t][!] :q[uit][!] :x[it][!]
5829 leave menu mode.
5830 :noh[lsearch]
5832 reset search match highlighting.
5833 :w[rite] {dest}
5835 write all menu lines into file specified by {dest}.
5836 General
5838 j, Ctrl-N - move down.
5840 k, Ctrl-P - move up.
5841 Enter, l - select and exit the menu.
5842 Ctrl-L - redraw the menu.
5843 Escape, Ctrl-C, ZZ, ZQ, q - quit.
5845 In all menus
5847 The following set of keys has the same meaning as in normal mode.
5849 Ctrl-B, Ctrl-F
5851 Ctrl-D, Ctrl-U
5852 Ctrl-E, Ctrl-Y
5853 /, ?
5854 n, N
5855 [count]G, [count]gg
5856 H, M, L
5857 zb, zt, zz
5858 zh - scroll menu items [count] characters to the right.
5860 zl - scroll menu items [count] characters to the left.
5861 zH - scroll menu items half of screen width characters to the right.
5862 zL - scroll menu items half of screen width characters to the left.
5863 : - enter command line mode for menus (currently only :exi[t], :q[uit],
5865 :x[it] and :{range} are supported).
5866 b - interpret content of the menu as list of paths and use it to create
5868 custom view in place of previously active pane. See "Custom views"
5869 section below.
5870 B - same as above, but creates unsorted view.
5871 v - load menu content into quickfix list of the editor (Vim compatible
5873 by assumption) or if list doesn't have separators after file names
5874 (colons) open each line as a file name.
5875 Below is description of additional commands and reaction on selection
5878 in some menus and dialogs.
5879 Apropos menu
5881 Selecting menu item runs man on a given topic. Menu won't be closed
5883 automatically to allow view several pages one by one.
5884 Command-line mode abbreviations menu
5886 Type dd on an abbreviation to remove it.
5888 c leaves menu preserving file selection and inserts right-hand side of
5890 selected command into command-line.
5891 Color scheme menu
5893 Selecting name of a color scheme applies it the same way as if ":col‐
5895 orscheme <name>" was executed on the command-line.
5896 Commands menu
5898 Selecting command executes it with empty arguments (%a).
5900 dd on a command to remove.
5902 Marks menu
5904 Selecting mark navigates to it.
5906 dd on a mark to remove it.
5908 Bookmarks menu
5910 Selecting a bookmark navigates to it.
5912 Type dd on a bookmark to remove it.
5914 gf and e also work to make it more convenient to bookmark files.
5916 Trash (:lstrash) menu
5918 r on a file name to restore it from trash.
5920 dd deletes file under the cursor.
5922 Trashes (:trashes) menu
5924 dd empties selected trash in background.
5926 Directory history and Trashes menus
5928 Selecting directory name will change directory of the current view as
5930 if :cd command was used.
5931 Directory stack menu
5933 Selecting directory name will rotate stack to put selected directory
5935 pair at the top of the stack.
5936 File (:file) menu
5938 Commands from vifmrc or typed in command-line are displayed above empty
5940 line. All commands below empty line are from .desktop files.
5941 c leaves menu preserving file selection and inserts command after :! in
5943 command-line mode.
5944 Grep, find, locate, bookmarks and user menu with navigation (%M macro)
5946 gf - navigate previously active view to currently selected item.
5948 Leaves menu mode except for grep menu. Pressing Enter key has the same
5949 effect.
5950 e - open selected path in the editor, stays in menu mode.
5952 c - leave menu preserving file selection and insert file name after :!
5954 in command-line mode.
5955 User menu without navigation (%m macro)
5957 c leaves menu preserving file selection and inserts whole line after :!
5959 in command-line mode.
5960 Grep menu
5962 Selecting file (via Enter or l key) opens it in editor set by 'vicmd'
5964 at given line number. Menu won't be closed automatically to allow
5965 viewing more than one result.
5966 See above for "gf" and "e" keys description.
5968 Command-line history menu
5970 Selecting an item executes it as command-line command, search query or
5972 local filter.
5973 c leaves menu preserving file selection and inserts line into command-
5975 line of appropriate kind.
5976 Volumes menu
5978 Selecting a drive navigates previously active pane to the root of that
5980 drive.
5981 Fileinfo dialog
5983 Enter, q - close dialog
5985 Sort dialog
5987 h, Space - switch ascending/descending.
5989 q - close dialog
5990 One shortcut per sorting key (see the dialog).
5992 Attributes (permissions or properties) dialog
5994 h, Space - check/uncheck.
5996 q - close dialog
5997 r - (*nix only) (un)set all read bits
5998 w - (*nix only) (un)set all write bits
5999 x - (*nix only) (un)set all execute bits
6000 s - (*nix only) (un)set all special (SetUID, SetGID, Sticky) bits
6001 e - (*nix only) (un)set recursion (for directories only)
6002 Item states:
6004 - * - checked flag.
6006 - X - means that it has different value for files in selection.
6008 - d (*nix only) - (only for execute flags) means u-x+X, g-x+X or o-x+X
6010 argument for the chmod program. If you're not on OS X and want to
6011 remove execute permission bit from all files, but preserve it for di‐
6012 rectories, set all execute flags to 'd' and check 'Set Recursively'
6013 flag.
6014 Jobs menu (:jobs)
6016 dd - request cancellation of job under cursor. The job won't be re‐
6018 moved from the list, but marked as being cancelled (if cancellation was
6019 successfully requested). A message will pop up if the job has already
6020 stopped. Note that on Windows cancelling external programs like this
6021 might not work, because their parent shell doesn't have any windows.
6022 e - display errors of selected job if any were collected. They are
6024 displayed in a new menu, but you can get back to jobs menu by pressing
6025 h.
6026 r - reload the list of jobs.
6028 Undolist menu
6031 r - reset undo position to group under the cursor.
6033 Media menu
6036 Selecting a device either mounts (if it wasn't mounted yet) or navi‐
6038 gates to its first mount point.
6039 Selecting a mount point navigates to it.
6041 Selecting "not mounted" line causes mounting.
6043 Selecting any other line does nothing.
6045 r - reload the list.
6047 m - mount/unmount device (cursor should be positioned on lines under
6049 device information).
6050 [ - put cursor on the previous device.
6052 ] - put cursor on the next device.
6054 Plugins menu
6057 e - display log messages of selected plugin if any were collected.
6059 They are displayed in a new menu, but you can get back to plugins menu
6060 by pressing h.
6061 gf - navigate previously active view to the location of selected
6063 plugin. Leaves menu mode.
6064
6067 Definition
6068 Normally file views contain list of files from a single directory, but
6070 sometimes it's useful to populate them with list of files that do not
6071 belong to the same directory, which is what custom views are for.
6072 Presentation
6074 Custom views are still related to directory they were in before custom
6076 list was loaded. Path to that directory (original directory) can be
6077 seen in the title of a custom view.
6078 Files in same directory have to be named differently, this doesn't hold
6080 for custom views thus seeing just file names might be rather confusing.
6081 In order to give an idea where files come from and when possible, rela‐
6082 tive paths to original directory of the view is displayed, otherwise
6083 full path is used instead.
6084 Custom views normally don't contain any inexistent files.
6086 Navigation
6088 Custom views have some differences related to navigation in regular
6090 views.
6091 gf - acts similar to gf on symbolic links and navigates to the file at
6093 its real
6094 location.
6095 h - go to closes parent node in tree view, otherwise return to the
6097 original directory.
6098 gh - return to the original directory.
6100 Opening ".." entry also causes return to the original directory.
6102 History
6104 Custom list exists only while it's visible, once left one can't return
6106 to it, so there is no appearances of it in any history.
6107 Filters
6109 Only local filter affects content of the view. This is intentional,
6111 presumably if one loads list, precisely that list should be displayed
6112 (except for inexistent paths, which are ignored).
6113 Search
6115 Although directory names are visible in listing, they are not search‐
6117 able. Only file names are taken into account (might be changed in fu‐
6118 ture, searching whole lines seems quite reasonable).
6119 Sorting
6121 Contrary to search sorting by name works on whole visible part of file
6123 path.
6124 Highlight
6126 Whole file name is highlighted as one entity, even if there are direc‐
6128 tory elements.
6129 Updates
6131 Reloads can occur, though they are not automatic due to files being
6133 scattered among different places. On a reload, inexistent files are
6134 removed and meta-data of all other files is updated.
6135 Once custom view forgets about the file, it won't add it back even if
6137 it's created again. So not seeing file previously affected by an oper‐
6138 ation, which was undone is normal.
6139 Operations
6141 All operations that add files are forbidden for custom views. For ex‐
6143 ample, moving/copying/putting files into a custom view doesn't work,
6144 because it doesn't make much sense.
6145 On the other hand, operations that use files of a custom view as a
6147 source (e.g. yanking, copying, moving file from custom view, deletion)
6148 and operations that modify names are all allowed.
6149
6151 Kinds
6152 :compare can produce four different results depending on arguments:
6154 - single compare view (ofone and either listall or listdups);
6155 - single custom view (ofone and listunique);
6156 - two compare views (ofboth and either listall or listdups);
6157 - two custom views (ofboth and listunique).
6158 The first two display files of one file system tree. Here duplicates
6160 are files that have at least one copy in the same tree. The other two
6161 kinds of operation compare two trees, in which duplicates are files
6162 that are found in both trees.
6163 Lists of unique files are presented in custom views because there is no
6165 file grouping to preserve as all file ids are guaranteed to be dis‐
6166 tinct.
6167 Creation
6169 Arguments passed to :compare form seven categories each with its own
6171 prefix and is responsible for particular property of operation.
6172 Which files to compare:
6174 - ofboth - compares files of two panes against each other;
6175 - ofone - compares files of the same directory.
6176 How files are compared:
6178 - byname - by their name only;
6179 - bysize - only by their size;
6180 - bycontents - by data they contain (combination of size and hash of
6181 small chunk of contents is used as first approximation, so don't worry
6182 too much about large files).
6183 Which files to display:
6185 - listall - all files;
6186 - listunique - unique files only;
6187 - listdups - only duplicated files.
6188 How results are grouped (has no effect if "ofone" specified):
6190 - groupids - files considered identical are always adjacent in out‐
6191 put;
6192 - grouppaths - file system ordering is preferred (this also enables
6193 displaying identically named files as mismatches).
6194 Which files to omit:
6196 - skipempty - ignore empty files.
6197 Comparison tweaks:
6199 - withicase - ignore case when comparing file names/paths;
6200 - withrcase - respect case when comparing file names/paths.
6201 Which results to show (has no effect for single pane comparison):
6203 - showidentical - toggle showing of identical files;
6204 - showdifferent - toggle showing of different files;
6205 - showuniqueleft - toggle showing of unique top/left files;
6206 - showuniqueright - toggle showing of unique bottom/right files.
6207 Each argument can appear multiple times, the rightmost one of the group
6209 is considered. Arguments alter default behaviour instead of substitut‐
6210 ing it.
6211 When neither "withicase" nor "withrcase" is specified, case depends on
6213 the running operating system and the file system on which the files are
6214 located.
6215 Examples
6217 The defaults corresponds to probably the most common use case of com‐
6219 paring files in two trees with grouping by paths, so the following are
6220 equivalent:
6221 :compare
6223 :compare bycontents grouppaths
6224 :compare bycontents listall ofboth grouppaths
6225 :compare showidentical showdifferent showuniqueleft showuniqueright
6226 Another use case is to find duplicates in the current sub-tree:
6228 :compare listdups ofone
6230 The following command lists files that are unique to each pane:
6232 :compare listunique
6234 Look
6236 The view can't switch to ls-like view as it's unable to display diff-
6238 like data.
6239 Comparison views have second column displaying id of the file, files
6241 with same id are considered to be equal. The view columns configura‐
6242 tion is predefined.
6243 The status bar displays only the initial result of the comparison and
6245 can be out of date.
6246 Behaviour
6248 When two views are being compared against each other the following
6250 changes to the regular behaviour apply:
6251 - views are scrolled synchronously (as if 'scrollbind' was set);
6252 - views' cursors are synchronized;
6253 - local filtering is disabled (its results wouldn't be meaningful);
6254 - zd excludes groups of adjacent identical files, 1zd gives usual be‐
6255 haviour;
6256 - sorting is permanently disabled (ordering is fixed);
6257 - removed files hide their counter pairs;
6258 - exiting one of the views terminates the other immediately;
6259 - renaming files isn't blocked, but isn't taken into account and might
6260 require regeneration of comparison;
6261 - entries which indicate absence of equivalent file have empty names
6262 and can be matched as such;
6263 - when unique files of both views are listed custom views can be
6264 empty, this absence of unique files is stated clearly.
6265 One compare view has similar properties (those that are applicable for
6267 single pane).
6268 Files are gathered in this way:
6270 - recursively starting at current location of the view;
6271 - dot files are excluded if view hides them at the moment of compari‐
6272 son, file name filters are obeyed as well so you end up comparing what
6273 you see;
6274 - directories are not taken into account;
6275 - symbolic links to directories are ignored.
6276
6278 On startup vifm determines several variables that are used during exe‐
6279 cution. They are determined in the order they appear below.
6280 On *nix systems $HOME is normally present and used as is. On Windows
6282 systems vifm tries to find correct home directory in the following or‐
6283 der:
6284 - $HOME variable;
6285 - $USERPROFILE variable (on Windows only);
6286 - a combination of $HOMEDRIVE and $HOMEPATH variables (on Windows
6287 only).
6288 vifm tries to find correct configuration directory by checking the fol‐
6290 lowing places:
6291 - $VIFM variable;
6292 - parent directory of the executable file (on Windows only);
6293 - $HOME/.vifm directory;
6294 - $APPDATA/Vifm directory (on Windows only);
6295 - $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vifm directory;
6296 - $HOME/.config/vifm directory.
6297 vifm tries to find correct configuration file by checking the following
6299 places:
6300 - $MYVIFMRC variable;
6301 - vifmrc in parent directory of the executable file (on Windows only);
6302 - $VIFM/vifmrc file.
6303
6305 See "Startup" section above for the explanations on $VIFM and $MYV‐
6306 IFMRC.
6307 The vifmrc file contains commands that will be executed on vifm
6309 startup. There are two such files: global and local. Global one is at
6310 {prefix}/etc/vifm/vifmrc, see $MYVIFMRC variable description for the
6311 search algorithm used to find local vifmrc. Global vifmrc is loaded
6312 before the local one, so that the later one can redefine anything con‐
6313 figured globally.
6314 Use vifmrc to set settings, mappings, filetypes etc. To use multi line
6316 commands precede each next line with a slash (whitespace before slash
6317 is ignored, but all spaces at the end of the lines are saved). For ex‐
6318 ample:
6319 set
6321 \smartcase
6322 equals "setsmartcase". When
6324 set<space here>
6326 \ smartcase
6327 equals "set smartcase".
6329 The $VIFM/vifminfo file contains generic state of the application. You
6331 can control what is stored in vifminfo by setting 'vifminfo' option.
6332 Vifm always writes this file on exit unless 'vifminfo' option is empty.
6333 Marks, bookmarks, commands, histories, filetypes, fileviewers and reg‐
6334 isters in the file are merged with vifm configuration (which has bigger
6335 priority).
6336 Generally, runtime configuration has bigger priority during merging,
6338 but there are some exceptions:
6339 - directory stack stored in the file is not overwritten unless some‐
6341 thing is changed in vifm instance that performs merge;
6342 - each mark or bookmark is marked with a timestamp, so that newer
6344 value is not overwritten by older one, thus no matter from where it
6345 comes, the newer one wins;
6346 - all histories are marked with timestamps on storing, this means
6348 that last instance to quit puts its elements on top of the list;
6349 - tabs are merged only if both current instance and stored state con‐
6351 tain exactly one tab of any kind.
6352 The $VIFM/scripts directory can contain shell scripts. vifm modifies
6354 its PATH environment variable to let user run those scripts without
6355 specifying full path. All subdirectories of the $VIFM/scripts will be
6356 added to PATH too. Script in a subdirectory overlaps script with the
6357 same name in all its parent directories.
6358 The $VIFM/colors/ and {prefix}/etc/vifm/colors/ directories contain
6360 color schemes. Available color schemes are searched in that order, so
6361 on name conflict the one in $VIFM/colors/ wins.
6362 Each color scheme should have ".vifm" extension. This wasn't the case
6364 before and for this reason the following rules apply during lookup:
6365 - if there is no file with .vifm extension, all regular files are
6367 listed;
6368 - otherwise only files with .vifm extension are listed (with the ex‐
6370 tension being truncated).
6371
6373 Sessions provide a way to have multiple persistent runtime configura‐
6374 tions. Think of them as second-level vifminfo files in addition to the
6375 first-level one used by all sessions. In other words, they aren't a
6376 replacement for vifminfo file that exists without sessions, but an ad‐
6377 dition to it. One can empty 'vifminfo' option and rely solely on ses‐
6378 sions, but in practice one might want to share some state among in‐
6379 stances in different sessions or have an "out-of-sessions" state for
6380 tasks that don't deserve a session of their own.
6381 This leads to a two-level structure where data in session files has
6383 higher priority than data in vifminfo files (where this makes sense)
6384 following the same rules that merging of vifminfo file obeys. In addi‐
6385 tion to that, history items from session files are never ordered before
6386 history items from vifminfo file.
6387 Format
6389 Sessions have the format of vifminfo files, they do not consist of se‐
6391 quence of command-line commands and are not meant to be sourced via
6392 :source command.
6393 Storage and naming
6395 `$VIFM/sessions/` directory serves as a storage for sessions. Conse‐
6397 quently names should be valid filenames. The structure of the storage
6398 is flat meaning that there are no subdirectories, that's why names of
6399 sessions can't contain slashes.
6400 Usage model
6402 Contrary to Vim, vifm automates basic management of sessions. You can
6404 start, switch, stop or delete a session using builtin means.
6405 Current session is saved at the same time vifminfo is saved (on normal
6407 exits or explicitly on :write command) and right before switching to
6408 another session. To avoid saving in those cases use :session command
6409 to detach (without saving) from a session before proceeding.
6410 Related topics
6412 Commands: :session, :delsession
6414 Options: 'sessionoptions'
6415 Variables: v:session
6416
6418 vifm has a builtin support of automated FUSE file system mounts. It is
6419 implemented using file associations mechanism. To enable automated
6420 mounts, one needs to use a specially formatted program line in filetype
6421 or filextype commands. These use special macros, which differ from
6422 macros in commands unrelated to FUSE. Currently three formats are sup‐
6423 ported:
6424 1) FUSE_MOUNT This format should be used in case when all information
6426 needed for mounting all files of a particular type is the same. E.g.
6427 mounting of tar files don't require any file specific options.
6428 Format line:
6430 FUSE_MOUNT|mounter %SOURCE_FILE %DESTINATION_DIR [%FOREGROUND]
6431 Example filetype command:
6433 :filetype FUSE_MOUNT|fuse-zip %SOURCE_FILE %DESTINATION_DIR
6435 2) FUSE_MOUNT2 This format allows one to use specially formatted files
6437 to perform mounting and is useful for mounting remotes, for example re‐
6438 mote file systems over ftp or ssh.
6439 Format line:
6441 FUSE_MOUNT2|mounter %PARAM %DESTINATION_DIR [%FOREGROUND]
6442 Example filetype command:
6444 :filetype *.ssh FUSE_MOUNT2|sshfs %PARAM %DESTINATION_DIR
6446 Example file content:
6448 root@127.0.0.1:/
6450 3) FUSE_MOUNT3
6452 This format is equivalent to FUSE_MOUNT, but omits unmounting. It is
6454 useful for cases, when unmounting isn't needed, like when using AVFS.
6455 Example :filetype command:
6457 :filetype *.tar,*.tar.bz2,*.tbz2,*.tgz,*.tar.gz,*.tar.xz,*.txz,*.deb
6459 \ {Mount with avfs}
6460 \ FUSE_MOUNT3|mount-avfs %DESTINATION_DIR %SOURCE_FILE
6461 Example `mount-avfs` helper script:
6463 #!/bin/sh
6465 dest=$1
6467 file=$2
6468 rmdir "$dest"
6470 ln -s "$HOME/.avfs$file#/" "$dest"
6471 All % macros are expanded by vifm at runtime and have the following
6473 meaning:
6474 - %SOURCE_FILE is replaced by full path to selected file;
6475 - %DESTINATION_DIR is replaced by full path to mount directory, which
6476 is created by vifm basing on the value of 'fusehome' option;
6477 - %PARAM value is filled from the first line of file (whole line),
6478 though in the future it can be changed to whole file content;
6479 - %FOREGROUND means that you want to run mount command as a regular
6480 command (required to be able to provide input for communication with
6481 mounter in interactive way).
6482 %FOREGROUND is an optional macro. Other macros are not mandatory, but
6484 mount commands likely won't work without them.
6485 %CLEAR is obsolete name of %FOREGROUND, which is still supported, but
6487 might be removed in future. Its use is discouraged.
6488 Unlike macros elsewhere, these are recognized only if they appear at
6490 the end of a command or are followed by a space. There is no way to
6491 escape % either. These are historical limitations, which might be ad‐
6492 dressed in the future.
6493 The mounted FUSE file systems will be automatically unmounted in two
6495 cases:
6496 - when vifm quits (with ZZ, :q, etc. or when killed by signal);
6498 - when you explicitly leave mount point going up to its parent direc‐
6500 tory (with h, Enter on "../" or ":cd ..") and other pane is not in
6501 the same directory or its child directories.
6502
6504 vifm supports displaying of file list view in two different ways:
6505 - in a table mode, when multiple columns can be set using 'view‐
6507 columns' option (see "Column view" section below for details);
6508 - in a multicolumn list manner which looks almost like `ls -x` com‐
6510 mand output (see "ls-like view" section below for details).
6511 The look is local for each view and can be chosen by changing value of
6513 the 'lsview' boolean option.
6514 Depending on view look some of keys change their meaning to allow more
6516 natural cursor moving. This concerns mainly h, j, k, l and other simi‐
6517 lar navigation keys.
6518 Also some of options can be ignored if they don't affect view display‐
6520 ing in selected look. For example value of 'viewcolumns' when 'lsview'
6521 is set.
6522
6524 When this view look is enabled by setting 'lsview' option on, vifm will
6525 display files in multiple columns. Number of columns depends on the
6526 length of the longest file name present in current directory of the
6527 view. Whole file list is automatically reflowed on directory change,
6528 terminal or view resize.
6529 View looks close to output of `ls -x` command, so files are listed left
6531 to right in rows.
6532 In this mode file manipulation commands (e.g. d) don't work line-wise
6534 like they do in Vim, since such operations would be uncommon for file
6535 manipulation tasks. Thus, for example, dd will remove only current
6536 file.
6537 By default the view is filled by lines, 'lsoptions' can be used to get
6539 filling by columns.
6540 Note that tree-view and compare view inhibit ls-like view.
6542
6544 View columns are described by a comma-separated list of column descrip‐
6545 tions, each of which has the following format
6546 [ '-' | '*' ] [ fw ( [ '.' tw ] | '%' ) ] '{' type | literal '}'
6547 '.'{0,3}
6548 where fw stands for full width, tw stands for text width, bar is logi‐
6549 cal or, square brackets denote optional parts and curly braces define
6550 range of repetitions for a symbol that precedes them.
6551 So it basically consists of four parts:
6553 1. Optional alignment specifier
6554 2. Optional width specifier
6555 3. Mandatory column name
6556 4. Optional cropping specifier
6557 Alignment specifier
6559 It's an optional minus or asterisk sign as the first symbol of the
6561 string.
6562 Specifies type of text alignment within a column. Three types are sup‐
6564 ported:
6565 - left align
6567 set viewcolumns=-{name}
6569 - right align (default)
6571 set viewcolumns={name}
6573 - dynamic align
6575 It's like left alignment, but when the text is bigger than the col‐
6577 umn, the alignment is made at the right (so the part of the field is
6578 always visible).
6579 set viewcolumns=*{name}
6581 Width specifier
6583 It's a number followed by a percent sign, two numbers (second one
6585 should be less than or equal to the first one) separated with a dot or
6586 a single number.
6587 Specifies column width and its units. There are three size types:
6589 - absolute size - column width is specified in characters
6591 set viewcolumns=-100{name},20.15{ext}
6593 results in two columns with lengths of 100 and 20 and a reserved
6595 space of five characters on the left of second column.
6596 - relative (percent) size - column width is specified in percents of
6598 view width
6599 set viewcolumns=-80%{name},15%{ext},5%{mtime}
6601 results in three columns with lengths of 80/100, 15/100 and 5/100 of
6603 view width.
6604 - auto size (default) - column width is automatically determined
6606 set viewcolumns=-{name},{ext},{mtime}
6608 results in three columns with length of one third of view width.
6610 There is no size adjustment to content, since it will slow down ren‐
6611 dering.
6612 Columns of different sizing types can be freely mixed in one view.
6614 Though sometimes some of columns can be seen partly or be completely
6615 invisible if there is not enough space to display them.
6616 Column contents
6618 This is usually a sorting key surrounded with curly braces, e.g.
6620 {name},{ext},{mtime}
6622 {name} and {iname} types are the same and present both for consistency
6624 with 'sort' option.
6625 Following types don't have corresponding sorting keys:
6627 - {root} - display name without extension (as a complement for
6629 {ext})
6630 - {fileroot} - display name without extension for anything except for
6632 directories and symbolic links to directories (as a complement for
6633 {fileext})
6634 Empty curly braces ({}) are replaced with the default secondary column
6636 for primary sort key. So after the next command view will be displayed
6637 almost as if 'viewcolumns' is empty, but adding ellipsis for long file
6638 names:
6639 set viewcolumns=-{name}..,6{}.
6641 The last kind of column value is a string literal. The literal is used
6643 as a column value for every row. The syntax is "{#literal}", for exam‐
6644 ple:
6645 3{#},{#|},{# | }
6647 This can be used to draw column separators. Mind that for convenience
6649 literals have different defaults: truncation and automatically deter‐
6650 mined absolute size, which is what you usually want for them. Example:
6651 set viewcolumns=*{name}..,{#|},6{}.
6653 Cropping specifier
6655 It's from one to three dots after closing curly brace in column format.
6657 Specifies type of text truncation if it doesn't fit in the column.
6659 Currently three types are supported:
6660 - truncation - text is truncated
6662 set viewcolumns=-{name}.
6664 results in truncation of names that are too long too fit in the
6666 view.
6667 - adding of ellipsis - ellipsis on the left or right are added when
6669 needed
6670 set viewcolumns=-{name}..
6672 results in that ellipsis are added at the end of too long file
6674 names.
6675 - none (default) - text can pass column boundaries
6677 set viewcolumns=-{name}...,{ext}
6679 results in that long file names can partially be written on the ext
6681 column.
6682
6684 The color schemes in vifm can be applied in two different ways:
6685 - as the primary color scheme;
6687 - as local to a pane color scheme.
6689 Both types are set using :colorscheme command, but of different forms:
6691 - :colorscheme color_scheme_name - for the primary color scheme;
6693 - :colorscheme color_scheme_name directory - for local color schemes.
6695 Look of different parts of the TUI (Text User Interface) is determined
6697 in this way:
6698 - Border, TabLine, TabLineSel, TopLineSel, TopLine, CmdLine, Er‐
6700 rorMsg, StatusLine, JobLine, SuggestBox and WildMenu are always de‐
6701 termined by the primary color scheme;
6702 - CurrLine, Selected, Directory, Link, BrokenLink, Socket, Device,
6704 Executable, Fifo, CmpMismatch, CmpUnmatched, CmpBlank, Win, AuxWin
6705 and OtherWin are determined by primary color scheme and a set of
6706 local color schemes, which can be empty.
6707 There might be a set of local color schemes because they are structured
6709 hierarchically according to file system structure. For example, having
6710 the following piece of file system:
6711 ~
6713 `-- bin
6714 |
6715 `-- my
6716 Two color schemes:
6718 # ~/.config/vifm/colors/for_bin.vifm
6720 highlight Win cterm=none ctermfg=white ctermbg=red
6721 highlight CurrLine cterm=none ctermfg=red ctermbg=black
6722 # ~/.config/vifm/colors/for_bin_my.vifm
6724 highlight CurrLine cterm=none ctermfg=green ctermbg=black
6725 And these three commands in the vifmrc file:
6727 colorscheme Default
6729 colorscheme for_bin ~/bin
6730 colorscheme for_bin_my ~/bin/my
6731 File list will look in the following way for each level:
6733 - ~/ - Default color scheme
6735 black background
6736 cursor with blue background
6737 - ~/bin/ - mix of Default and for_bin color schemes
6739 red background
6740 cursor with black background and red foreground
6741 - ~/bin/my/ - mix of Default, for_bin and for_bin_my color schemes
6743 red background
6744 cursor with black background and green foreground
6745
6747 vifm has support of trash directory, which is used as temporary storage
6748 for deleted files or files that were cut. Using trash is controlled by
6749 the 'trash' option, and exact path to the trash can be set with
6750 'trashdir' option. Trash directory in vifm differs from the system-
6751 wide one by default, because of possible incompatibilities of storing
6752 deleted files among different file managers. But one can set
6753 'trashdir' to "~/.local/share/Trash" to use a "standard" trash direc‐
6754 tory.
6755 There are two scenarios of using trash in vifm:
6757 1. As a place for storing files that were cut by "d" and may be in‐
6759 serted to some other place in file system.
6760 2. As a storage of files, that are deleted but not purged yet.
6762 The first scenario uses deletion ("d") operations to put files to trash
6764 and put ("p") operations to restore files from trash directory. Note
6765 that such operations move files to and from trash directory, which can
6766 be long term operations in case of different partitions or remote
6767 drives mounted locally.
6768 The second scenario uses deletion ("d") operations for moving files to
6770 trash directory and :empty command-line command to purge all previously
6771 deleted files.
6772 Deletion and put operations depend on registers, which can point to
6774 files in trash directory. Normally, there are no nonexistent files in
6775 registers, but vifm doesn't keep track of modifications under trash di‐
6776 rectory, so one shouldn't expect value of registers to be absolutely
6777 correct if trash directory was modified not by operation that are meant
6778 for it. But this won't lead to any issues with operations, since they
6779 ignore nonexistent files.
6780
6782 vifm supports remote execution of command-line mode commands, remote
6783 changing of directories and expression evaluation. This is possible
6784 using --remote and --remote-expr command-line arguments.
6785 To execute a command remotely combine --remote argument with -c <com‐
6787 mand> or +<command>. For example:
6788 vifm --remote -c 'cd /'
6790 vifm --remote '+cd /'
6791 To change directory not using command-line mode commands one can spec‐
6793 ify paths right after --remote argument, like this:
6794 vifm --remote /
6796 vifm --remote ~
6797 vifm --remote /usr/bin /tmp
6798 Evaluating expression remotely might be useful to query information
6800 about an instance, for example its location:
6801 vifm --remote-expr 'expand("%d")'
6803 If there are several running instances, the target can be specified
6805 with --server-name option (otherwise, the first one lexicographically
6806 is used):
6807 vifm --server-name work --remote ~/work/project
6809 List of names of running instances can be obtained via --server-list
6811 option. Name of the current one is available via v:servername.
6812 v:servername
6815 server name of the running vifm instance. Empty if client-
6816 server feature is disabled.
6817
6819 When an editor is run to edit list of file names, contents of the tem‐
6820 porary file has the following format:
6821 1. Order of lines correspond to the order of files in a view.
6823 2. Lines that start with a "#" are comments and are ignored.
6825 3. Single backslash at the beginning of a line is ignored, so that a
6827 file starting with a backslash will appear like "\#name".
6828 If an operation was rejected due to issues with file names, next time
6830 you'll see the following in this order:
6831 1. Last error (in comments).
6833 2. Original file names (in comments).
6835 3. Failed list of new names.
6837 Mind that Vim plugin will extract list of original names and show them
6839 in a vertical split.
6840 You can cancel renaming by removing all non-comments from the buffer.
6842 This also erases information about previous edits.
6843
6845 Note: <ScrollWheelDown> is not available on 32-bit *nix systems, be‐
6846 cause ncurses doesn't support it there (limitation of implementation).
6847 Note: these are not available in mappings at the momemnt.
6849 Normal Mode
6851 event position change action
6853 cursor window
6854 <LeftMouse> yes yes <cr> if cursor wasn't move
6855 <LeftRelease> no yes
6856 <MiddleMouse> no yes <c-e>
6857 <MiddleRelease> no yes
6858 <RightMouse> yes yes :file
6859 <RightRelease> no yes
6860 <ScrollWheelUp> no yes <c-y> or :tabprevious
6861 <ScrollWheelDown> no yes <c-e> or :tabnext
6862 Clicking on or scrolling over an inactive pane (including its title),
6864 makes it active and does nothing else. Tabs are scrolled when mouse
6865 hovers over them.
6866 Clicking on the left miller column goes to parent directory and click‐
6868 ing the right one opens current entry.
6869 Visual Mode
6871 event position selection action
6873 cursor
6874 <LeftMouse> yes update <cr> if cursor wasn't move
6875 <LeftRelease> no
6876 <MiddleMouse> no update <c-e>
6877 <MiddleRelease> no
6878 <RightMouse> no
6879 <RightRelease> no
6880 <ScrollWheelUp> no update <c-y>
6881 <ScrollWheelDown> no update <c-e>
6882 Command-line Mode
6884 event position action
6886 cursor
6887 <LeftMouse> yes
6888 <LeftRelease> no
6889 <MiddleMouse> no <c-n>
6890 <MiddleRelease> no
6891 <RightMouse> no
6892 <RightRelease> no
6893 <ScrollWheelUp> no <c-p>
6894 <ScrollWheelDown> no <c-n>
6895 Menu Mode
6897 event position action
6899 cursor
6900 <LeftMouse> yes <cr> if cursor wasn't moved
6901 <LeftRelease> no
6902 <MiddleMouse> no <c-e>
6903 <MiddleRelease> no
6904 <RightMouse> no
6905 <RightRelease> no
6906 <ScrollWheelUp> no <c-y>
6907 <ScrollWheelDown> no <c-e>
6908 view Mode
6910 event action
6912 <ScrollWheelUp> k
6914 <ScrollWheelDown> j
6915 Clicking on or scrolling over an inactive pane (including its title),
6917 detaches view mode if it wasn't activated for exploring a file.
6918
6921 Plugin for using vifm in vim as a file selector.
6922 Commands:
6924 :EditVifm select a file or files to open in the current buffer.
6926 :Vifm alias for :EditVifm.
6927 :SplitVifm split buffer and select a file or files to open.
6928 :VsplitVifm vertically split buffer and select a file or files to
6929 open.
6930 :DiffVifm select a file or files to compare to the current file
6931 with
6932 :vert diffsplit.
6933 :TabVifm select a file or files to open in tabs.
6934 Each command accepts up to two arguments: left pane directory and right
6936 pane directory. After arguments are checked, vifm process is spawned
6937 in a special "file-picker" mode. To pick files just open them either
6938 by pressing l, i or Enter keys, or by running :edit command. If no
6939 files are selected, file under the cursor is opened, otherwise whole
6940 selection is passed to the plugin and opened in vim.
6941 The plugin have only two settings. It's a string variable named
6943 g:vifm_term to let user specify command to run GUI terminal. By de‐
6944 fault it's equal to 'xterm -e'. And another string variable named
6945 g:vifm_exec, which equals "vifm" by default and specifies path to
6946 vifm's executable. To pass arguments to vifm use g:vifm_exec_args,
6947 which is empty by default.
6948 To use the plugin copy the vifm.vim file to either the system wide
6950 vim/plugin directory or into ~/.vim/plugin.
6951 If you would prefer not to use the plugin and it is in the system wide
6953 plugin directory add
6954 let loaded_vifm=1
6956 to your ~/.vimrc file.
6958
6960 The following command names are reserved and shouldn't be used for user
6961 commands.
6962 g[lobal]
6964 v[global]
6965
6967 VIFM Points to main configuration directory (usually ~/.con‐
6968 fig/vifm/).
6969 MYVIFMRC
6971 Points to main configuration file (usually ~/.con‐
6972 fig/vifm/vifmrc).
6973 These environment variables are valid inside vifm and also can be used
6975 to configure it by setting some of them before running vifm.
6976 When $MYVIFMRC isn't set, it's made as $VIFM/vifmrc (exception for Win‐
6978 dows: vifmrc in the same directory as vifm.exe has higher priority than
6979 $VIFM/vifmrc).
6980 See "Startup" section above for more details.
6982 VIFM_FUSE_FILE
6984 On execution of external commands this variable is set to the
6985 full path of file used to initiate FUSE mount of the closest
6986 mount point from current pane's directory up. It's not set when
6987 outside FUSE mount point. When vifm is used inside terminal
6988 multiplexer, it tries to set this variable as well (it doesn't
6989 work this way on its own).
6990
6992 vifm-convert-dircolors(1), vifm-pause(1)
6993 Website: https://vifm.info/
6995 Wiki: https://wiki.vifm.info/
6996 Esperanto translation of the documentation by Sebastian Cyprych:
6998 http://cyprych.neostrada.pl/tekstoj/komputiloj/vifm-help.eo.html
6999
7001 Vifm was written by ksteen <ksteen@users.sourceforge.net>
7002 And currently is developed by xaizek <xaizek@posteo.net>
7003vifm 0.13 04 April 2023 VIFM(1)