lf Cheat Sheet

Overview

lf (list files) is a terminal file manager written in Go, inspired by ranger but designed with a focus on speed, simplicity, and a small binary size. It provides a three-pane layout (parent, current, preview), vi-like keybindings, and a powerful configuration system that allows users to define custom commands, keybindings, and file previews using shell scripts.

lf is single-binary with no dependencies, making it easy to install and deploy across systems. It supports multi-file selection, bulk operations, shell command execution, bookmarks, marks, and integrates with external tools for file preview, image display, and bulk renaming through a flexible configuration file.

Installation

# macOS
brew install lf

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S lf

# Go install
go install github.com/gokcehan/lf@latest

# Conda
conda install -c conda-forge lf

# Download binary
# https://github.com/gokcehan/lf/releases

# Verify
lf --version

Core Navigation

Key	Action
h or Left	Parent directory
l or Right	Open file/enter directory
j or Down	Move down
k or Up	Move up
gg	Go to top
G	Go to bottom
Ctrl+U	Half page up
Ctrl+D	Half page down
Ctrl+B	Full page up
Ctrl+F	Full page down
~	Go to home
/	Search forward
?	Search backward
n	Next search result
N	Previous search result
q	Quit

File Operations

Key	Action
Space	Toggle selection
v	Invert selection
u	Unselect all
y	Yank (copy)
d	Cut
p	Paste
c	Clear yank/cut
r	Rename
Delete	Delete (to trash)
e	Edit with $EDITOR
i	Open with pager
w	Open shell
:	Command prompt
!	Shell command
$	Shell command (wait for key)
%	Shell pipe command
&	Shell async command

Marks and Bookmarks

Key	Action
m + key	Save mark
' + key	Go to mark
" + key	Remove mark

# In lf, press m then a letter to save current dir as bookmark
# Press ' then the letter to jump to it
# Built-in marks:
# ' (apostrophe) - previous directory

Configuration

# Config file location
# ~/.config/lf/lfrc

# Preview script
# ~/.config/lf/preview

# ~/.config/lf/lfrc

# Basic settings
set hidden true
set ignorecase true
set icons true
set previewer ~/.config/lf/preview
set cleaner ~/.config/lf/cleaner
set shell bash
set shellopts '-eu'
set ifs "\n"
set scrolloff 10
set period 1
set findlen 2
set info size:time
set sortby natural
set ratios 1:2:3
set drawbox true

# Custom commands
cmd open ${{
    case $(file --mime-type "$f" -bL) in
        text/*|application/json) $EDITOR "$fx" ;;
        image/*) sxiv "$f" ;;
        video/*) mpv "$f" ;;
        application/pdf) zathura "$f" ;;
        *) xdg-open "$f" ;;
    esac
}}

cmd mkdir %{{
    printf "Directory name: "
    read -r dirname
    mkdir -p "$dirname"
}}

cmd mkfile %{{
    printf "File name: "
    read -r filename
    touch "$filename"
}}

cmd trash %{{
    files=$(printf "$fx" | tr '\n' ';')
    while [ "$files" ]; do
        file=${files%%;*}
        trash-put "$(basename "$file")"
        if [ "$files" = "$file" ]; then
            files=''
        else
            files="${files#*;}"
        fi
    done
}}

cmd extract ${{
    set -f
    case "$f" in
        *.tar.bz2)   tar xjf "$f"   ;;
        *.tar.gz)    tar xzf "$f"   ;;
        *.tar.xz)    tar xJf "$f"   ;;
        *.bz2)       bunzip2 "$f"   ;;
        *.gz)        gunzip "$f"    ;;
        *.tar)       tar xf "$f"    ;;
        *.zip)       unzip "$f"     ;;
        *.7z)        7z x "$f"      ;;
        *.rar)       unrar x "$f"   ;;
    esac
}}

cmd zip ${{
    set -f
    mkdir -p /tmp/lf-zip
    cp -r $fx /tmp/lf-zip
    cd /tmp/lf-zip
    zip -r "$OLDPWD/archive.zip" .
    rm -rf /tmp/lf-zip
}}

# Key mappings
map <enter> open
map D trash
map E extract
map Z zip
map a mkfile
map A mkdir
map R reload
map C clear

# Bookmarks
map gh cd ~
map gd cd ~/Documents
map gD cd ~/Downloads
map gp cd ~/Projects
map gc cd ~/.config
map g/ cd /

Preview Script

#!/bin/bash
# ~/.config/lf/preview
# Make executable: chmod +x ~/.config/lf/preview

case "$1" in
    *.tar*|*.zip|*.rar|*.7z)
        atool --list -- "$1" ;;
    *.pdf)
        pdftotext "$1" - ;;
    *.jpg|*.jpeg|*.png|*.gif|*.bmp|*.webp)
        chafa --size="${2}x${3}" "$1" ;;
    *.svg)
        chafa --size="${2}x${3}" "$1" ;;
    *.md)
        glow -s dark "$1" ;;
    *.json)
        jq -C . "$1" ;;
    *.csv)
        column -t -s, "$1" | head -50 ;;
    *)
        bat --color=always --style=plain --paging=never \
            --terminal-width="$2" "$1" 2>/dev/null ||
        cat "$1" ;;
esac

Advanced Usage

Bulk Rename

# Add to lfrc
cmd bulk-rename ${{
    old="$(mktemp)"
    new="$(mktemp)"
    if [ -n "$fs" ]; then
        fs="$(basename -a $fs)"
    else
        fs="$(ls)"
    fi
    printf '%s\n' "$fs" > "$old"
    printf '%s\n' "$fs" > "$new"
    $EDITOR "$new"
    [ "$(wc -l < "$new")" -ne "$(wc -l < "$old")" ] && exit
    paste "$old" "$new" | while IFS="$(printf '\t')" read -r src dst; do
        if [ "$src" = "$dst" ] || [ -e "$dst" ]; then
            continue
        fi
        mv -- "$src" "$dst"
    done
    rm -f "$old" "$new"
    lf -remote "send $id reload"
}}

map R bulk-rename

FZF Integration

# Add to lfrc
cmd fzf_jump ${{
    res="$(find . -maxdepth 3 | fzf --reverse --header='Jump to:')"
    if [ -n "$res" ]; then
        if [ -d "$res" ]; then
            cmd="cd"
        else
            cmd="select"
        fi
        res="$(printf '%s' "$res" | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g;s/"/\\"/g')"
        lf -remote "send $id $cmd \"$res\""
    fi
}}

map f fzf_jump

Shell cd on Quit

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
lfcd() {
    tmp="$(mktemp)"
    lf -last-dir-path="$tmp" "$@"
    if [ -f "$tmp" ]; then
        dir="$(cat "$tmp")"
        rm -f "$tmp"
        [ -d "$dir" ] && [ "$dir" != "$(pwd)" ] && cd "$dir"
    fi
}
alias lf='lfcd'

Icons

# Install nerd font first, then set in lfrc:
set icons true

# Create icons file: ~/.config/lf/icons
# Format: extension/type icon
# Example lines:
# di  📁
# fi  📄
# ln  ⇒
# ex  🔧

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Preview not working	Make preview script executable; install bat, chafa
Icons not showing	Install a Nerd Font; set set icons true in lfrc
Images not displaying	Install chafa or ueberzug; check terminal support
cd not working on quit	Use lfcd shell function wrapper
Slow on large directories	Disable preview with set nopreview; reduce ratios
Key bindings not working	Check for conflicts in lfrc; use map to override
Colors not showing	Check $TERM variable; ensure color support
Shell commands fail	Check shellopts; verify $SHELL is set correctly