Yazi: Complete Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet
Yazi is a terminal file manager written in Rust, featuring Vim-style navigation, real-time previews, and extensive customization. This guide covers all the essential shortcuts you need to master Yazi from scratch.
File navigation
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
j / ↓ | Next file |
k / ↑ | Previous file |
gg | Go to the top of the list |
G | Go to the bottom of the list |
Ctrl+d | Move down half a page |
Ctrl+u | Move up half a page |
Ctrl+f / PageDown | Move down a full page |
Ctrl+b / PageUp | Move up a full page |
Directory navigation
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
h / ← | Go back to the parent directory |
l / → | Enter the child directory |
H | Go back to the previous directory in history |
L | Go forward in directory history |
Quick goto shortcuts
| Key | Destination |
|---|---|
gh | ~ (home) |
gc | ~/.config |
gd | ~/Downloads |
g Space | Interactive navigation |
gf | Follow the focused symlink |
Tip: Use
zto search with fzf orZto jump with zoxide — both integrate natively with Yazi.
File operations
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
o / Enter | Open the selected file(s) |
O / Shift+Enter | Open with an interactive application chooser |
a | Create a file (end with / to create a directory) |
r | Rename file(s) |
d | Move to trash |
D | Delete permanently |
y | Copy (yank) |
x | Cut |
p | Paste |
P | Paste and overwrite if the destination exists |
Y / X | Cancel the yank operation |
- | Create a symlink using an absolute path |
_ | Create a symlink using a relative path |
Ctrl+- | Create a hard link |
Selection and visual mode
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Space | Toggle selection of the current file and move to the next one |
v | Enter visual selection mode |
V | Enter visual deselection mode |
Ctrl+a | Select all files |
Ctrl+r | Invert selection |
Esc | Exit visual mode or clear the selection |
Copying file information
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
cc | Copy the full path |
cd | Copy the directory path |
cf | Copy the file name |
cn | Copy the file name without its extension |
Search and filtering
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
s | Search for files by name using fd |
S | Search file contents using ripgrep |
Ctrl+s | Cancel the current search |
/ | Find the next file inline |
? | Find the previous file inline |
n | Go to the next result |
N | Go to the previous result |
f | Filter files in the current view |
Important difference:
sandSperform recursive searches in the file system./and?only search within the current listing.
Sorting
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
,m | Sort by modification date |
,M | Sort by modification date in reverse order |
,b | Sort by creation date |
,B | Sort by creation date in reverse order |
,e | Sort by extension |
,E | Sort by extension in reverse order |
,a | Sort alphabetically |
,A | Sort alphabetically in reverse order |
,n | Natural sorting, such as file2 before file10 |
,N | Natural sorting in reverse order |
,s | Sort by size |
,S | Sort by size in reverse order |
,r | Random sorting |
Linemode
Information displayed next to files:
| Key | Displayed information |
|---|---|
ms | Size |
mp | Permissions |
mb | Creation date (btime) |
mm | Modification date (mtime) |
mo | Owner |
mn | None — clear linemode |
Preview and spot mode
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Tab | Open or close the detailed preview of the focused file |
K | Scroll the preview up |
J | Scroll the preview down |
Tabs
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
t | Create a new tab in the current directory |
1 – 9 | Go directly to tab N |
[ | Go to the previous tab |
] | Go to the next tab |
{ | Swap the current tab with the previous tab |
} | Swap the current tab with the next tab |
Shell and external commands
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
; | Open an interactive shell |
: | Run a shell command and wait for it to finish |
. | Toggle hidden file visibility |
z | Jump to a file or directory using fzf |
Z | Jump to a directory using zoxide |
Task manager
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
w | Open or close the task manager |
j / k | Navigate between tasks |
Enter | Inspect a task |
x | Cancel a task |
General
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
q | Quit and save the current directory |
Q | Quit without saving the current directory |
Ctrl+c | Close the current tab, or quit if it is the last tab |
Ctrl+z | Suspend the process |
~ / F1 | Open help |
Quick visual reference
text
NAVIGATION FILES SEARCH
────────── ───── ──────
k ↑ previous o open s search by name (fd)
j ↓ next a create S search contents (rg)
h ← parent r rename / find next
l → child d trash ? find previous
H history ← D delete f filter view
L history → y copy n next result
gg top x cut N previous result
G bottom p paste
SELECTION TABS GOTO
───────── ──── ────
Space toggle t new tab gh ~
v visual [ previous tab gc ~/.config
Ctrl+a all ] next tab gd ~/Downloads
Ctrl+r invert 1-9 direct tab z fzfConfiguring your own shortcuts
Yazi shortcuts are defined in ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml. To override an existing shortcut or add a new one, edit the file:
toml
[mgr]
keymap = [
# Custom shortcut: go to projects with gp
{ on = [ "g", "p" ], run = "cd ~/projects", desc = "Go ~/projects" },
]Note: The configuration uses the prepend model, which means user-defined shortcuts take priority over the defaults.
Yazi is one of the most modern terminal file managers available today. With these shortcuts at your fingertips, navigating the file system becomes as smooth as editing text in Neovim.