yazi — Blazing Fast Terminal File Manager

Linux / Modern CLI Tools / yazi.html

💬 "yazi command"

yazi is a blazing-fast terminal file manager. The name means "fast," and it is designed so previews and navigation stay smooth even in huge directories.

Written in Rust, it offers text/image/video previews, syntax highlighting, and archive browsing inside the terminal, with vim-style (hjkl) navigation by default.

• Concept: Browse directories and copy/move/rename files from within the terminal.
• Features: Live previews, vim keys, archive browsing, plugins, and themes.
• Strength: Works with fd, ripgrep, and fzf to find fast and manage files with image/code previews.
• Use when: You want to quickly explore and tidy a file tree on a server.

Basic Usage

When yazi opens, the screen shows the current directory, a preview, and a status bar, with hjkl for navigation.

1. Open and move

Open yazi and navigate with vim keys.

yazi               # open current directory
yazi /var/log      # open a specific path

# move: h(up) l(down) j(down) k(up), or arrow keys

2. File operations

Select, copy, move, and rename.

# Space  select/unselect
# y     yank (copy)   x     cut
# p     paste         d     trash
# a     new file/dir  r     rename
# Enter  open         q     quit

3. Search and preview

Search by keyword and check the right-hand preview.

# /     search current folder
# z     jump via zoxide
# Ctrl+arrow  scroll text/code preview

Installation & Download

yazi installs via the official binary, cargo, or a package manager. A few helper tools are recommended for previews.

Verify with yazi --version and run with yazi. Image previews appear only when your terminal supports image protocols.

Common Shortcuts

3 Essential Command Combinations

• yazi /var/log — Quickly open and inspect the log folder
• yazi ~/workspace — Explore a project tree and tidy up
• yazi && # press z to jump — Navigate with zoxide bookmarks

💬 "Using yazi on a real server"

A step-by-step look at finding and tidying files on a server.

Step 1 · Open a folder

Open the target directory.

yazi /var/www/html

Step 2 · Browse and preview

Move with hjkl while checking the preview on the right.

# l to enter, k/j to move, arrows to scroll preview

Step 3 · Tidy up

Select old files and clean them up.

# Space to select then d to trash, or x then p to move

How it is used in practice

1. Quick look at a huge folder

Situation — Inspect a folder with many old logs.

yazi /var/log/nginx

Result — Previews and sorting let you spot large files by eye.

Point — Parse the situation at a glance without repeated du/ls.

2. Moving project files

Situation — Move several files to reorganize.

# Space for multi-select then x, navigate, then p

Result — The selected files all move to the destination at once.

Point — Handle many files visually instead of with repeated commands.

Caveats

• d moves to trash, not permanent delete (recoverable). Permanent delete uses a separate command.
• Image previews appear only when the terminal supports an image protocol.
• Install fd, ripgrep, and fzf alongside for the best preview quality.