Lf

lf - file manager

File Operations

d - Cut (for moving files)
y - Copy (yank)
p - Paste (move/copy files from buffer)
c - Clear cut/copy buffer
space - Toggle selection of current file
v - Invert selection (select all unselected)
u - Unselect all files

View Options

zh - Toggle hidden files
zr - Toggle reverse sort
zn/zs/zt - Toggle info display (none/size/time)

File Management

r - Rename current file
No default delete mapping (for safety - you need to define your own)
l or → - Open file/enter directory
o - Open with system default (custom mapping)

Delete Files (no new mappings)

Use space to select one or more files (or leave on current file for single delete)
: then delete to remove selected/current files (lf will prompt for confirmation)

Command Line

: - Enter command mode (lf built-in commands)

Shell Modes

Key	Mode	Terminal	Blocks lf?	Use for
`$`	shell	Takes over terminal	Yes, until command exits	Interactive commands, editors, anything with UI
`!`	shell-wait	Takes over terminal, then shows “press any key”	Yes	Commands whose output you need to read before returning
`%`	shell-pipe	Inline at bottom of lf	Yes	Quick one-liners where you want to stay in lf (`du -sh $fx`)
`&`	shell-async	None (detached)	No	Background tasks, opening GUI apps

All four modes export $f, $fs, and $fx (see below).

Selected Files in Shell Commands

When you run a shell command ($, %, !, or &), lf exports these variables:

Variable	Description
`$f`	Current file (under cursor), full path
`$fs`	All selected files, newline-separated
`$fx`	Selected files if any, otherwise falls back to `$f`

$fx is the most useful — it always does the right thing whether or not you have a selection.

Quick workflow: select files with space, press $ (or %/!/&), use $fx in your command:

# show sizes of selected files
du -sh $fx

# iterate over selections (handles spaces in filenames)
IFS='
'
for f in $fx; do
    echo "Processing: $f"
done

Search & Find

/ - Search forward
? - Search backward
n/N - Next/previous search result
f/F - Find character forward/backward
;/, - Next/previous find result

Other

q - Quit
Q - Quit and cd
Ctrl+l - Redraw screen
Ctrl+r - Reload current directory