clifm
A shell-like terminal file manager that works directly on the command line, without menus or panes.
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1 more ways to get clifm
Package managers
- Homebrew
brew install clifm
About clifm
Clifm is a text-based file manager that runs at the command line rather than as a full-screen interface. There is no GUI, no TUI and no menus: you manage files by typing commands at a prompt built for file management.
It supports plugins and translations and is under very active development, with more than ten thousand commits. It suits people who live in the terminal and prefer typing commands to moving through panes.
Strengths
- Works inside the shell prompt with no full-screen interface
- Plugin support
- Very actively developed
Limitations
- Command-driven approach takes time to learn
- No visual panes, unlike ranger or nnn
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source.
- License
- GPL-2.0
- Developer
- leo-arch
- Platforms
- Linux, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Terminal users who prefer to manage files by typing commands
- Categories
- CLI tools, File managers
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to clifm
Compare allSoftware that can replace clifm for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
nnn
A terminal file manager of about 150 KB that starts instantly, uses under 4 MB of memory and needs almost no configuration.
nnn is a tiny full-screen terminal file manager with a large plugin repository, replacing the command-typing approach with terse keybindings.
ranger
A console file manager with vi keybindings and a three-column view showing parent, current and preview.
ranger provides a visual three-column view with vi keys and previews instead of working inside the shell prompt, and is written in Python.
Yazi
A terminal file manager where nothing blocks: every read, preview and copy happens asynchronously.
Yazi is a full-screen asynchronous terminal file manager with image previews and Lua plugins, and also runs on Windows and macOS.
Vifm
A terminal file manager with a curses interface and Vim-like keybindings.
Vifm uses a curses interface with Vim keybindings and commands, offers Windows binaries, and is listed as not open source.
Midnight Commander
Two-panel file manager for the terminal, with an editor and remote access.
Midnight Commander provides two visual panels with an editor and remote filesystem browsing, using function-key bindings instead of typed commands.
Joshuto
A ranger-like terminal file manager written in Rust with Miller-column navigation.
Joshuto is a Rust ranger-style file manager with Miller columns and optional fzf and zoxide integration, also available on macOS.
superfile
A terminal file manager with a modern, colourful interface, built in Go with themes and plugin support.
superfile swaps the shell-prompt workflow for a colourful themed full-screen interface with previews, fuzzy search and a trash can.
xplr
Explore files with a configurable terminal interface.
xplr offers a configurable, scriptable terminal interface on macOS and Linux, with customization done by configuring the surrounding workflow.
clifm as an alternative
Listings that name clifm as an alternative.
lf
A fast terminal file manager in the ranger style, as a single binary with no runtime dependencies.
clifm works inside the shell prompt with typed commands instead of visual panes, supports plugins, and is Linux only under the GPL-2.0 license.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
