← Back to tools

ranger

A VIM-inspired file manager for the console

Homepage Repository
File Management linuxmacosbsd Python GPL-3.0

Description

ranger is a console file manager with VI key bindings. It provides a multi-column directory view with file previews, bookmarks, and a rich set of features. It is highly extensible via Python.

Install

homebrewbrew install ranger
aptsudo apt install ranger
pippip install ranger-fm
pacmansudo pacman -S ranger

AI Summary

A VIM-inspired console file manager with multi-column display and file previews. Supports bookmarks, tabs, and is highly extensible via Python plugins.

Capabilities

  • + Miller columns layout with directory preview
  • + VI key bindings for navigation
  • + File previews (text, images, PDFs via plugins)
  • + Bookmarks, tabs, and custom commands

Use When

  • → Want a full-featured file manager with vim-style navigation
  • → Need file previews in the terminal
  • → Prefer a visually rich file browsing experience

Avoid When

  • x Need maximum speed (nnn is faster)
  • x Resource-constrained environments (Python overhead)

Usage Patterns

Launch file manager

ranger

Opens the multi-column file manager in the current directory

Open a specific directory

ranger /var/log

Opens ranger starting in the specified directory

Related Tools

nnn alternative

nnn is faster and more minimal; ranger is more feature-rich
View AGENTS.md for ranger