Midnight Commander Keyboard Shortcuts
05/31/2025 • By Vicodi
Midnight Commander Keyboard Shortcuts
Master the Linux file manager with this comprehensive cheat sheet of Midnight Commander keyboard shortcuts
Note: In the shortcuts below, "C" stands for CTRL and "A" stands for ALT. You can also use ESC instead of ALT, which is useful on Macbooks.
File/Directory Operations
F3
View file - Open the selected file in the viewer
Shift+F3
View raw file - View file disregarding extension
F5
Copy selected files - Copy files to the other panel
F6
Move selected files - Move files to the other panel
Shift+F6
Rename file - Rename the file under cursor
Shift+F4
Create a new file - Create and open a new file
F7
Create directory - Make a new directory
F8
Delete - Delete selected files or directories
C-x d
Compare directories - Compare active and inactive panels
Selection
Insert / C-t
Select/deselect file - Tag or untag the current file
*
Invert selection - Invert selection on files
+
Selection pattern - Specify file selection options (including custom pattern)
-
Deselection pattern - Same as above, but for deselecting
A-s
Search/jump to pattern - Find files by pattern
Navigation
TAB / C-i
Switch panels - Jump from one panel to the other
F9
Menu bar - Select the top menu bar
A-c
Quick cd - Open quick change directory dialog
A-?
Search dialog - Open search dialog
C-s
Search for item - Find files by name
A-y
Previous directory - Move to the previous directory in history
A-u
Next directory - Move to the next directory in history
A-Shift-h
Directory history - Show path history
C-\
Directory hotlist - Show favorite directories
Display
C-r
Refresh panel - Refresh current panel
C-u
Swap panels - Exchange the panels
A-,
Toggle layout - Switch between horizontal/vertical panel layout
C-x i
Info mode - Toggle other panel to information mode
C-x q
Quick view - Toggle other panel to quick view mode
A-i
Sync panels - Make the other panel show the same directory
A-o
Open in other - Display highlighted directory in the other panel
A-t
Change view - Cycle panel view (full, brief, long)
A-.
Hidden files - Toggle "Show Hidden Files" feature
Command Prompt
C-o
Console - Drop to the shell console
A-Enter
File to command line - Put the name of the highlighted file on command line
C-x t
Selected to command line - Put the name of the selected items on command line
C-Shift-Enter
Full path to command line - Put the full path of the highlighted file on command line
A-a / C-x p
Directory to command line - Put the full path of the pane directory on the command line
A-h
Command history - Show command history
C-x !
External panelize - Fill current panel with the output of a command
File Viewer
C-f
View next file - Move to the next file in the directory
C-b
View previous file - Move to the previous file in the directory
F3
Exit viewer - Return to the panels
/
Search - Search for text in the file
n
Next match - Find the next occurrence of search text
N
Previous match - Find the previous occurrence of search text
Special Functions
C-x c
Chmod dialog - Change file permissions
C-x o
Chown dialog - Change file ownership
C-x s
Create symlink - Create symbolic link dialog
C-x l
Create hard link - Create hard link dialog
C-x v
Relative symlink - Run relative symbolic link tool
F2-@
Run command - Run a command on the currently highlighted item
C-x j
Background jobs - Show background jobs
Shift-F10
Quit - Exit Midnight Commander