Basic Navigation

Movement

Shortcut	Action
h / ←	Go to parent directory
j / ↓	Move cursor down
k / ↑	Move cursor up
l / →	Enter directory or open file
g	Go to top of file list
g then Space	Open the directory prompt; type or paste a path and press Enter to go there
G	Go to bottom of file list
J	Scroll preview pane down
K	Scroll preview pane up

Selection

Shortcut	Action
Space	Toggle selection on current file
v	Enter visual mode (arrow keys to select range)
V	Enter visual mode (select all from cursor to top/bottom)
Esc	Clear selection or exit visual mode

File Operations

Shortcut	Action
y	Yank (copy) selected files
p	Paste yanked files into current directory
d	Move selected files to trash
D	Permanently delete selected files (bypasses trash)
a	Create a new file
r	Rename selected file
.	Toggle display of hidden files
~	Go to home directory

Search

Shortcut	Action
s	Search files by name (requires fd)
S	Search file contents (requires ripgrep)

After pressing s or S, type your query and press Enter. Navigate results with j/k, press Enter to open, or Esc to cancel.

Filter

Shortcut	Action
f	Filter the current file list in real time

While filtering, type a substring to instantly narrow the visible files. Press Esc to clear the filter.

Sorting

Sorting is controlled by a key prefix followed by the sort method:

Shortcut	Action
, (comma)	Enter sort prefix mode, then press a sort key
,n	Sort by name (default)
,m	Sort by modification time
,e	Sort by extension
,s	Sort by size
,r	Reverse current sort order

Press , again (or Esc) to exit sort mode without changing.

Tabs

Shortcut	Action
t	Create a new tab
1–9	Switch to tab by number
[	Move to previous tab
]	Move to next tab
{	Swap current tab with the one to its left
}	Swap current tab with the one to its right
Ctrl-c	Rename current tab
Ctrl-w	Close current tab

Tab Management

Tabs are independent — each has its own directory, file list, and preview pane. Tab state can be persisted across restarts when configured in yazi.toml:

~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml

[tabs]
show_tab_rename_modal = true  # prompt for name when renaming

tip

Combine tabs with the y shell wrapper: open a tab for each project directory, navigate freely, and when you quit Yazi your shell lands in the last-visited directory.