What Is Vifm and What Kind of Program Is It?

Updated

Vifm is a terminal file manager with a curses interface that gives you a Vim-like environment for managing files and directories. It is aimed at people who already use vi or Vim: if you know those editors, you can control your files with the same keyboard habits instead of learning a new command set. It runs on GNU/Linux, *BSD, Solaris, Windows, and Mac OS, and is UTF-8 aware.

What Vifm actually is

Vifm is not a text editor and not a graphical file manager. It is a full-screen program that runs inside your terminal, draws a two-pane (or one-pane) file view, and lets you navigate, select, copy, move, rename, and delete files using Vim-style keys and a Vim-style command line. The project describes it as a file manager "extended with some useful ideas from mutt," the terminal mail client.

The practical consequence: your existing muscle memory for motions, counts, marks, and : commands carries over. As one quoted user puts it, the working rule is "if you don't know how to do it, don't look at the docs, just think how you would do it in vi."

Core capabilities

The feature list is broad, but these are the ones that shape daily use:

  • Vim-like mappings and command-line mode, including ranges and abbreviations.
  • Marks and registers, so you can jump between locations and store file references.
  • Multiple view layouts: table, grid, tree, and Miller columns, inside tabs.
  • One or two panes per tab, with multi-block selection for operating on groups of files.
  • Undo/redo and backgrounding for file operations, plus a trash.
  • Directory tree comparison, useful for spotting differences between two trees.
  • less-like preview mode with customizable viewers, so you can inspect files without leaving the manager.
  • Advanced filtering and renaming, including bulk rename workflows.
  • Named bookmarks (tags), sessions, and color schemes that can be applied to specific sub-trees.
  • File decorations customized by file type and/or name.
  • FUSE filesystem support and remote command execution.
  • Integration with GNU Screen and tmux, and per-directory configuration scripting.
  • Remembering the cursor position in previously visited directories.

Who it suits, and who it does not

Vifm is a good fit if you spend your day in a terminal, already think in Vim motions, and want file operations to feel like editing — including scripting behavior per directory and customizing the interface heavily. Users quoted on the project site describe it as central to their workflow and highly configurable.

It is a weaker fit if you want a mouse-driven graphical file manager, prefer discoverable menus over modal keybindings, or are not willing to learn Vim conventions. The design assumes familiarity rather than teaching it.

Getting started and where to look

The project site (vifm.info) links to News, Documentation, Cheatsheets, Downloads, Themes, Screenshots, a Q&A site, a Wiki, and a Mailing List. For a first run, the cheatsheets are the fastest way to map Vim habits onto file operations; the documentation covers configuration, mappings, and scripting. General usage questions are directed to the dedicated Q&A site, which requires registration.

The current release listed on the site is Vifm v0.14.5, dated 20 October 2026. The site does not state pricing or licensing terms in the material available here, so check the Downloads page for the exact terms before relying on any assumption about cost.