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