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jarun/nnn

Free

n³ The unorthodox terminal file manager

FreeFree tier
Type
Open Source

About jarun/nnn

nnn (n³) is a full-featured terminal file manager designed for productivity and speed. It is tiny (typically ~100KB binary), nearly 0-config, and incredibly fast with minimal resource usage (less than 3.5MB resident memory, no FPU usage). It features privacy-aware design, POSIX compliance, and a plugin repository for extending capabilities such as live previews, disk usage analysis, batch renaming, app launching, and file picking. It runs on Linux, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Cygwin, WSL, Termux (Android), and across various desktop environments or strictly CLI environments. The tool offers modes like light, detail, and disk usage analyzer, along with advanced navigation including type-to-nav, contexts (tabs), sessions, bookmarks, and remote mounts. It supports instant filtering with fuzzy, regex, and string search, and provides a FIFO-based previewer, file picker, and integration with (neo)vim plugins.

Key Features

Tiny binary (~100KB) and frugal memory usage (<3.5MB)
No FPU usage (all integer maths for file sizes)
Privacy-aware with no unconfirmed data collection
POSIX-compliant, follows Linux kernel coding style
Portable across Linux, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Cygwin, WSL, Termux
Language-agnostic plugin system with a large plugin repository
Instant filtering with fuzzy, regex, and string search
Contexts (tabs/workspaces) with custom colors
Sessions, bookmarks, and directory-specific ordering
Disk usage analyzer (block/apparent) mode

Pros & Cons

Pros
  • Extremely fast and responsive even on low-end hardware
  • Very small binary size and low memory footprint
  • Privacy-focused with no telemetry or data collection
  • Highly customizable through plugins and patches
  • Cross-platform with broad OS and terminal compatibility
  • Nearly zero configuration with sensible defaults
  • Active development and large community with many plugins
  • Supports multiple navigation modes and advanced filtering
Cons
  • Terminal-only interface; no native GUI mode
  • Learning curve for users unfamiliar with terminal file managers
  • Some advanced features require understanding of plugins and patches
  • Limited built-in help; relies on man page and community Wiki
  • No built-in file encryption or advanced security features

Best For

Efficient terminal-based file management and navigationDisk usage analysis to find large files and directoriesBatch renaming and file operationsLaunching applications and opening files from the terminalSelecting and picking files for use in scripts or editorsPreviewing files (images, videos, audio, text) in terminalMounting and managing remote file systemsIntegrating with (neo)vim as a file explorer or picker