Best Terminal File Managers in 2026

Broot suits people who want terminal-oriented directory navigation, file search, previews, and file operations.

FileManagerTUI suits people who prefer keyboard-driven file management in a terminal and want an inline editor and preview.

Clifm suits people who prefer shell commands to a traditional terminal file-manager interface.

It suits terminal users who want file previews and file operations within one file manager.

It suits Linux or macOS users looking for a file manager with terminal and graphical backends, archive tools, and remote file access.

nnn suits terminal users who want file operations, previews and search in a compact, low-configuration tool.

It suits Linux and macOS users who want keyboard-driven terminal file management with previews, shell access and scripting.

Newt suits people who work with local files alongside remote systems, archives, or disc images.

FModel suits Windows users who want to inspect or export assets from Unreal Engine game archives.

Pointer suits Linux or macOS users who want terminal-based, two-pane file management with previews, archives, remote browsing, and extensibility.

Rat Commander

It suits terminal users who want file management, editing, Git, and remote access in one application across Linux, macOS, or Windows.

TUIFIManager suits people looking for a terminal file manager, particularly Termux users.

Midnight Commander

It suits people who prefer a text-mode file manager and need file operations in local consoles, terminals, or remote shells.

superfile suits developers who prefer to handle lightweight file and directory tasks in a terminal.

Runa suits terminal users on Linux, macOS or Windows who want keyboard-driven file management with customizable layouts and previews.