Navigate and manipulate file system

For full experience needs nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons plugin (but works without it).

See more details in Features and help file.

---

⦿ This is a part of mini.nvim library. Please use this link if you want to mention this module.

⦿ All contributions (issues, pull requests, discussions, etc.) are done inside of 'mini.nvim'.

⦿ See the repository page to learn about common design principles and configuration recipes.

---

If you want to help this project grow but don't know where to start, check out contributing guides of 'mini.nvim' or leave a Github star for 'mini.nvim' project and/or any its standalone Git repositories.

Demo

demo-files.mp4

Features

• Navigate file system using column view (Miller columns) to display nested directories. See *MiniFiles-navigation* tag in help file for overview.

• Opt-in preview of file or directory under cursor.

• Manipulate files and directories by editing text buffers: create, delete, copy, rename, move. See *MiniFiles-manipulation* tag in help file for overview.

• Use as default file explorer instead of netrw.

• Configurable:

  • Filter/prefix/sort of file system entries.
  • Mappings used for common explorer actions.
  • UI options: whether to show preview of file/directory under cursor, etc.

See *MiniFiles-examples* tag in help file for some common configuration examples.

Notes:

• This module is written and thoroughly tested on Linux. Support for other platform/OS (like Windows or MacOS) is a goal, but there is no guarantee.

• Works on all supported versions but using Neovim>=0.9 is recommended.

• This module silently reacts to not enough permissions:

  • In case of missing file, check its or its parent read permissions.
  • In case of no manipulation result, check write permissions.

Quick start

Navigation

• Run :lua MiniFiles.open().

• Navigate:

  • Press j/k to navigate down/up.
  • Press l to expand entry under cursor: show directory or open file in the most recent window.
  • Press h to go to parent directory.
  • Type g? for more information about other available mappings.
  • Move as in any other buffer ($, G, f/t, etc.).

For bigger overview, see *MiniFiles-navigation* tag in help file.

Manipulation

• Navigate to the directory in which manipulation should be done.

• Edit buffer in the way representing file system action:

  • Create file/directory: create new line like file or dir/.
  • Create file/directory in the descendant directory: create new line like dir/file or dir/nested/.
  • Delete file/directory: delete whole line representing that entry.
  • Rename file/directory: change text to the right of that entry's icon.
  • Copy file/directory: copy whole line and paste it in target directory.
  • Move file/directory: cut whole line and paste it in target directory.

• Press =; read confirmation dialog; confirm with y/<CR> or not confirm with n/<Esc>.

For bigger overview, see *MiniFiles-manipulation* tag in help file.

Installation

This plugin can be installed as part of 'mini.nvim' library (recommended) or as a standalone Git repository.

There are two branches to install from:

• main (default, recommended) will have latest development version of plugin. All changes since last stable release should be perceived as being in beta testing phase (meaning they already passed alpha-testing and are moderately settled).
• stable will be updated only upon releases with code tested during public beta-testing phase in main branch.

Here are code snippets for some common installation methods (use only one):

With mini.deps

Github repo	Branch	Code snippet
'mini.nvim' library	Main	Follow recommended 'mini.deps' installation
	Stable
Standalone plugin	Main	add('echasnovski/mini.files')
	Stable	add({ source = 'echasnovski/mini.files', checkout = 'stable' })

With folke/lazy.nvim

Github repo	Branch	Code snippet
'mini.nvim' library	Main	{ 'echasnovski/mini.nvim', version = false },
	Stable	{ 'echasnovski/mini.nvim', version = '*' },
Standalone plugin	Main	{ 'echasnovski/mini.files', version = false },
	Stable	{ 'echasnovski/mini.files', version = '*' },

With junegunn/vim-plug

Github repo	Branch	Code snippet
'mini.nvim' library	Main	Plug 'echasnovski/mini.nvim'
	Stable	Plug 'echasnovski/mini.nvim', { 'branch': 'stable' }
Standalone plugin	Main	Plug 'echasnovski/mini.files'
	Stable	Plug 'echasnovski/mini.files', { 'branch': 'stable' }

Important: don't forget to call require('mini.files').setup() to enable its functionality.

Note: if you are on Windows, there might be problems with too long file paths (like error: unable to create file <some file name>: Filename too long). Try doing one of the following:

• Enable corresponding git global config value: git config --system core.longpaths true. Then try to reinstall.

Default config

-- No need to copy this inside `setup()`. Will be used automatically.
{
  -- Customization of shown content
  content = {
    -- Predicate for which file system entries to show
    filter = nil,
    -- What prefix to show to the left of file system entry
    prefix = nil,
    -- In which order to show file system entries
    sort = nil,
  },

  -- Module mappings created only inside explorer.
  -- Use `''` (empty string) to not create one.
  mappings = {
    close       = 'q',
    go_in       = 'l',
    go_in_plus  = 'L',
    go_out      = 'h',
    go_out_plus = 'H',
    reset       = '<BS>',
    reveal_cwd  = '@',
    show_help   = 'g?',
    synchronize = '=',
    trim_left   = '<',
    trim_right  = '>',
  },

  -- General options
  options = {
    -- Whether to delete permanently or move into module-specific trash
    permanent_delete = true,
    -- Whether to use for editing directories
    use_as_default_explorer = true,
  },

  -- Customization of explorer windows
  windows = {
    -- Maximum number of windows to show side by side
    max_number = math.huge,
    -- Whether to show preview of file/directory under cursor
    preview = false,
    -- Width of focused window
    width_focus = 50,
    -- Width of non-focused window
    width_nofocus = 15,
    -- Width of preview window
    width_preview = 25,
  },
}

Similar plugins

• nvim-tree/nvim-tree.lua
• stevearc/oil.nvim
• nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim