A terminal UI based (TUI) file explorer is software which lets you explore the file system offering the ability to quickly navigate through directories and peek at files. View code files with syntax highlighting, format JSON files, render images, convert data files to navigable datatables, and more. This type of software offers different functionality to that provided by a file manager.
A file explorer aims to boost terminal productivity by offering a flexible, interactive orchestrator for the range of command-line utilities that work with the file system.
Note, a file explorer is not designed to replace standard shell commands, or file managers.
Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion.
Click the links in the table below to learn more about each file explorer.
| TUI File Explorers | Language | License |
|---|---|---|
| NERDTree | VimL | WTFPL License |
| xplr | Rust | MIT License |
| nvim-tree | Lua | GNU General Public License v3.0 |
| Treemacs | Emacs Lisp | GNU General Public License v3.0 |
| browsr | Python | MIT License |
| termscp | Rust | MIT License |
| vim-fern | VimL | MIT License |
| tere | Rust | European Union Public License 1.2 |
| CHADTree | Python | GNU General Public License v3.0 |
| FileSSH | Rust | MIT License |
| Rust-Traverse | Rust | MIT License |
| fex | Zig | GNU General Public License v3.0 |
| transgender | Rust | BSD 2-Clause “Simplified” License |
| rovr | Python | MIT License |
| StygianSift | Rust | GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 |
| Fortress | Fortran | MIT License |
| runa | Rust | MIT License |
| sdn | C++ | 0BSD License |
| twf | Go | Developer did not reply to license info request |
| kupo | Python | Developer did not reply to license info request |
| Hop | Python | MIT License |
| FTB | C++ | MIT License |
| faint | Shell | GNU General Public License v2.0 |
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Considering that you guys wrote an excellent article on Yazi, I’m surprised it’s not somewhere on the list. With great image and text previews by default along with the ability to easily execute external applications directly from Yazi it’s kind of amazing. It’s become my default file browser.
I am playing with xplr right now, but I’m already in love with yazi.
Thanks, yazi bills itself as a file manager rather than a file explorer. Sometimes the distinction between the two can be blurred.
yazi is featured in our console file managers roundup.