feh is an open source mode-based image viewer and cataloger. It is especially aimed at command line users who need a fast image viewer without huge graphical user interface dependencies, though it can also be started by (graphical) file managers to view an image.
feh supports filelists, various image sorting modes, image captions, HTTP and more. Configurable keyboard shortcuts are used to control it; the mouse is also supported, but only required for very few actions.
feh can also be used as a wallpaper setter.
Key Features
- Opens any format supported by Imlib2.
- Fullscreen mode for slideshows or single images. Also a booth mode to change the fullscreen image periodically.
- Various operation modes:
- Slideshow: Show all files in or below a directory, change slides with your keyboard or automatically after a delay.
- Thumbnail: List files as clickable thumbnails.
- List: ls-like output with image dimensions etc.
- Multiwindow: Open all images at once.
- Optional HTTP/FTP support via libcurl.
- Can be used as wallpapersetter, supports rxvt transparency.
- Filelist support.
- Recursive file opening.
- Sorting of the filelist.
- Saving/loading filelists.
- Loading images via http.
- Reloading after delay.
- Montage creation.
- Collage creation.
- Index print creation.
- Thumbnail browser.
- In-place editing.
- Background setting.
- Dynamic zooming.
- Panning.
- Rotation.
- Smooth/sharpen.
- Key or mouse control.
- Context menus.
- Caption overlay.
- Lots of configurable keyboard shortcuts. Usable without a mouse.
- Auto zoom.
- Custom actions (shell commands), e.g. for sorting images.
Website: feh.finalrewind.org
Support: Manual, GitHub Code Repository
Developer: Tom Gilbert and contributors
License: MIT License

feh is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Graphical Image Viewers | |
|---|---|
| feh | Fast and light Imlib2-based image viewer |
| Regards | Modern image viewer with OpenGL/OpenCL support |
| Loupe | Written with GTK 4, Libadwaita and Rust |
| PhotoQT | Good looking, highly configurable, yet easy to use and fast |
| gThumb | Advanced image viewer and browser |
| Geeqie | Lightweight Gtk+ based image viewer |
| qimgv | Qt5 image viewer with video support |
| Vooki | Lightweight viewer with fast image preview |
| Gwenview | Simple image viewer for KDE |
| QuickViewer | Graphic image viewer for comfortable browsing |
| nomacs | Handles most image formats including RAW images |
| qView | Image viewer designed with minimalism and usability in mind |
| Oculante | Hardware-accelerated image viewer |
| GPicView | Simple and fast image viewer |
| Tacent View | Image and texture viewer |
| FIM | Viewer which is highly customizable and scriptable |
| Eye of Gnome | Fast and functional image viewer |
| vipsdisp | Tiny GTK+ image viewer |
| Pineapple Pictures | Lightweight image viewer with Stay-on-Top window |
| Viewnior | Designed with usability in mind |
| sxiv | Simple X Image Viewer |
| PreviewQt | Preview all kinds of files |
| pqiv | Powerful image viewer with minimal UI |
| Ristretto | View and scroll through images |
| QIV | Quick Image Viewer |
| Fotema | Simple photo gallery software |
| CoreImage | Lightweight image viewer; part of the C suite |
| swayimg | Image viewer for Wayland |
| ParaPara | Lightweight and high-speed operation |
| Eye of MATE | Simple graphics viewer for the MATE Desktop Environment |
| LXImage-Qt | LXQt image viewer and screenshot tool |
| Mirage | Fast and simple GTK+ image viewer |
| PixelViewer | .NET based cross-platform image viewe |
| Pix | Image viewer and browser utility which is based on gThumb |
| ImageFan Reloaded | Tab-based image viewer |
| BeeRef | Simple reference image viewer |
| Ephoto | Image viewer based on the EFL |
| SphereView | 360° equirectangular photospheres and panoramas |
| Imagot | Basic graphical image viewer |
| flxvwr | Image viewer written in Go using the Fyne toolkit |
| Blackbody | Thermogram viewer. It allows viewing FLIR and TIFF images |
| Lightning Image Viewer | Fast and lightweight desktop image viewer |
| roseate | Simple image viewer |
| ImageGlass | Versatile image viewer |
| nsxiv | Fork of sxiv |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
| Terminal-Based Diff Tools | |
|---|---|
| difftastic | Structural diff tool that compares files based on their syntax |
| diff-so-fancy | Attractive diffs with diff-highlight and more |
| delta | Viewer for git and diff output |
| icdiff | An improved colored diff |
| diffoscope | In-depth comparison of files, archives, and directories |
| colordiff | Wrapper for diff with pretty syntax highlighting |
| diffsitter | Semantic diff tool |
| objdiff | Local diffing tool for decompilation project |
| ydiff | Tool to view colored, incremental diff in a version controlled workspace |
| diffr | Word-by-word diff highlighting utility |
| dyff | diff tool for YAML files |
| Wdiff | Wordwise implementation of diff |
| dwdiff | diff program that operates at the word level |
| oyo | Step-through diff viewer |
| diffyml | Compares YAML documents by their structure |
| diff2html-cli | Generate HTML diffs |
| biodiff | Terminal-based binary diff viewer |
| dirdiff | Compute the differences between two directories |
| csvdiff | Fast diff tool for comparing CSV files |
| VBinDiff | Visual binary diff |
| riff | Wrapper around diff |
| csv-diff | Diffing CSV and JSON files |
| xmldiff | Compare XML documents |
| vbl | Terminal-based hexadecimal viewer |
| Patdiff | File diff using the Patience Diff algorithm |
| dead-ringer | Binary diff utility |
| sesdiff | Generates a shortest edit script |
| semdiff | Semantic diff tool written in Rust |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |

