Choosing a terminal-based file manager often proves advantageous over graphical user interface (GUI) tools. Personally, I appreciate the efficiency of remaining in one application, eliminating the need for a mouse, and enjoying the convenience of tab completion. While Midnight Commander has long been my preferred choice for managing files, I recently transitioned to Yazi. Developed in Rust, Yazi stands out as a rapid and feature-rich terminal file manager, setting a new standard in this category.
What Is Yazi?
Yazi is a terminal file manager crafted in Rust, utilizing non-blocking asynchronous I/O. This innovative approach enables users to perform several tasks simultaneously—such as loading directory contents or previewing files—without experiencing any lag or freezing. This lightweight utility significantly enhances your Linux experience. Interestingly, “Yazi”translates to “duck”in Chinese, giving it an endearing name.
What truly makes Yazi exceptional is its speed. Unlike traditional tools like ls or eza that attempt to load everything at once, Yazi efficiently loads large directories in chunks, typically displaying only 10 to 20 files at a time. This thoughtful method ensures a fast and responsive interface.
Yazi excels in file type detection, generating image previews, and calculating directory sizes in the background through multithreading. These operations are conducted only when necessary and in manageable batches, minimizing stress on your system’s resources.
As you scroll through files, Yazi intelligently cancels any ongoing preview or background tasks related to previously displayed files, effectively conserving time and processing power for actions you truly need.
How to Install Yazi
Installing Yazi is a smooth process on both Linux and macOS. For Linux users, the most straightforward method is via Snap. Open your terminal and run the following command:
sudo snap install yazi --classic
If you prefer to access the latest bleeding-edge version, you can use:
sudo snap install yazi --classic --edge
In contrast, macOS users find it even easier to install Yazi via Homebrew with the following command:
brew install yazi
Unique Features of Yazi
Beyond its speed and comprehensive asynchronous capabilities, Yazi incorporates unique features that enhance the user experience. Notably, its task scheduling system provides real-time progress updates, the ability to cancel tasks, and automatic prioritization, ensuring critical tasks run smoothly.
Yazi facilitates quick previews of images and code directly within the file manager, eliminating the need to launch separate applications. These previews load nearly instantaneously, allowing for seamless browsing of photos or code files.
The application also boasts a robust add-on system, empowering users to modify the interface, create custom preview tools, and fine-tune information retrieval—all while maintaining speed and efficiency.
Yazi enhances communication across various app components without the need for additional background software. This design promotes seamless synchronization of settings and file states. Additionally, a built-in tool simplifies managing add-ons, enabling easy installation, updates, or securing preferred plugins and themes.
Yazi integrates seamlessly with popular developer tools such as ripgrep, fd, fzf, and zoxide, providing handy interface features for searching, navigation, and quick actions. Managing files is simplified through functionalities like multiple tabs, the ability to select files from various folders simultaneously, and previewing videos, PDFs, or archives without external applications.
For power users, Yazi introduces features such as bulk renaming, file extraction from archives, visual file selection, Git compatibility, and management of mounted drives. Users can also customize their experience with themes, mouse support, unique layouts, a built-in trash bin, a virtual filesystem, and support for advanced terminal features.
My Yazi Experience After Months of Use
Having relied on Midnight Commander for years, I find that after a few months with Yazi, the latter offers considerably more, particularly suited for contemporary terminal workflows. The minimal setup required for Yazi is a standout feature; functions like image previews, video browsing, and PDF rendering worked seamlessly on my system without necessitating complicated shell scripts or configurations.
Unlike tool options like Ranger and LF, which often demand extensive customization or incur performance issues, Yazi delivers a snappy, comprehensive experience right from the start. One aspect I greatly value is the image quality; visuals are crisp in Yazi, significantly outperforming Midnight Commander in this respect.
Additional features, such as a shared clipboard between panes and a full-screen preview mode, quickly became indispensable for me. Plus, the command-line tool simplifies plugin management and UI adjustments, enhancing overall usability.
What truly impresses me is Yazi’s rapid evolution, with new features frequently released and often addressing user needs before they are even recognized. As a result, I have entirely moved away from using Midnight Commander, Ranger, LF, and nnn in favor of Yazi, which aligns perfectly with my workflow.
Yazi proves to be an outstanding tool, particularly for Linux users who command the terminal for various tasks beyond file management. If you enjoy exploring and enhancing your terminal experience, consider experimenting with additional Linux terminal tools.
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