Boost Your Terminal Productivity with EXA: A Modern ls Replacement

What is EXA?

EXA is a modern replacement for the Unix/Linux ls command, offering faster, colorful, and feature‑rich output.

Differences between EXA and LS

Terminal output is faster and more user‑friendly.

Extensive color support.

Does not conflict with the original ls command.

Key Features

Color‑coded file type listings.

Grid view that adapts to terminal size.

Long view with metadata.

Tree view for hierarchical display.

Git integration to show repository status.

Filtering, sorting, and hidden file handling.

Display of extended attributes (xattrs).

GitHub: https://github.com/ogham/exa

Installation

EXA is written in Rust; you need Rust ≥ 1.17. Install Rust from the official site, then compile EXA with make install or use a package manager.

MacOS

Install via Homebrew:

$ brew install exa

Linux distributions

Arch: $ sudo pacman -S exa Fedora: $ sudo dnf install exa openSUSE:

$ sudo zypper install exa

Build from source

Clone the repository and build with Cargo:

$ git clone https://github.com/ogham/exa.git
$ cargo build --release

The resulting binary appears in target/release and can be moved to a directory in $PATH for permanent use.

Install with Cargo

$ cargo install exa

Use the --root option to change the installation location if needed.

Usage

EXA uses the same syntax as ls: $ exa [OPTIONS] [FILES] Common options: -l – long view with metadata. -R or --recurse – recursive directory listing.

For a full list of options, refer to the official documentation.