Master Linux File Navigation with Ranger: A Quick Start Guide

Ranger is a terminal‑based file‑system navigator for Linux that lets you move through directories, view file contents and edit files without leaving the tool.

Install it with the standard package manager, e.g. sudo apt install ranger, and start it by typing ranger. The program opens in a terminal window and uses the arrow keys for navigation.

Multi‑column display

Ranger shows four columns. The leftmost column lists the parent directory of the current location; the second column shows the first page of entries in the current directory; the third column displays the entries related to the selected item in the second column; the rightmost column previews the selected file’s contents.

shs@dragonfly /home/shs/backups   <== current selection
bugfarm   backups    0 empty
dory      bin         59
eel       Buttons     15
nemo      Desktop     0
shark     Documents   0
shs       Downloads   1

The top line indicates the current path (e.g., /home/shs/backups). Selecting a directory and pressing Enter moves into it, updating the columns accordingly.

Navigation shortcuts

Right arrow – descend into a directory or view a file.

Left arrow – go up one level. q – quit ranger. ? – show a help line at the bottom. c – display a list of available commands.

Common commands

Within ranger you can execute shell‑like commands prefixed with a colon. For example, :chmod 700 changes the selected file’s permissions to rwx------, and :edit opens the file in nano for editing.

Conclusion

Once you become accustomed to ranger’s multi‑level view and keyboard navigation, you can browse and manipulate files on a Linux system more efficiently than using the traditional cd command line workflow.