Why elio Is the Ultimate Terminal File Manager with Rich Previews and Trash Support

Overview

elio is a terminal‑focused file manager written entirely in Rust. It offers a three‑pane layout (Places + Files + Preview) that enables browsing, locating, and previewing files without leaving the terminal.

Rich preview capabilities

Text and source code – syntax‑highlighted.

Markdown – rendered HTML.

JSON, YAML, TOML – structured view.

CSV/TSV – table view.

SQLite – schema display.

PDF – page preview (requires poppler).

Office/OpenDocument – document preview.

Images – inline rendering via Kitty Graphics Protocol, iTerm2 Inline Protocol, or Sixel.

Audio – metadata and cover art.

Video – metadata and thumbnail (requires ffmpeg).

Archives – content list (requires 7z or unar).

Fonts – preview (requires fontforge).

SVG – vector rendering (requires resvg).

Navigation system

k

/ ↑ – move up. j / ↓ – move down. h / ← / Backspace – go to parent directory. l / → – enter directory. Enter – open file or directory. Alt← / Alt→ – back/forward history. Tab / Shift+Tab – switch pane. Home / G – jump to first item. End – jump to last item. PageUp / PageDown – page navigation.

Search system

f

– fuzzy search folders. Ctrl+F – fuzzy search files. z – jump via zoxide history.

Places management

Fixed folders – user‑defined shortcuts.

Automatic drive detection – USB and external disks appear automatically.

Mount point display – all mount points are listed.

Quick jump menu (key g) – top, Downloads, home, config, trash.

Quick operations

o

– open with system default application. O – open with selector. ! – open a shell in the current directory. a – create file or folder. r / F2 – rename or batch rename. c – copy path to clipboard. . – toggle hidden files. s – toggle sort order (name → modified time → size).

Selection & clipboard

Space

– toggle selection. Ctrl+A – select all. y – yank (copy). x – cut. p – paste.

Preview controls

Shift+K

/ [ – page up or scroll preview up (PDF/comic/EPUB). Shift+J / ] – page down or scroll preview down. Shift+H / Shift+L – scroll preview left/right.

Technical architecture

Implemented 100 % in Rust – high performance and memory safety.

Uses the Ratatui TUI framework for terminal UI rendering.

Supports Kitty Graphics Protocol, iTerm2 Inline Protocol, and Sixel for image rendering.

Clipboard operations via OSC52.

Integrates zoxide for smart directory jumps.

Modular design separates preview, theme, and configuration modules.

Installation guide

Arch Linux: paru -S elio Fedora:

sudo dnf copr enable miguelregueiro/elio && sudo dnf install elio

Debian/Ubuntu:

curl -fsSL https://elio-fm.github.io/elio-apt/install.sh | sudo sh
sudo apt install elio

macOS (Homebrew): brew install elio-fm/elio/elio Cross‑platform (Cargo): cargo install elio From source:

git clone https://github.com/elio-fm/elio.git
cd elio
cargo run --release

Optional preview tools

poppler

– PDF preview. ffmpeg / ffprobe – media metadata and thumbnails. resvg – SVG preview. 7z / unar – archive preview. fontforge – font preview.

SSH remote usage

elio runs over SSH. After connecting to a remote host, launching elio provides text previews and, when the terminal supports it, image previews. PDF preview fails without a GUI, but other file types preview correctly.

Reference resources

GitHub repository: https://github.com/elio-fm/elio

Official site: https://elio-fm.github.io/

Installation docs: https://elio-fm.github.io/install/

Usage docs: https://elio-fm.github.io/docs/

Preview docs: https://elio-fm.github.io/docs/previews/

Theme docs: https://elio-fm.github.io/docs/themes/

Shell integration docs: https://elio-fm.github.io/docs/shell-integration/

Optional tools docs: https://elio-fm.github.io/docs/optional-tools/