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fzf Cheatsheet

Waylon Walker avatar
1 min read

fzf Cheatsheet

Shell Integration Keybindings #

Key Action
Ctrl+T Find files and insert path
Ctrl+R Search command history
Alt+C Find directories and cd
Tab Complete paths with fzf

fzf Interface Controls #

Key Action
Ctrl+J/K or Ctrl+N/P Navigate up/down
Ctrl+H/L Move cursor left/right in query
Enter Select item
Esc Cancel
Ctrl+U Clear query
Tab Multi-select
Shift+Tab Deselect
? Toggle preview

Common Commands #

# Basic file finding
fzf

# With preview
fzf --preview 'bat --style=numbers --color=always {}'

# Edit selected file
nvim $(fzf)

# Kill process
kill -9 $(ps aux | fzf | awk '{print $2}')

# Git checkout branch
git checkout $(git branch | fzf | sed 's/* //')

# cd to directory
cd $(find . -type d | fzf)

# Search history
history | fzf

Environment Variables #

# Default appearance
export FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS="--height 40% --layout=reverse --border"

# Default file search
export FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND='fd --type f --hidden --follow --exclude .git'

# Ctrl+T command
export FZF_CTRL_T_COMMAND="$FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND"

# Alt+C command  
export FZF_ALT_C_COMMAND='fd --type d --hidden --follow --exclude .git'

Integration Examples #

# Find and edit config files
nvim ~/.config/**/*(.) | fzf

# Search git files
git ls-files | fzf

# Docker actions
docker ps | fzf | awk '{print $1}' | xargs docker logs

# Package management
apt list --installed | fzf

Quick Workflows #

Find file: Ctrl+T → type → Enter Search history: Ctrl+R → type → Enter
Change directory: Alt+C → select → Enter Multi-select: Tab to select multiple items