fren ⚡

A fast, lightweight TUI file manager written in Rust. Navigate, organize, and open files with any app — no bloat.

Why fren?

• Open anything — Open files and directories with any application you choose
• Fast — Built in Rust, instant startup, low memory
• Image previews — See your images right in the terminal (via Kitty protocol / chafa)
• Multi-select — Copy, cut, paste, trash multiple files at once
• Clipboard — Built-in clipboard with copy/cut/paste
• Pinned directories — Save your favorite locations for quick access
• Storage mounts — Automatically detects mounted drives
• Configurable keybindings — Every key is rebindable
• Themes — Customize colors to your liking
• Icon modes — Emoji, Nerd Font, or ASCII icons

Installation

AUR (recommended)

yay -S fren-bin

yay -S fren-git

Manual

git clone https://github.com/TheCrabevariable/fren
cd fren
makepkg -si

Usage

Key	Action
o	Open with...
Enter	Open with program prompt
→	Enter directory / open file
←	Go up a directory
c	Copy selected
x	Cut selected
v	Paste
d	Trash
r	Rename
n	New file
f	New folder
s	Cycle sort mode
.	Toggle hidden files
u	Pin directory
i	Unpin directory
m	Go to path
Tab	Cycle focus (Files / Pinned / Storage / Clipboard)
Space	Toggle selection
/	Show help
q	Quit

All keybindings are configurable in ~/.config/fren/config.toml

Screenshot

Emoji / Icons

If emoji don't display properly (common in Kitty):

sudo pacman -S noto-fonts-emoji

Add to your shell config:

export FREN_ICON_MODE=emoji

Add to your terminal config:

symbol_map U+1F300-U+1F9FF Noto Color Emoji

For Nerd Font icons, install a Nerd Font and set:

export FREN_ICON_MODE=nerd

Configuration

• Keybindings: ~/.config/fren/config.toml
• Theme: ~/.config/fren/theme.toml
• Pinned directories: ~/.config/fren/pinned.txt
• Session (remember last dir): ~/.config/fren/session.txt

See Wiki for full config and theme documentation.

License

MIT