= 24 file managers: mc

In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, there was a popular file manager for DOS called *Norton Commander*.
It was a beloved by many computer users of the day, but it fell out of favor as graphical file managers became the default.
Fortunately for fans of the original commander, and those who missed out on the original, an open source file manager with a similar design was released, called *Midnight Commander* or, more commonly, just *mc*.

image:mc.webp[mc file manager]

The mc file manager exists in a terminal, but it feels like a modern keyboard-driven application with intuitive actions and easy navigation.
It starts with an efficient design.
Most file management tasks involve a source location and a destination, so it makes sense that your file manager has a persistent view of one location where your files are _now_ and another location where you want your files to be.
If you try it for a while, you do start to wonder why that's not the default configuration of every file manager, especially when you consider how much wasted horizontal space there often is in the typical file listing.

== 3 essential commands

There are only 3 things you need to know to get started with mc:

* *Tab* switches between panels.
* *Arrows* do what you think they do. *Up* and *Down* selects, *Left* goes back. The *Right* descends into the selected folder.
* *Ctrl+O* (that's the letter "o", not the number zero) toggles between the `mc` interface and a full terminal.

Like https://opensource.com/article/20/12/gnu-nano[GNU Nano], all the most common actions of `mc` are listed at the bottom of the terminal window.
Each action is assigned to a *Function* key (*F1* to *F10*,) and any action you perform applies to whatever you have currently selected in your active pane.

== Using mc

Launch mc from a terminal:

[source,bash]
----
$ mc
----

Your terminal is now the mc interface, and by default it lists the contents of your current directory.

== Open a file

One of the reasons you use a file manager is to find a file and then open it.
Your desktop already has default applications set, and mc inherits these preferences (or most of them), so press `Return` to open a file in its default application.
There are exceptions to mc's behavior when opening a file.
For instance, a text file doesn't open by default in a graphical text editor, because mc instead expects you to use its internal editor (*F4*) instead.
Images and videos and other binary files, however, default to your desktop settings.

Should you need to open a file in something other than its default application, press *F2* and select *Do something on the current file* (or just press *@*) and type in the name of the application you prefer to launch.

== Copy or move a file

To copy or move a file, select it from the file list and press the *F5* key.
By default, mc prompts you to copy (or move) your active selection from to the location shown in the non-active panel.
A dialogue box is provided, though, so you can manually enter either the source or the destination if you change your mind after starting the operation.

== Selecting files

Your current position in a file list is also your current and active selection.
To select more than one file at a time, press the *Shift* key and move your selection up or down the files you want to include in your selection.
Items in your selection are indicated with a color different from the other files listed.
What color mc uses depends on your color scheme.

You can deselect just one file from the middle of a selected block by moving to that item and pressing *Shift* and *Up* or *Down*.

== Menu

There are just ten actions listed at the bottom of the mc interface, but it can do a lot more than that.
Press *F9* to activate the top menu, using the arrow keys to navigate each menu.
From the *File* menu, for instance, you can create symlinks, change file modes and permissions, create new directories, and more.

Additionally, you can press *F2* on any selection for a contextual menu, allowing you to create compressed archives, append a file to another one, view man pages, copy files to a remote host, and more.

== Cancel an action

When you find yourself backed into a corner and in need of a panic button, use the `Esc` key.

== Install mc

On Linux, you're likely to find *mc* in your Linux distribution's software repository.
On Fedora, CentOS, Mageia, OpenMandriva, and similar:

[source,bash]
----
$ sudo dnf install mc
----

On Debian and Debian-based systems:

[source,bash]
----
$ sudo apt install mc
----

On macOS, use https://opensource.com/article/20/6/homebrew-mac[Homebrew] or https://opensource.com/article/20/11/macports[MacPort].

Take mc for spin.
You might discover a new favorite way to use your Linux terminal!
