Key Bindings Reference

fzf supports a rich key binding system. Built-in defaults cover navigation and selection. The --bind flag lets you attach custom actions to any key.

Built-in Default Bindings

Navigation

Key	Action
Ctrl+j / Ctrl+n / ↓	Move cursor down
Ctrl+k / Ctrl+p / ↑	Move cursor up
Ctrl+f / Page Down	Page down
Ctrl+b / Page Up	Page up
Home	Go to first item
End	Go to last item

Selection

Key	Action
Enter	Accept selection
Esc / Ctrl+c	Cancel
Tab	Toggle mark (multi-select)
Shift+Tab	Toggle mark backwards
Ctrl+a	Select / deselect all

Query Editing

Key	Action
Ctrl+a	Move to beginning of query
Ctrl+e	Move to end of query
Ctrl+u	Clear query
Ctrl+w	Delete previous word
Ctrl+h / Backspace	Delete previous character
Alt+Backspace	Delete previous word
Alt+f	Move forward one word
Alt+b	Move backward one word
Ctrl+g	Clear query and abort

The --bind Flag

fzf --bind "KEY:ACTION"
fzf --bind "KEY:ACTION,KEY2:ACTION2"   # multiple bindings

Special Keys in --bind

Token	Meaning
ctrl-a through ctrl-z	Ctrl + letter
alt-a through alt-z	Alt + letter
f1 through f12	Function keys
enter, esc, tab, space	Named keys
up, down, left, right	Arrow keys
page-up, page-down	Page keys
home, end	Home/End
insert, delete	Insert/Delete
change	Fires when query changes
start	Fires when fzf starts
load	Fires when list is loaded
focus	Fires when focused item changes

Actions Available in --bind

Action	Description
accept	Accept selection (like Enter)
abort	Cancel (like Esc)
toggle	Toggle selection of current item
toggle-all	Toggle all selections
select-all	Select all items
deselect-all	Deselect all
up	Move cursor up
down	Move cursor down
page-up / page-down	Scroll pages
first / last	Go to first/last item
clear-query	Clear query
toggle-preview	Show/hide preview window
preview-up / preview-down	Scroll preview
preview-page-up/down	Page in preview
toggle-sort	Toggle sort
reload(cmd)	Reload list from command
execute(cmd)	Run command in subshell (stay in fzf)
execute-silent(cmd)	Run silently (no output shown)
become(cmd)	Replace fzf with command
change-preview(cmd)	Change the preview command
change-preview-window(opts)	Change preview window options
transform(cmd)	Transform an option based on state
put(str)	Insert string into query
replace-query	Replace query with highlighted item
print-query	Print query before selected
jump	EasyMotion-style jump

Practical --bind Examples

Toggle Preview with Ctrl+/

fzf --preview 'cat {}' --bind 'ctrl-/:toggle-preview'

Change Preview When Focus Changes

ls | fzf \
  --preview 'file {}' \
  --bind 'focus:change-preview(bat --color=always {})'

Reload List Dynamically

# Switch between searching files and directories
find . -type f | fzf \
  --bind 'ctrl-f:reload(find . -type f)' \
  --bind 'ctrl-d:reload(find . -type d)' \
  --header 'CTRL-F: files  CTRL-D: dirs'

Execute Action Without Leaving fzf

# View file content without exiting
ls | fzf --bind 'ctrl-p:execute(cat {})'

# Edit file and return to fzf after
ls | fzf --bind 'ctrl-e:execute(nvim {})'

Custom Accept with Multiple Actions

# Select file, open in neovim, and also copy path to clipboard
ls | fzf --bind 'enter:become(nvim {})+execute-silent(echo -n {} | xclip -selection clipboard)'

Jump Mode (EasyMotion-style)

ls | fzf --bind 'ctrl-j:jump'
# Labels appear on items; press the label key to jump to that item

Setting Global Bindings via FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS

~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc

export FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS="
  --bind='ctrl-/:toggle-preview'
  --bind='ctrl-u:preview-half-page-up'
  --bind='ctrl-d:preview-half-page-down'
  --bind='ctrl-a:select-all'
  --bind='ctrl-y:execute-silent(echo -n {} | xclip -selection clipboard)'
  --bind='alt-enter:print-query'
"

What's Next

• Search Syntax
• Shell Integration