fzf Cheatsheet

Search Syntax

TERM        Fuzzy match (chars in order, any spacing)
'TERM       Exact substring match
^TERM       Prefix exact (starts with)
TERM$       Suffix exact (ends with)
^TERM$      Full-line exact match
!TERM       NOT fuzzy
!'TERM      NOT exact
!^TERM      Does NOT start with
!TERM$      Does NOT end with

TERM1 TERM2        AND: both must match
TERM1 | TERM2      OR: either matches

Default Key Bindings

Navigation

Key	Action
↑ / Ctrl+k / Ctrl+p	Move up
↓ / Ctrl+j / Ctrl+n	Move down
Page Up	Scroll up
Page Down	Scroll down
Home	First item
End	Last item

Query Editing

Key	Action
Ctrl+u	Clear query
Ctrl+w	Delete previous word
Ctrl+a	Start of query
Ctrl+e	End of query
Alt+f	Forward one word
Alt+b	Backward one word

Selection

Key	Action
Enter	Accept (output selected)
Esc / Ctrl+c	Cancel (exit 130)
Tab	Toggle mark (multi-select)
Shift+Tab	Toggle mark backwards
Ctrl+A	Select all
Ctrl+D	Deselect all

Preview

Key	Action
Shift+↑	Scroll preview up
Shift+↓	Scroll preview down
(custom) Ctrl+/	Toggle preview
(custom) Ctrl+u	Half page up in preview
(custom) Ctrl+d	Half page down in preview

Essential CLI Flags

Flag	Description
-m / --multi	Multi-select (Tab to mark)
--multi=N	Multi-select up to N items
-q / --query "str"	Pre-fill query
-1 / --select-1	Auto-select if one match
-0 / --exit-0	Exit immediately if no match
-f / --filter "str"	Non-interactive batch mode
--height N%	Partial screen height
--reverse	Query at top
--prompt "str"	Custom prompt text
--header "str"	Header text
--header-lines=N	Freeze first N input lines as header
--preview 'cmd {}'	Preview command
--preview-window POS:SIZE	Preview position and size
--border	Border style
--bind KEY:ACTION	Custom key binding
--expect KEY,KEY	Capture alternative keys
--with-nth N	Display only certain fields
--nth N	Search only certain fields
--delimiter STR	Field delimiter
--no-sort	Keep input order
--tiebreak OPTS	Tiebreak order
-i	Case insensitive always
+i	Case sensitive always
--ansi	Enable ANSI color in input
--print0	Null-delimited output
--read0	Null-delimited input
--print-query	Output query before selection
--tmux OPTS	Run as tmux popup

Preview Window Options

--preview-window=right:60%     → right side, 60% width
--preview-window=down:20       → bottom, 20 lines
--preview-window=hidden        → start hidden (toggle with bind)
--preview-window=wrap          → wrap long lines
--preview-window=+{2}/2        → scroll to field 2, centered

--bind Actions Reference

accept               → confirm selection
abort                → cancel
toggle               → toggle multi-select mark
select-all           → mark all
deselect-all         → unmark all
toggle-preview       → show/hide preview
preview-up/down      → scroll preview
preview-half-page-up/down  → half-page scroll preview
reload(cmd)          → reload list from command
execute(cmd)         → run command (stay in fzf)
execute-silent(cmd)  → run silently
become(cmd)          → replace fzf with command
change-preview(cmd)  → change preview command
transform(cmd)       → transform fzf options
change-prompt(str)   → change prompt
change-header(str)   → change header
put(str)             → insert string into query
replace-query        → replace query with item
clear-query          → clear query
jump                 → EasyMotion-style jump labels

Environment Variables

Variable	Controls
FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND	Default input command
FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS	Default flags (applies to all fzf)
FZF_CTRL_T_COMMAND	Input for CTRL-T
FZF_CTRL_T_OPTS	Options for CTRL-T
FZF_CTRL_R_OPTS	Options for CTRL-R
FZF_ALT_C_COMMAND	Input for ALT-C
FZF_ALT_C_OPTS	Options for ALT-C
FZF_COMPLETION_TRIGGER	Trigger for ** completion (default: **)
FZF_COMPLETION_OPTS	Options for completion
FZF_PREVIEW_COLUMNS	Width of preview window (in preview cmd)
FZF_PREVIEW_LINES	Height of preview window (in preview cmd)

Placeholder Tokens in --preview and --bind

Token	Expands to
{}	Currently highlighted item
{1}, {2}, {N}	Nth field (using delimiter)
{-1}	Last field
{1..}	Fields from 1 onwards
{..3}	Fields up to 3
{1..3}	Fields 1 to 3
{q}	Current query string
{n}	Line number (0-based)
{+}	All selected items (multi)

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Successfully selected
1	No match or empty selection
2	Error
130	Aborted (Esc / Ctrl+c)

Quick Pattern Reference

# Open file
nvim $(fzf)

# Multi-select files
vim $(fzf -m)

# Preview with bat
fzf --preview 'bat --color=always {}'

# Live grep
rg --color=always -n '' | fzf --ansi --delimiter=: \
  --preview 'bat --color=always --highlight-line={2} {1}' \
  --preview-window '+{2}/2'

# Git branch checkout
git branch | fzf | xargs git checkout

# Kill process
ps aux | fzf | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill

# SSH to host
grep -E "^Host " ~/.ssh/config | awk '{print $2}' | fzf | xargs ssh

Back to Start

• What is fzf
• Installation