xplr takes pride in being an awesome file explorer, but it also lets us perform file management operations by utilizing the existing command-line tools that are designed to do one thing, and do it best. For example,

Create files & directories

Type : c f to create files or : c d to create directories. By default, xplr uses touch and, mkdir commands under the hood, but you can configure it to use anything else. Note that you can create multiple files and directories once you are into the "create file/directory" mode. Once done with creating, Press escape to leave that mode. Also, you can provide paths like ./non/existing/path, ../../existing/path and xplr will create them for you.

Alternatively, you can also utilize the xplr shell by typing : !. Once you are inside the shell, just type the commands you want to, like touch newfile, mkdir newdir etc.

Edit files

Just focus on the target file and type : e to open the file in your editor. By default, xplr uses the editor defined in the $EDITOR environment variable. If nothing is defined, it will fall back to vi.

Copy and move files

This operation tends to confuse some people coming from vim or some other terminal file manager, as there's no explicit "copy" or "yank". Once you select files and directories by pressing the space bar or v, you can go to the target path and paste or move the selected files by typing : s c or : s m. However, if it's too unintuitive for you, you can of-course configure it to behave as you want to. Also, there are plugins like xclip.xplr, wl-clipboard.xplr that utilizes the system clipboard to provide a more intuitive copy-paste experience. Additionally, if you hate that you have to do a lot of navigation for copy-pasting, checkout dual-pane.xplr or context-switch.xplr. With these plugins, you can easily switch between the source and target directories while copying or moving files.

Alternatively, you can also utilize the xplr shell by typing : !. Once you are inside the shell, You can access the file under focus via the $XPLR_FOCUS_PATH variable, or the selected paths via the $XPLR_PIPE_SELECTION_OUT file. By default, xplr uses the cp and mv commands to copy or move files.

Rename and duplicate files

Press r to rename and ctrl-d to duplicate the path under focus. By default, xplr uses mv to rename and cp to duplicate files. To rename or duplicate multiple paths at-once, you will need to select the paths and invoke the shell by typing : ! and run a custom command on the paths listed in the $XPLR_PIPE_SELECTION_OUT file. Or you can use tools like vidir or pipe-rename. See the batch rename hack.

Trash, restore and delete

By default, xplr only supports deleting paths using rm by (selecting and) typing d d. But you can configure it to use the system trash or a custom trash bin. Or maybe, just use the trash-cli.xplr plugin.

Custom operation on files

As you probably already know by now, you can perform any custom operation on the files visible in the table - $XPLR_PIPE_DIRECTORY_NODES_OUT, or the path under focus - $XPLR_FOCUS_PATH or the selected paths - $XPLR_PIPE_SELECTION_OUT etc. just by invoking the xplr shell by typing : !. Alternatively, you may want to explore plugins like map.xplr which lets you create and run custom commands interactively, even on multiple files at-once.