How to Use fzf, the Fuzzy Finder

fzf is an interactive fuzzy finder that turns almost any list of text into a searchable, filterable menu. Once it's wired into your shell, you'll use it dozens of times a day — to jump to files, replay commands, kill processes, and navigate git history — all without leaving the terminal.

Installation

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install fzf

The packaged version on older LTS releases may lag behind upstream. For the latest version, use the Git method below or grab a release binary from the fzf releases page.

Fedora / RHEL 9+ / Rocky 9+

sudo dnf install fzf

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S fzf

From Git (any distro, always current)

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/junegunn/fzf.git ~/.fzf
~/.fzf/install

The installer asks whether to enable key bindings and shell completion — say yes to both. It patches your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc automatically.

Shell Integration

Shell integration provides three essential key bindings and tab-completion triggers. If you installed from your package manager, you must source the integration files manually. Add the relevant block to your shell's RC file.

Bash

# Add to ~/.bashrc
source /usr/share/doc/fzf/examples/key-bindings.bash
source /usr/share/bash-completion/completions/fzf

Zsh

# Add to ~/.zshrc
source /usr/share/doc/fzf/examples/key-bindings.zsh
source /usr/share/doc/fzf/examples/completion.zsh

Fish

# Fish uses its own integration package
pacman -S fzf  # or apt/dnf
# Then add to ~/.config/fish/config.fish:
fzf --fish | source

File paths for the integration scripts vary slightly between distros. On Fedora they live under /usr/share/fzf/. Run rpm -ql fzf or dpkg -L fzf if you can't find them.

After editing your RC file, reload it:

source ~/.bashrc   # or ~/.zshrc

The Three Core Key Bindings

Once integration is active, three bindings cover the majority of daily use.

• Ctrl-T — paste a selected file or directory path onto the command line.
• Ctrl-R — search shell history interactively; press Enter to execute the selected command.
• Alt-C — fuzzy-search directories and cd into the chosen one immediately.

Searching Files

Running fzf alone opens a full-screen finder over the output of find starting from the current directory. Start typing to narrow results; the match is fuzzy, so bshrc will match .bashrc.

fzf

Open the selected file in your editor directly:

nvim "$(fzf)"

Use fd instead of the default find for faster, git-aware searches. Set it as the default source via the environment variable:

export FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND='fd --type f --hidden --follow --exclude .git'
export FZF_CTRL_T_COMMAND="$FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND"

Add a live preview of file contents with bat (a cat replacement with syntax highlighting):

export FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS="--height 50% --layout=reverse --preview 'bat --color=always --line-range :100 {}'"

Searching Shell History

Ctrl-R replaces the default reverse-history search with an fzf interface. Every command you've run appears; type fragments from anywhere in the command string to filter.

To search history and print the result (useful in scripts):

history | fzf --tac --no-sort | sed 's/^ *[0-9]* *//'

• --tac reverses the order so recent entries appear first.
• --no-sort preserves that recency order instead of sorting by match score.

Finding and Killing Processes

Pipe ps output into fzf to select processes interactively, then extract the PID for kill:

kill -9 $(ps aux | fzf --header-lines=1 | awk '{print $2}')

--header-lines=1 freezes the ps column header so it's visible but not selectable. This is a sharp tool — confirm the right process before pressing Enter.

For a reusable version, add a shell function to your RC file:

fkill() {
  local pid
  pid=$(ps aux | fzf --header-lines=1 --multi | awk '{print $2}')
  if [ -n "$pid" ]; then
    echo "$pid" | xargs kill -${1:-9}
  fi
}

--multi lets you select multiple processes with Tab before confirming. Call it as fkill or fkill 15 to send SIGTERM instead.

Git Integration

fzf pairs naturally with git's plumbing commands to build fast, visual workflows.

Checkout branches interactively

git checkout $(git branch --all | fzf | tr -d ' ')

Browse and show commits

git log --oneline | fzf --preview 'git show --stat --color=always {1}'

The {1} placeholder passes the first field (the commit hash) to git show. The preview pane updates as you move the cursor.

Stage files interactively

git diff --name-only | fzf --multi --preview 'git diff --color=always {}' | xargs git add

For a richer git+fzf experience, look at forgit, a plugin that wraps common git operations with fzf interfaces including interactive rebase, stash management, and blame browsing.

Useful fzf Options

Option	Effect
--multi	Select multiple items with Tab; outputs one per line
--height 40%	Open inline rather than full-screen
--layout=reverse	Input at top, list below (feels more natural)
--preview 'cmd {}'	Run a command on the highlighted item; show output in a side pane
--bind 'ctrl-/:toggle-preview'	Toggle preview pane with a key
--query 'initial'	Pre-fill the search box
--exact	Switch to exact (non-fuzzy) matching

Verification

Confirm fzf is installed and integrated correctly:

fzf --version

Expected output (version will vary):

0.54.3 (brew)

Then open a new terminal and press Ctrl-R. If the fzf history search opens rather than the default readline reverse search, integration is working.

Troubleshooting

• Ctrl-R still opens the old readline search. The integration script wasn't sourced. Verify the source lines are present in your RC file, that the paths are correct for your distro, and that you've opened a fresh terminal session.
• No files appear. The default finder uses find; if FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND is set to fd and fd isn't installed, fzf will show nothing. Either install fd (apt install fd-find / dnf install fd-find / pacman -S fd) or unset the variable.
• Preview pane is blank. The preview command (bat, git show, etc.) must be on your PATH. Run it manually against a sample argument to confirm it works.
• Alt-C does nothing on a Wayland terminal. Some terminal emulators intercept Alt key combinations. Check your terminal's key binding settings, or remap the binding: export FZF_ALT_C_COMMAND='fd --type d' and rebind with bind -x '"\ec": fzf-cd-widget' in Bash.
• fzf version from apt is too old. Install via Git as shown above. The Git installer places binaries in ~/.fzf/bin/ and prepends it to your PATH automatically.