mc command in Linux: a terminal file manager, examples

Q: mc: command not found

It's not installed: sudo apt install mc.

Q: Ctrl+O does nothing / the shell is empty

Ctrl+O shows the subshell. Over an SSH session without a full TTY the subshell may be unavailable — quit (F10) and work in a plain shell.

Q: The mouse selects text instead of the panels

Hold Shift while selecting with the mouse — that hands the selection to the terminal instead of mc.

Overview

Midnight Commander (mc) is a two-panel terminal file manager (similar to Norton/Total Commander). It's beginner-friendly: two folders are visible at once, files are copied/moved with F-keys, and it has a built-in editor and viewer.

Not always installed — install it as a package (see apt):

bash

sudo apt install mc        # Debian/Ubuntu
mc                         # launch it

Quit with F10 (or q). The bottom of the screen always shows the F-key hints.

Options

7

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mc's command-line options control how it starts — the display mode and which file to open right away — not what happens inside the program (that's the F-keys, see the cheat sheet). -a helps when panel borders turn into garbage due to missing UTF-8/font support. -e/-v open a file directly in the editor or viewer, without going through the panels.

Option	What it does	Example
`-e` `--edit` file	Open the file directly in the built-in editor (mcedit).	`mc -e file.conf`
`-v` `--view` file	Open the file directly in the built-in viewer (mcview).	`mc -v huge.log`
`-a`	Draw panel frames with plain ASCII — when UTF-8/line-drawing glyphs break.	`mc -a`
`-b`	Force black-and-white mode, no color.	`mc -b`
`-c`	Force color mode on.	`mc -c`
`-u`	Disable the built-in subshell (Ctrl+O).	`mc -u`
`-P` `--printwd` file	On exit, print the current directory to the given file — used to change the shell's directory.	`mc -P /tmp/lastdir`

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Recipes

3

Navigation

Tab — switch between the left and right panel.
Arrows / Enter — move around and enter a directory; .. at the top goes up one level.
Insert (or Ctrl+T) — select multiple files.
Alt+Shift+? / Alt+? — find a file.
Ctrl+\ — a list of "hotlist" directories; Ctrl+O hides the panels to show a plain terminal (the shell works there), Ctrl+O again brings the panels back.
Ctrl+R — refresh the panel (after changes on disk).

The top menu is F9 (settings, sorting, permissions, panel mode).

F-keys

Key	Action
F3	view a file (mcview)
F4	edit it (mcedit)
F5	copy the selection to the other panel
F6	move / rename
F7	create a directory
F8	delete
F9	the top menu
F10	quit

Copying "like a file explorer": put the cursor on the file in one panel, open the target folder in the other one (Tab), press F5.

Editor and SFTP

bash

mcedit file.conf           # the built-in editor on its own (F4 inside mc)
mcview huge.log            # the built-in viewer on its own (F3 inside mc)

Access a remote machine right from a panel (an SSH shell link): menu F9 → Left/Right → Shell link, with a path like:

sh://user@host:/var/www      # the panel shows the remote machine's files over SSH

This lets you copy files between the local and remote panel with F5 — over SFTP/SSH (see ssh-client).

Troubleshooting

4

`mc: command not found`

It's not installed: sudo apt install mc.

Garbled panel borders

The terminal isn't UTF-8, or the font is missing the glyphs. Run mc -a (ASCII borders), or set a UTF-8 locale (see locale).

`Ctrl+O` does nothing / the shell is empty

Ctrl+O shows the subshell. Over an SSH session without a full TTY the subshell may be unavailable — quit (F10) and work in a plain shell.

The mouse selects text instead of the panels

Hold Shift while selecting with the mouse — that hands the selection to the terminal instead of mc.

mc — a terminal file manager

Cheat sheet