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| Midnight Commander | |
|---|---|
 Midnight Commander running in a terminal window onUbuntu Linux | |
| Original author | Miguel de Icaza |
| Developers | Andrew Borodin and Yury V. Zaytsev[1] |
| Initial release | 1994; 32 years ago (1994)[2] |
| Stable release | 4.8.33[3]  / 23 January 2025 |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Unix-like includingmacOS;Windows(unofficial) |
| Available in | 51 languages[4] |
| Type | File manager |
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later |
| Website | midnight-commander |
| Repository | |
GNU Midnight Commander (also known asmc, the command used to start it, and as mouseless commander in older versions[5]) is afreecross-platformorthodox file manager.[6] It was started byMiguel de Icaza in 1994[2] as aclone of the then-popularNorton Commander.
GNU Midnight Commander is part of theGNU project and is licensed under the terms of theGNU General Public License.[7]
Midnight Commander is aconsole application with atext user interface. The main interface consists of two panels which display thefile system. File selection is done usingarrow keys, the insert key is used to select files and thefunction keys perform operations such as renaming, editing and copying files. Later versions of the Midnight Commander additionally havemouse support. Such versions are aware ofGPM andXterminal emulators (such asGNOME Terminal orxterm) which support mouse reporting. When running inside an X terminal, these versions can update the name of the window in which Midnight Commander runs (if allowed by the terminal emulator).
Midnight Commander's features include the ability to view the contents ofRPM package files, to work with commonarchive formats as if they were simply another directory, and to function as anFTP orFISH client. Midnight Commander also includes an editor calledmcedit, which can be executed as a standalone program or from Midnight Commander using theF4 key. mcedit's features includesyntax highlighting for many languages, macros, code snippets, simple integration with external tools, automatic indentation, mouse support, aclipboard and the ability to work in bothASCII andhex modes. Users also have the option to replace mcedit with the editor of their choiceOptions >Menu >Configuration >[Don't] Use Internal Edit.
Midnight Commander can also rename groups of files, unlike a number of otherfile managers that can only rename one file at a time. This is convenient for manipulating large collections of files, e.g. to make them conform to a newnaming convention. Midnight Commander can also move files to a differentdirectory at the same time as it renames them. It lets the user specify the original and resulting file names usingwildcard characters. This makes the power ofregular expressions available for renaming files, with a convenient user interface. In addition, the user can select whether or not to use "shell patterns" or "globs" (automatic grouping of wildcards). All of these features are available by using theFile >Rename/Move menu selection. (PressingF1 would then produce a brief explanation of the options, including examples of how to use wildcards.)
Midnight Commander is based on versatile text interfaces, such asNcurses orS-Lang, which allow it to work on a regular console, inside an X terminal, overSSH connections, over anRS-232 interface (for embedded devices) and all kinds of remote shells.
Native support forUTF-8 locales forUnicode was added in 2009 to development versions of Midnight Commander. As of version 4.7.0, mc has had Unicode support.[8]
