How I configure Far Manager

far.gif

Far Manager is console-based file manager. I like it very much. Here’s how I configure it to get the maximum out of it:

  1. Set raster font, 10 x 18. Set window size 80 x 26. Turn off selection with mouse (QuickEdit mode).
  2. Turn on “Clear R/O attribute from CD files”: go to Options | System Settings. I never need files to be read-only when I copy them from CD or DVD to hard drive.
  3. Turn on displaying hidden ($) shares: Options | Plugins configuration | Network browser | Show hidden shares. Now I can type net:computername and see C$, D$, etc.
  4. Options | Confirmations. Turn off confirmations for:
    • Delete non-empty folders
    • Exit
  5. Copy these command line archivers to C:\Program Files\Far folder:
    • pkzipc.exe
    • rar.exe
    • MsCab.exe
    • tar.exe

    Unfortunately Far Manager is not bundled with any archiver so you need to get them manually, from various web sites. Update: see below.

  6. Options | Panel Settings | turn on “Select folders”. This allows using NumPad Star to select folders.
  7. Go to Options | Interface Settings. Turn off “Clock in panels”. I already have a clock in lower right corner. There is no need for extra clock.Turn on “Show total copy progress indicator”. Otherwise I have absolutely no clue when operation is going to finish when I have lots of files to copy.
  8. Go to Options | Editor Settings. Check “Del removes blocks”. Set tab size to 3. Default 8 is way to much.
  9. Switch to Wide Mode. Press Left Ctrl + 4. I prefer this mode because I can see long file names and file sizes. Go to Options | File panel modes | Wide mode. Set Column Types to N,SC and Status line column types to NR,SC,D,T. This adds comma to file sizes:
    far-delimeters.gif
  10. Install EMenu plugin. Go to C:\Program Files\Far\Plugins\EMenu folder and execute Hotkey.reg. Now I can press Context Menu key to get Explorer menu for selected file or folder.
  11. Can you read gray text on green background? I can’t.
    far-grey.gif
    Go to Options | Colors | Dialogs | Unchanged text input. Set Foreground to black.

Update: Download pkzipc.exe, Rar.exe, MsCab.exe, gzip32.exe and tar.exe:
far_archivers.zip
Extract far_archivers.zip to C:\Program Files\Far folder.

10 thoughts on “How I configure Far Manager

  1. Hi.
    Thanks a lot for editing 🙂
    Can you please support me a bit about p. 9?
    I have Far 2.0.1436
    Setting Column Types to N,SC as you mentioned above formates columns as you can see on the screenshot: http://yfrog.com/esfarmanagerstylep
    How to make it like you did?
    Thanks in advance!

  2. Can you please ask this question at superuser.com and then post the link here? You can simply copy and paste your question. I promise I’ll answer it there.

  3. Thanks a ton for the download, was sad FAR doesn’t come with them, but that’s what the community is for 😉
    Thanks again,
    Max

  4. Thanks for the good info! Is there an easy way to export/import settings for another machine’s instance of Far?

  5. Thanks! By the way, I got thrown for a loop when I assumed [Options | Save setup] was the same as [SaveSettings.cmd]. Perhaps they should have called the file ExportSettings.cmd …

  6. Amazing to see that I have _exactly_ the same configuration (apart from the fact that I use 7-Zip and prefer Lucida Console font, but these are minor things). Greetings from Poland.

  7. That’s funny. That’s pretty much my config as well 🙂
    Although every body uses his own set of plugins of course
    My favorites:
    7z – archives
    CanonCam – browse your Canon camera
    Colorer – syntax highlighting
    DragnDrop – to copy to/from Explorer
    PictureView – to see pics in Preview (Ctrl-Q)
    WinSCP

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