Flea
The fastest GUI file manager on Omarchy.
Install ·
Views ·
Performance ·
Keyboard ·
Releases
- **Four views.** List, columns, grid and two panes, with tabs and natural sorting.
- **Quick Look.** Space previews images, PDFs, text, media, archives and 3D model thumbnails.
- **File operations.** Copy, move, rename, trash, compress and extract, with undo. Rename many files at once.
- **Tags.** Seven tags in your theme's colours, set with `T` then `1` to `7`, found with `tag:red`.
- **Search.** Ranked results as you type.
- **Network and sharing.** SMB, SFTP, FTPS, WebDAV, NFS, Dropbox and Taildrop.
- **Devices.** USB and encrypted drives, phones and cameras, mounted from the sidebar.
- **Disk images.** Write an ISO or IMG to a USB drive, even compressed or zipped, and verify every byte.
- **Desktop integration.** Default file manager, “Show in folder” and Open/Save dialogs.
- **Your settings.** Omarchy text sizes, configurable menus, and Default, Vim, Mac or Windows keys.
## Install
Flea is available only from the Omarchy Package Repository. Install it and make it your default
file manager, file chooser and the app opened by **Super+Shift+F**:
```bash
omarchy pkg add flea && flea --default
```
Run `flea --default` from a terminal in your session so file dialogs switch at once. `flea --default off`
undoes it, and Settings > About has the same switch. To try Flea without changing your defaults, run
only `omarchy pkg add flea`. Updates come with `omarchy update`.
On an AUR `flea-bin` or `flea-git` install, run this and answer `y` when pacman asks to remove it:
```bash
sudo pacman -S flea
```
File chooser only, development build and removal
Use Flea for portal Open/Save dialogs without changing your default file manager:
```bash
flea --picker
```
To try unreleased changes from `main`, [build Flea from source](#build).
Before removing Flea, undo its desktop integration, then drop the package:
```bash
flea --default off
omarchy pkg drop flea
```
[Installation details](docs/install.md) cover dependencies, desktop integration and removal.
## Views
**List** for details, **grid** for photos and clips, **columns** for browsing with a preview, and
**two panes** (`Ctrl+4`) for two folders side by side. Flea can remember the view for each folder.
**Space** opens Quick Look in any view. Page through a PDF, play media, zoom an image with `+` and
`-`, or look inside an archive, ISO image or package.
**The shelf** in the Omarchy bar holds files you send to it from any menu. Drag them out into any
app, or pin the ones you reuse.
**Dragging** moves files within a device and copies them across devices. Hold Ctrl to copy, Shift to
move, or both to link. Drop files on Trash in the sidebar to trash them, and `z` brings them back.
Drag a file into a terminal to paste its path.
**Transparency** follows Omarchy's Window Transparency (Trigger > Appearance > Window
Transparency). To set Flea's own, give a value from 0 to 1 in a theme's `shell.toml`, or in
`~/.config/omarchy/shell.toml` for every theme:
```toml
[flea]
background-alpha = 0.34
```
## Performance
Measured on **12 October 2026**, using the **0.3.10** source tree.
Cold caches, 3 runs per app, medians below. 7 GUI apps on the same machine.
### Speed
#### btrfs, 100000 visible entries, filesystem btrfs
| File manager | Version | First window | Settled |
|---|---|---:|---:|
| **Flea** | 0.3.10, source 5816ab88 | 505 ms | 1.00 s |
| Dolphin | 26.08.2-1 | 752 ms | 5.07 s |
| Nautilus | 51.0.1-2 | 921 ms | 6.59 s |
| Nemo | 6.6.4-1 | 857 ms | 21.78 s |
| PCManFM | 1.4.0-2 | 448 ms | 33.54 s |
| Strata | v1.0.0 | 588 ms | 1.84 s |
| Thunar | 4.20.10-1 | 518 ms | 19.45 s |
#### btrfs, 1700 visible entries, filesystem btrfs
| File manager | Version | First window | Settled | Thumbnails |
|---|---|---:|---:|---:|
| **Flea** | 0.3.10, source 5816ab88 | 541 ms | 1.83 s | 43 |
| Dolphin | 26.08.2-1 | 733 ms | 13.18 s | 500 |
| Nautilus | 51.0.1-2 | 876 ms | 18.19 s | 641 |
| Nemo | 6.6.4-1 | 842 ms | 1.71 s | not measured |
| PCManFM | 1.4.0-2 | 416 ms | 114.99 s | 700 |
| Strata | v1.0.0 | 656 ms | 3.26 s | not measured |
| Thunar | 4.20.10-1 | 507 ms | 0.93 s | not measured |
Note: Nemo, Thunar: "unranked: nothing reached the thumbnail cache so its work was not measured".
Note: Strata: "unranked: its watches saw 0 renders for 86 opened fixture files so neither is a count".
#### btrfs, 2000 visible entries, filesystem btrfs
| File manager | Version | First window | Settled | Thumbnails |
|---|---|---:|---:|---:|
| **Flea** | 0.3.10, source 5816ab88 | 530 ms | 1.77 s | 43 |
| Dolphin | 26.08.2-1 | 747 ms | 13.76 s | 642 |
| Nautilus | 51.0.1-2 | 897 ms | 19.29 s | 641 |
| Nemo | 6.6.4-1 | 862 ms | 3.40 s | 60 |
| PCManFM | 1.4.0-2 | 420 ms | Timed out | 690 |
| Strata | v1.0.0 | 599 ms | 3.45 s | not measured |
| Thunar | 4.20.10-1 | 513 ms | 1.00 s | not measured |
Note: Strata: "unranked: its watches saw 0 renders for 86 opened fixture files so neither is a count".
Note: Thunar: "unranked: nothing reached the thumbnail cache so its work was not measured".
### Memory and CPU
#### btrfs, 100000 visible entries, filesystem btrfs
| File manager | Version | Window PSS | CPU |
|---|---|---:|---:|
| **Flea** | 0.3.10, source 5816ab88 | 80.7 MiB | 0.75 s |
| Dolphin | 26.08.2-1 | 202.6 MiB | 7.67 s |
| Nautilus | 51.0.1-2 | 321.4 MiB | 8.27 s |
| Nemo | 6.6.4-1 | 472.8 MiB | 25.00 s |
| PCManFM | 1.4.0-2 | 123.0 MiB | 23.05 s |
| Strata | v1.0.0 | 130.6 MiB | 1.53 s |
| Thunar | 4.20.10-1 | 358.5 MiB | 19.33 s |
#### btrfs, 1700 visible entries, filesystem btrfs
| File manager | Version | Window PSS | CPU |
|---|---|---:|---:|
| **Flea** | 0.3.10, source 5816ab88 | 93.6 MiB | 5.04 s |
| Dolphin | 26.08.2-1 | 99.3 MiB | 64.30 s |
| Nautilus | 51.0.1-2 | 176.4 MiB | 114.32 s |
| Nemo | 6.6.4-1 | 45.1 MiB | 1.66 s |
| PCManFM | 1.4.0-2 | 42.0 MiB | 171.36 s |
| Strata | v1.0.0 | 86.3 MiB | 7.61 s |
| Thunar | 4.20.10-1 | 34.2 MiB | 0.90 s |
#### btrfs, 2000 visible entries, filesystem btrfs
| File manager | Version | Window PSS | CPU |
|---|---|---:|---:|
| **Flea** | 0.3.10, source 5816ab88 | 93.5 MiB | 4.82 s |
| Dolphin | 26.08.2-1 | 102.8 MiB | 68.07 s |
| Nautilus | 51.0.1-2 | 176.4 MiB | 120.73 s |
| Nemo | 6.6.4-1 | 54.7 MiB | 9.38 s |
| PCManFM | 1.4.0-2 | 39.6 MiB | 154.08 s |
| Strata | v1.0.0 | 87.5 MiB | 7.32 s |
| Thunar | 4.20.10-1 | 35.2 MiB | 0.95 s |
"First window" records compositor registration. "Settled" means 500 ms without process-tree CPU activity; neither measures input readiness.
PSS covers the window process, excluding helpers and GPU memory. CPU is everything the app started, counted from a control group of its own, so sandboxed thumbnailers are in it. Shared libraries affect PSS. Results describe this machine and workload.
Settled time and CPU are not ranked against an app whose thumbnail work was not measured; the notes under each speed table name those apps.
[Method](docs/benchmarks.md) · [Local CSV](docs/bench/local-0.3.10-20261012.csv) · [Local manifest](docs/bench/local-0.3.10-20261012.manifest.md) · [Matched CSV](docs/bench/matched-0.3.10-20261012.csv) · [Matched manifest](docs/bench/matched-0.3.10-20261012.manifest.md) · [Media CSV](docs/bench/media-0.3.10-20261012.csv) · [Media manifest](docs/bench/media-0.3.10-20261012.manifest.md)
## Keyboard
Press **?** for the full keymap, or **,** to change settings.
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Move / parent / enter | `j` `k` / `h` / `l` |
| Open with the default app | `Enter` |
| Quick Look | `Space` |
| Select / extend selection | `v` / `Shift` + arrows |
| Copy / cut / paste | `y` `x` `p`, or `Ctrl+C` `Ctrl+X` `Ctrl+V` |
| Rename / trash / undo / redo | `r` or `F2` / `dd` or `Delete` / `z` / `Ctrl+Shift+Z` |
| Tag the selection | `T`, then `1` to `7` |
| New folder | `Ctrl+Shift+N` |
| Search / filter the list | `f` / `/` |
| Enter a path, or jump to a folder by name | `:` or `Ctrl+L`, then a path or a name |
| List / columns / grid / two panes | `Ctrl+1` / `Ctrl+2` / `Ctrl+3` / `Ctrl+4` |
| Next / previous area | `Tab` / `Shift+Tab` |
| New tab / close tab / switch tab | `t` / `w` / `1` to `9` |
| Open terminal / context menu | `Ctrl+T` / `m` |
| Show hidden files | `.` |
| Zoom an image in Quick Look / fit | `+` `-` / `0` |
The Windows preset uses `Ctrl+Shift+1/2/3/4` for views and `Ctrl+Y` for redo.
See [the full key table](keys.toml) for preset bindings and pointer actions.
## Build
Requires Omarchy, Quickshell 0.3.1 or newer, and Rust. See
[installation details](docs/install.md) for runtime and optional dependencies.
```bash
cargo build --release
FLEA_UI="$PWD/ui" ./target/release/flea --gui
```
Pass a directory to open it, or `--select ` to reveal a file.
`./tests/run-all.sh` runs the headless suites, and [the protocol guide](docs/protocol.md) documents
the backend.
## Support
If this saved you an afternoon, you can
[sponsor me on GitHub](https://github.com/sponsors/thisisgm) or
[buy me a coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/thisisgm).
## Licence
[MIT](LICENSE).
The language marks in `ui/js/LangMarkPaths.js` use [simple-icons](https://github.com/simple-icons/simple-icons)
geometry (CC0 1.0) and remain their owners' trademarks.