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Fixing fzf Keybindings in Zsh

Problem

You have fzf installed on your system:

fzf --version
# 0.60 (devel)

However, keybindings like Ctrl-R (history search), Ctrl-T (file completion), and Alt-C (directory change) do not work in Zsh.

Upon inspection:

ls -l ~/.fzf.zsh
# ls: cannot access '/home/user/.fzf.zsh': No such file or directory

And the system-installed binary is located at:

which fzf
# /usr/bin/fzf

Root cause:

  • The APT (or system) version of fzf often only installs the binary, not the shell scripts needed for keybindings and completion.
  • Therefore, sourcing ~/.fzf.zsh or /usr/share/fzf/install fails because the scripts are missing.

Solution

To avoid conflicts with the manual version:

sudo apt remove fzf

Step 2: Install fzf manually via Git

Clone the official repository:

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

Run the installer with all options:

~/.fzf/install --all

What --all does:

  • Enables keybindings (Ctrl-R, Ctrl-T, Alt-C)
  • Enables fuzzy completion
  • Updates your ~/.zshrc automatically

Step 3: Reload Zsh

After installation, restart your terminal or run:

source ~/.zshrc

Step 4: Test Keybindings

  • Ctrl-R -> Search command history
  • Ctrl-T -> Fuzzy file finder
  • Alt-C -> Fuzzy change directory

They should now work immediately.

Notes

  • This method ensures you always have the latest fzf version and full functionality.
  • No conflicts with old system-installed binaries.
  • If using oh-my-zsh, make sure the fzf source line is after source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh in ~/.zshrc.