diff --git a/src/components/FileView.tsx b/src/components/FileView.tsx
index 58b6a62c..04e1feb6 100644
--- a/src/components/FileView.tsx
+++ b/src/components/FileView.tsx
@@ -92,10 +92,47 @@ const FileView = observer(({ hide }: Props) => {
     }
     console.log('render!', { cursorIndex, cursor })
 
+    const searchStringRef = React.useRef<string>('')
+    const timeStampRef = React.useRef<number>(0)
+
+    // quick select
+    useKeyDown(
+        React.useCallback(
+            (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
+                let searchString = searchStringRef.current
+                // we only want to catch printable keys
+                if (
+                    !viewState.isActive ||
+                    !appState.isExplorer ||
+                    event.key.length !== 1 ||
+                    event.ctrlKey ||
+                    event.altKey ||
+                    event.metaKey
+                ) {
+                    return
+                }
+
+                // previous keyevent > 1sec ?
+                if (event.timeStamp - timeStampRef.current > 1000) searchString = ''
+
+                // search_string += key
+                searchString += event.key
+
+                // call select file marching search_string
+                if (searchString.length) cache.selectMatchingFile(searchString)
+
+                searchStringRef.current = searchString
+                timeStampRef.current = event.timeStamp
+            },
+            [cursor, cache, rowCount],
+        ),
+        ['*'],
+    )
+
     useKeyDown(
         React.useCallback(
             (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
-                if (!viewState.isActive) {
+                if (!viewState.isActive || !appState.isExplorer) {
                     return
                 }
 
@@ -232,7 +269,7 @@ const FileView = observer(({ hide }: Props) => {
             global: true,
             combo: 'mod + i',
             label: t('SHORTCUT.ACTIVE_VIEW.SELECT_INVERT'),
-            onKeyDown: () => onInvertSelection(cache),
+            onKeyDown: () => isViewActive && onInvertSelection(cache),
             group: t('SHORTCUT.GROUP.ACTIVE_VIEW'),
         },
         ...(!isMac || window.ENV.CY
diff --git a/src/hooks/useKeyDown.ts b/src/hooks/useKeyDown.ts
index 3c8e52cb..70bf298d 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useKeyDown.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useKeyDown.ts
@@ -1,30 +1,9 @@
 import { shouldCatchEvent } from '$src/utils/dom'
 import React from 'react'
 
-// export const useKeyDown = (callback: (ev: KeyboardEvent) => void, keys: string[]) => {
-//     const onKeyDown = React.useCallback(
-//         (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
-//             const wasAnyKeyPressed = keys.some((key) => event.key === key)
-//             if (wasAnyKeyPressed && shouldCatchEvent(event)) {
-//                 callback(event)
-//             }
-//         },
-//         [callback, keys],
-//     )
-
-//     React.useEffect(() => {
-//         document.addEventListener('keydown', onKeyDown)
-//         return () => {
-//             document.removeEventListener('keydown', onKeyDown)
-//             debugger
-//             console.log('removing event listener')
-//         }
-//     }, [onKeyDown])
-// }
-
 export function useKeyDown(callback: (ev: KeyboardEvent) => void, keys: string[]) {
     function handleKeyDown(event: KeyboardEvent) {
-        if (keys.includes(event.key) && shouldCatchEvent(event)) {
+        if ((keys.includes(event.key) || keys.includes('*')) && shouldCatchEvent(event)) {
             callback(event)
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/state/fileState.ts b/src/state/fileState.ts
index 13b288cd..3aafdf41 100644
--- a/src/state/fileState.ts
+++ b/src/state/fileState.ts
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ export class FileState {
             doLogin: action,
             clearSelection: action,
             invertSelection: action,
+            selectMatchingFile: action,
             reset: action,
             setSort: action,
             refreshSelection: action,
@@ -472,6 +473,15 @@ export class FileState {
         }
     }
 
+    selectMatchingFile(str: string) {
+        // find first matching file (could be the same, we don't care)
+        const file = this.files.find((file) => file.name.toLowerCase().startsWith(str.toLowerCase()))
+        if (file) {
+            this.selected.replace([file])
+            this.setCursor(this.selected[0])
+        }
+    }
+
     invertSelection() {
         if (this.selected.length === this.files.length) {
             this.selected.clear()