diff --git a/complete.go b/complete.go
index 24ceee57..3480dd9e 100644
--- a/complete.go
+++ b/complete.go
@@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ var (
 		"autoquit",
 		"noautoquit",
 		"autoquit!",
+		"cursorfmt",
+		"cursorpreviewfmt",
 		"dircache",
 		"nodircache",
 		"dircache!",
diff --git a/doc.go b/doc.go
index f0897102..cbb20d1e 100644
--- a/doc.go
+++ b/doc.go
@@ -111,57 +111,59 @@ The following command line commands are provided by lf:
 
 The following options can be used to customize the behavior of lf:
 
-	anchorfind     bool      (default on)
-	autoquit       bool      (default off)
-	cleaner        string    (default '')
-	dircache       bool      (default on)
-	dircounts      bool      (default off)
-	dirfirst       bool      (default on)
-	dironly        bool      (default off)
-	dirpreviews    bool      (default off)
-	drawbox        bool      (default off)
-	errorfmt       string    (default "\033[7;31;47m%s\033[0m")
-	filesep        string    (default "\n")
-	findlen        int       (default 1)
-	globsearch     bool      (default off)
-	hidden         bool      (default off)
-	hiddenfiles    []string  (default '.*')
-	history        bool      (default on)
-	icons          bool      (default off)
-	ifs            string    (default '')
-	ignorecase     bool      (default on)
-	ignoredia      bool      (default on)
-	incfilter      bool      (default off)
-	incsearch      bool      (default off)
-	info           []string  (default '')
-	infotimefmtnew string    (default 'Jan _2 15:04')
-	infotimefmtold string    (default 'Jan _2  2006')
-	mouse          bool      (default off)
-	number         bool      (default off)
-	period         int       (default 0)
-	preview        bool      (default on)
-	previewer      string    (default '')
-	promptfmt      string    (default "\033[32;1m%u@%h\033[0m:\033[34;1m%d\033[0m\033[1m%f\033[0m")
-	ratios         []int     (default '1:2:3')
-	relativenumber bool      (default off)
-	reverse        bool      (default off)
-	scrolloff      int       (default 0)
-	selmode        string    (default 'all')
-	shell          string    (default 'sh' for Unix and 'cmd' for Windows)
-	shellflag      string    (default '-c' for Unix and '/c' for Windows)
-	shellopts      []string  (default '')
-	smartcase      bool      (default on)
-	smartdia       bool      (default off)
-	sortby         string    (default 'natural')
-	tabstop        int       (default 8)
-	tagfmt         string    (default "\033[31m%s\033[0m")
-	tempmarks      string    (default '')
-	timefmt        string    (default 'Mon Jan _2 15:04:05 2006')
-	truncatechar   string    (default '~')
-	waitmsg        string    (default 'Press any key to continue')
-	wrapscan       bool      (default on)
-	wrapscroll     bool      (default off)
-	user_{option}  string    (default none)
+	anchorfind       bool      (default on)
+	autoquit         bool      (default off)
+	cleaner          string    (default '')
+	cursorfmt        string    (default "\033[7m")
+	cursorpreviewfmt string    (default "\033[4m")
+	dircache         bool      (default on)
+	dircounts        bool      (default off)
+	dirfirst         bool      (default on)
+	dironly          bool      (default off)
+	dirpreviews      bool      (default off)
+	drawbox          bool      (default off)
+	errorfmt         string    (default "\033[7;31;47m")
+	filesep          string    (default "\n")
+	findlen          int       (default 1)
+	globsearch       bool      (default off)
+	hidden           bool      (default off)
+	hiddenfiles      []string  (default '.*')
+	history          bool      (default on)
+	icons            bool      (default off)
+	ifs              string    (default '')
+	ignorecase       bool      (default on)
+	ignoredia        bool      (default on)
+	incfilter        bool      (default off)
+	incsearch        bool      (default off)
+	info             []string  (default '')
+	infotimefmtnew   string    (default 'Jan _2 15:04')
+	infotimefmtold   string    (default 'Jan _2  2006')
+	mouse            bool      (default off)
+	number           bool      (default off)
+	period           int       (default 0)
+	preview          bool      (default on)
+	previewer        string    (default '')
+	promptfmt        string    (default "\033[32;1m%u@%h\033[0m:\033[34;1m%d\033[0m\033[1m%f\033[0m")
+	ratios           []int     (default '1:2:3')
+	relativenumber   bool      (default off)
+	reverse          bool      (default off)
+	scrolloff        int       (default 0)
+	selmode          string    (default 'all')
+	shell            string    (default 'sh' for Unix and 'cmd' for Windows)
+	shellflag        string    (default '-c' for Unix and '/c' for Windows)
+	shellopts        []string  (default '')
+	smartcase        bool      (default on)
+	smartdia         bool      (default off)
+	sortby           string    (default 'natural')
+	tabstop          int       (default 8)
+	tagfmt           string    (default "\033[31m")
+	tempmarks        string    (default '')
+	timefmt          string    (default 'Mon Jan _2 15:04:05 2006')
+	truncatechar     string    (default '~')
+	waitmsg          string    (default 'Press any key to continue')
+	wrapscan         bool      (default on)
+	wrapscroll       bool      (default off)
+	user_{option}    string    (default none)
 
 The following environment variables are exported for shell commands:
 
@@ -606,6 +608,19 @@ This file is called if previewing is enabled, the previewer is set, and the prev
 Five arguments are passed to the file, (1) current file name, (2) width, (3) height, (4) horizontal position, and (5) vertical position of preview pane respectively.
 Preview clearing is disabled when the value of this option is left empty.
 
+	cursorfmt         string    (default "\033[7m")
+	cursorpreviewfmt  string    (default "\033[4m")
+
+Format strings for highlighting the cursor.
+`cursorpreviewfmt` applies in panes that preview directories, and `cursorfmt` applies in all other panes.
+
+The default is to make the normal cursor inverted and the preview cursor underlined.
+
+Some other possibilities to consider for the preview cursor: an empty string for no cursor, "\033[7;2m" for dimmed inverted text (visibility varies by terminal), "\033[7;90m" for inverted text with grey (aka "brightblack") background.
+
+If the format string contains the characters `%s`, it is interpreted as a format string for `fmt.Sprintf`. Such a string should end with the terminal reset sequence.
+For example, "\033[4m%s\033[0m" has the same effect as "\033[4m".
+
 	dircache       bool      (default on)
 
 Cache directory contents.
@@ -634,10 +649,13 @@ Show only directories.
 
 Draw boxes around panes with box drawing characters.
 
-	errorfmt       string    (default "\033[7;31;47m%s\033[0m")
+	errorfmt       string    (default "\033[7;31;47m")
 
 Format string of error messages shown in the bottom message line.
 
+If the format string contains the characters `%s`, it is interpreted as a format string for `fmt.Sprintf`. Such a string should end with the terminal reset sequence.
+For example, "\033[4m%s\033[0m" has the same effect as "\033[4m".
+
 	filesep        string    (default "\n")
 
 File separator used in environment variables 'fs' and 'fx'.
@@ -812,10 +830,13 @@ Currently supported sort types are 'natural', 'name', 'size', 'time', 'ctime', '
 
 Number of space characters to show for horizontal tabulation (U+0009) character.
 
-	tagfmt         string    (default "\033[31m%s\033[0m")
+	tagfmt         string    (default "\033[31m")
 
 Format string of the tags.
 
+If the format string contains the characters `%s`, it is interpreted as a format string for `fmt.Sprintf`. Such a string should end with the terminal reset sequence.
+For example, "\033[4m%s\033[0m" has the same effect as "\033[4m".
+
 	tempmarks      string    (default '')
 
 Marks to be considered temporary (e.g. 'abc' refers to marks 'a', 'b', and 'c').
diff --git a/docstring.go b/docstring.go
index 9d9fe9a9..17ef3f2c 100644
--- a/docstring.go
+++ b/docstring.go
@@ -114,57 +114,59 @@ The following command line commands are provided by lf:
 
 The following options can be used to customize the behavior of lf:
 
-    anchorfind     bool      (default on)
-    autoquit       bool      (default off)
-    cleaner        string    (default '')
-    dircache       bool      (default on)
-    dircounts      bool      (default off)
-    dirfirst       bool      (default on)
-    dironly        bool      (default off)
-    dirpreviews    bool      (default off)
-    drawbox        bool      (default off)
-    errorfmt       string    (default "\033[7;31;47m%s\033[0m")
-    filesep        string    (default "\n")
-    findlen        int       (default 1)
-    globsearch     bool      (default off)
-    hidden         bool      (default off)
-    hiddenfiles    []string  (default '.*')
-    history        bool      (default on)
-    icons          bool      (default off)
-    ifs            string    (default '')
-    ignorecase     bool      (default on)
-    ignoredia      bool      (default on)
-    incfilter      bool      (default off)
-    incsearch      bool      (default off)
-    info           []string  (default '')
-    infotimefmtnew string    (default 'Jan _2 15:04')
-    infotimefmtold string    (default 'Jan _2  2006')
-    mouse          bool      (default off)
-    number         bool      (default off)
-    period         int       (default 0)
-    preview        bool      (default on)
-    previewer      string    (default '')
-    promptfmt      string    (default "\033[32;1m%u@%h\033[0m:\033[34;1m%d\033[0m\033[1m%f\033[0m")
-    ratios         []int     (default '1:2:3')
-    relativenumber bool      (default off)
-    reverse        bool      (default off)
-    scrolloff      int       (default 0)
-    selmode        string    (default 'all')
-    shell          string    (default 'sh' for Unix and 'cmd' for Windows)
-    shellflag      string    (default '-c' for Unix and '/c' for Windows)
-    shellopts      []string  (default '')
-    smartcase      bool      (default on)
-    smartdia       bool      (default off)
-    sortby         string    (default 'natural')
-    tabstop        int       (default 8)
-    tagfmt         string    (default "\033[31m%s\033[0m")
-    tempmarks      string    (default '')
-    timefmt        string    (default 'Mon Jan _2 15:04:05 2006')
-    truncatechar   string    (default '~')
-    waitmsg        string    (default 'Press any key to continue')
-    wrapscan       bool      (default on)
-    wrapscroll     bool      (default off)
-    user_{option}  string    (default none)
+    anchorfind       bool      (default on)
+    autoquit         bool      (default off)
+    cleaner          string    (default '')
+    cursorfmt        string    (default "\033[7m")
+    cursorpreviewfmt string    (default "\033[4m")
+    dircache         bool      (default on)
+    dircounts        bool      (default off)
+    dirfirst         bool      (default on)
+    dironly          bool      (default off)
+    dirpreviews      bool      (default off)
+    drawbox          bool      (default off)
+    errorfmt         string    (default "\033[7;31;47m")
+    filesep          string    (default "\n")
+    findlen          int       (default 1)
+    globsearch       bool      (default off)
+    hidden           bool      (default off)
+    hiddenfiles      []string  (default '.*')
+    history          bool      (default on)
+    icons            bool      (default off)
+    ifs              string    (default '')
+    ignorecase       bool      (default on)
+    ignoredia        bool      (default on)
+    incfilter        bool      (default off)
+    incsearch        bool      (default off)
+    info             []string  (default '')
+    infotimefmtnew   string    (default 'Jan _2 15:04')
+    infotimefmtold   string    (default 'Jan _2  2006')
+    mouse            bool      (default off)
+    number           bool      (default off)
+    period           int       (default 0)
+    preview          bool      (default on)
+    previewer        string    (default '')
+    promptfmt        string    (default "\033[32;1m%u@%h\033[0m:\033[34;1m%d\033[0m\033[1m%f\033[0m")
+    ratios           []int     (default '1:2:3')
+    relativenumber   bool      (default off)
+    reverse          bool      (default off)
+    scrolloff        int       (default 0)
+    selmode          string    (default 'all')
+    shell            string    (default 'sh' for Unix and 'cmd' for Windows)
+    shellflag        string    (default '-c' for Unix and '/c' for Windows)
+    shellopts        []string  (default '')
+    smartcase        bool      (default on)
+    smartdia         bool      (default off)
+    sortby           string    (default 'natural')
+    tabstop          int       (default 8)
+    tagfmt           string    (default "\033[31m")
+    tempmarks        string    (default '')
+    timefmt          string    (default 'Mon Jan _2 15:04:05 2006')
+    truncatechar     string    (default '~')
+    waitmsg          string    (default 'Press any key to continue')
+    wrapscan         bool      (default on)
+    wrapscroll       bool      (default off)
+    user_{option}    string    (default none)
 
 The following environment variables are exported for shell commands:
 
@@ -632,6 +634,23 @@ file, (1) current file name, (2) width, (3) height, (4) horizontal position,
 and (5) vertical position of preview pane respectively. Preview clearing is
 disabled when the value of this option is left empty.
 
+    cursorfmt         string    (default "\033[7m")
+    cursorpreviewfmt  string    (default "\033[4m")
+
+Format strings for highlighting the cursor. 'cursorpreviewfmt' applies in panes
+that preview directories, and 'cursorfmt' applies in all other panes.
+
+The default is to make the normal cursor inverted and the preview cursor
+underlined.
+
+Some other possibilities to consider for the preview cursor: an empty string for
+no cursor, "\033[7;2m" for dimmed inverted text (visibility varies by terminal),
+"\033[7;90m" for inverted text with grey (aka "brightblack") background.
+
+If the format string contains the characters '%s', it is interpreted as a format
+string for 'fmt.Sprintf'. Such a string should end with the terminal reset
+sequence. For example, "\033[4m%s\033[0m" has the same effect as "\033[4m".
+
     dircache       bool      (default on)
 
 Cache directory contents.
@@ -664,10 +683,14 @@ Show only directories.
 
 Draw boxes around panes with box drawing characters.
 
-    errorfmt       string    (default "\033[7;31;47m%s\033[0m")
+    errorfmt       string    (default "\033[7;31;47m")
 
 Format string of error messages shown in the bottom message line.
 
+If the format string contains the characters '%s', it is interpreted as a format
+string for 'fmt.Sprintf'. Such a string should end with the terminal reset
+sequence. For example, "\033[4m%s\033[0m" has the same effect as "\033[4m".
+
     filesep        string    (default "\n")
 
 File separator used in environment variables 'fs' and 'fx'.
@@ -858,10 +881,14 @@ Sort type for directories. Currently supported sort types are 'natural', 'name',
 
 Number of space characters to show for horizontal tabulation (U+0009) character.
 
-    tagfmt         string    (default "\033[31m%s\033[0m")
+    tagfmt         string    (default "\033[31m")
 
 Format string of the tags.
 
+If the format string contains the characters '%s', it is interpreted as a format
+string for 'fmt.Sprintf'. Such a string should end with the terminal reset
+sequence. For example, "\033[4m%s\033[0m" has the same effect as "\033[4m".
+
     tempmarks      string    (default '')
 
 Marks to be considered temporary (e.g. 'abc' refers to marks 'a', 'b',
diff --git a/etc/lfrc.example b/etc/lfrc.example
index 04fb6c1f..18bf621c 100644
--- a/etc/lfrc.example
+++ b/etc/lfrc.example
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ set ifs "\n"
 # leave some space at the top and the bottom of the screen
 set scrolloff 10
 
+# Use the `dim` attribute instead of underline for the cursor in the preview pane
+set cursorpreviewfmt "\033[7;2m"
+
 # use enter for shell commands
 map <enter> shell
 
diff --git a/eval.go b/eval.go
index a0863419..87c6127c 100644
--- a/eval.go
+++ b/eval.go
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ func (e *setExpr) eval(app *app, args []string) {
 		gOpts.autoquit = true
 	case "noautoquit":
 		gOpts.autoquit = false
+	case "cursorfmt":
+		gOpts.cursorfmt = e.val
+	case "cursorpreviewfmt":
+		gOpts.cursorpreviewfmt = e.val
 	case "autoquit!":
 		gOpts.autoquit = !gOpts.autoquit
 	case "dircache":
diff --git a/lf.1 b/lf.1
index d8206969..3b3eed6f 100644
--- a/lf.1
+++ b/lf.1
@@ -130,57 +130,59 @@ The following command line commands are provided by lf:
 The following options can be used to customize the behavior of lf:
 .PP
 .EX
-    anchorfind     bool      (default on)
-    autoquit       bool      (default off)
-    cleaner        string    (default '')
-    dircache       bool      (default on)
-    dircounts      bool      (default off)
-    dirfirst       bool      (default on)
-    dironly        bool      (default off)
-    dirpreviews    bool      (default off)
-    drawbox        bool      (default off)
-    errorfmt       string    (default "\e033[7;31;47m%s\e033[0m")
-    filesep        string    (default "\en")
-    findlen        int       (default 1)
-    globsearch     bool      (default off)
-    hidden         bool      (default off)
-    hiddenfiles    []string  (default '.*')
-    history        bool      (default on)
-    icons          bool      (default off)
-    ifs            string    (default '')
-    ignorecase     bool      (default on)
-    ignoredia      bool      (default on)
-    incfilter      bool      (default off)
-    incsearch      bool      (default off)
-    info           []string  (default '')
-    infotimefmtnew string    (default 'Jan _2 15:04')
-    infotimefmtold string    (default 'Jan _2  2006')
-    mouse          bool      (default off)
-    number         bool      (default off)
-    period         int       (default 0)
-    preview        bool      (default on)
-    previewer      string    (default '')
-    promptfmt      string    (default "\e033[32;1m%u@%h\e033[0m:\e033[34;1m%d\e033[0m\e033[1m%f\e033[0m")
-    ratios         []int     (default '1:2:3')
-    relativenumber bool      (default off)
-    reverse        bool      (default off)
-    scrolloff      int       (default 0)
-    selmode        string    (default 'all')
-    shell          string    (default 'sh' for Unix and 'cmd' for Windows)
-    shellflag      string    (default '-c' for Unix and '/c' for Windows)
-    shellopts      []string  (default '')
-    smartcase      bool      (default on)
-    smartdia       bool      (default off)
-    sortby         string    (default 'natural')
-    tabstop        int       (default 8)
-    tagfmt         string    (default "\e033[31m%s\e033[0m")
-    tempmarks      string    (default '')
-    timefmt        string    (default 'Mon Jan _2 15:04:05 2006')
-    truncatechar   string    (default '~')
-    waitmsg        string    (default 'Press any key to continue')
-    wrapscan       bool      (default on)
-    wrapscroll     bool      (default off)
-    user_{option}  string    (default none)
+    anchorfind       bool      (default on)
+    autoquit         bool      (default off)
+    cleaner          string    (default '')
+    cursorfmt        string    (default "\e033[7m")
+    cursorpreviewfmt string    (default "\e033[4m")
+    dircache         bool      (default on)
+    dircounts        bool      (default off)
+    dirfirst         bool      (default on)
+    dironly          bool      (default off)
+    dirpreviews      bool      (default off)
+    drawbox          bool      (default off)
+    errorfmt         string    (default "\e033[7;31;47m")
+    filesep          string    (default "\en")
+    findlen          int       (default 1)
+    globsearch       bool      (default off)
+    hidden           bool      (default off)
+    hiddenfiles      []string  (default '.*')
+    history          bool      (default on)
+    icons            bool      (default off)
+    ifs              string    (default '')
+    ignorecase       bool      (default on)
+    ignoredia        bool      (default on)
+    incfilter        bool      (default off)
+    incsearch        bool      (default off)
+    info             []string  (default '')
+    infotimefmtnew   string    (default 'Jan _2 15:04')
+    infotimefmtold   string    (default 'Jan _2  2006')
+    mouse            bool      (default off)
+    number           bool      (default off)
+    period           int       (default 0)
+    preview          bool      (default on)
+    previewer        string    (default '')
+    promptfmt        string    (default "\e033[32;1m%u@%h\e033[0m:\e033[34;1m%d\e033[0m\e033[1m%f\e033[0m")
+    ratios           []int     (default '1:2:3')
+    relativenumber   bool      (default off)
+    reverse          bool      (default off)
+    scrolloff        int       (default 0)
+    selmode          string    (default 'all')
+    shell            string    (default 'sh' for Unix and 'cmd' for Windows)
+    shellflag        string    (default '-c' for Unix and '/c' for Windows)
+    shellopts        []string  (default '')
+    smartcase        bool      (default on)
+    smartdia         bool      (default off)
+    sortby           string    (default 'natural')
+    tabstop          int       (default 8)
+    tagfmt           string    (default "\e033[31m")
+    tempmarks        string    (default '')
+    timefmt          string    (default 'Mon Jan _2 15:04:05 2006')
+    truncatechar     string    (default '~')
+    waitmsg          string    (default 'Press any key to continue')
+    wrapscan         bool      (default on)
+    wrapscroll       bool      (default off)
+    user_{option}    string    (default none)
 .EE
 .PP
 The following environment variables are exported for shell commands:
@@ -747,6 +749,19 @@ Automatically quit server when there are no clients left connected.
 .PP
 Set the path of a cleaner file. The file should be executable. This file is called if previewing is enabled, the previewer is set, and the previously selected file had its preview cache disabled. Five arguments are passed to the file, (1) current file name, (2) width, (3) height, (4) horizontal position, and (5) vertical position of preview pane respectively. Preview clearing is disabled when the value of this option is left empty.
 .PP
+.EX
+    cursorfmt         string    (default "\e033[7m")
+    cursorpreviewfmt  string    (default "\e033[4m")
+.EE
+.PP
+Format strings for highlighting the cursor. `cursorpreviewfmt` applies in panes that preview directories, and `cursorfmt` applies in all other panes.
+.PP
+The default is to make the normal cursor inverted and the preview cursor underlined.
+.PP
+Some other possibilities to consider for the preview cursor: an empty string for no cursor, "\e033[7;2m" for dimmed inverted text (visibility varies by terminal), "\e033[7;90m" for inverted text with grey (aka "brightblack") background.
+.PP
+If the format string contains the characters `%s`, it is interpreted as a format string for `fmt.Sprintf`. Such a string should end with the terminal reset sequence. For example, "\e033[4m%s\e033[0m" has the same effect as "\e033[4m".
+.PP
 .EX
     dircache       bool      (default on)
 .EE
@@ -784,11 +799,13 @@ Show only directories.
 Draw boxes around panes with box drawing characters.
 .PP
 .EX
-    errorfmt       string    (default "\e033[7;31;47m%s\e033[0m")
+    errorfmt       string    (default "\e033[7;31;47m")
 .EE
 .PP
 Format string of error messages shown in the bottom message line.
 .PP
+If the format string contains the characters `%s`, it is interpreted as a format string for `fmt.Sprintf`. Such a string should end with the terminal reset sequence. For example, "\e033[4m%s\e033[0m" has the same effect as "\e033[4m".
+.PP
 .EX
     filesep        string    (default "\en")
 .EE
@@ -988,11 +1005,13 @@ Sort type for directories. Currently supported sort types are 'natural', 'name',
 Number of space characters to show for horizontal tabulation (U+0009) character.
 .PP
 .EX
-    tagfmt         string    (default "\e033[31m%s\e033[0m")
+    tagfmt         string    (default "\e033[31m")
 .EE
 .PP
 Format string of the tags.
 .PP
+If the format string contains the characters `%s`, it is interpreted as a format string for `fmt.Sprintf`. Such a string should end with the terminal reset sequence. For example, "\e033[4m%s\e033[0m" has the same effect as "\e033[4m".
+.PP
 .EX
     tempmarks      string    (default '')
 .EE
diff --git a/opts.go b/opts.go
index 18a11df6..dd33594c 100644
--- a/opts.go
+++ b/opts.go
@@ -28,57 +28,59 @@ type sortType struct {
 }
 
 var gOpts struct {
-	anchorfind     bool
-	autoquit       bool
-	dircache       bool
-	dircounts      bool
-	dironly        bool
-	dirpreviews    bool
-	drawbox        bool
-	globsearch     bool
-	icons          bool
-	ignorecase     bool
-	ignoredia      bool
-	incfilter      bool
-	incsearch      bool
-	mouse          bool
-	number         bool
-	preview        bool
-	relativenumber bool
-	smartcase      bool
-	smartdia       bool
-	waitmsg        string
-	wrapscan       bool
-	wrapscroll     bool
-	findlen        int
-	period         int
-	scrolloff      int
-	tabstop        int
-	errorfmt       string
-	filesep        string
-	ifs            string
-	previewer      string
-	cleaner        string
-	promptfmt      string
-	selmode        string
-	shell          string
-	shellflag      string
-	timefmt        string
-	infotimefmtnew string
-	infotimefmtold string
-	truncatechar   string
-	ratios         []int
-	hiddenfiles    []string
-	history        bool
-	info           []string
-	shellopts      []string
-	keys           map[string]expr
-	cmdkeys        map[string]expr
-	cmds           map[string]expr
-	user           map[string]string
-	sortType       sortType
-	tempmarks      string
-	tagfmt         string
+	anchorfind       bool
+	autoquit         bool
+	cursorfmt        string
+	cursorpreviewfmt string
+	dircache         bool
+	dircounts        bool
+	dironly          bool
+	dirpreviews      bool
+	drawbox          bool
+	globsearch       bool
+	icons            bool
+	ignorecase       bool
+	ignoredia        bool
+	incfilter        bool
+	incsearch        bool
+	mouse            bool
+	number           bool
+	preview          bool
+	relativenumber   bool
+	smartcase        bool
+	smartdia         bool
+	waitmsg          string
+	wrapscan         bool
+	wrapscroll       bool
+	findlen          int
+	period           int
+	scrolloff        int
+	tabstop          int
+	errorfmt         string
+	filesep          string
+	ifs              string
+	previewer        string
+	cleaner          string
+	promptfmt        string
+	selmode          string
+	shell            string
+	shellflag        string
+	timefmt          string
+	infotimefmtnew   string
+	infotimefmtold   string
+	truncatechar     string
+	ratios           []int
+	hiddenfiles      []string
+	history          bool
+	info             []string
+	shellopts        []string
+	keys             map[string]expr
+	cmdkeys          map[string]expr
+	cmds             map[string]expr
+	user             map[string]string
+	sortType         sortType
+	tempmarks        string
+	tagfmt           string
 }
 
 func init() {
@@ -89,6 +91,8 @@ func init() {
 	gOpts.dironly = false
 	gOpts.dirpreviews = false
 	gOpts.drawbox = false
+	gOpts.cursorfmt = "\033[7m"
+	gOpts.cursorpreviewfmt = "\033[4m"
 	gOpts.globsearch = false
 	gOpts.icons = false
 	gOpts.ignorecase = true
@@ -108,7 +112,7 @@ func init() {
 	gOpts.period = 0
 	gOpts.scrolloff = 0
 	gOpts.tabstop = 8
-	gOpts.errorfmt = "\033[7;31;47m%s\033[0m"
+	gOpts.errorfmt = "\033[7;31;47m"
 	gOpts.filesep = "\n"
 	gOpts.ifs = ""
 	gOpts.previewer = ""
@@ -128,7 +132,7 @@ func init() {
 	gOpts.shellopts = nil
 	gOpts.sortType = sortType{naturalSort, dirfirstSort}
 	gOpts.tempmarks = "'"
-	gOpts.tagfmt = "\033[31m%s\033[0m"
+	gOpts.tagfmt = "\033[31m"
 
 	gOpts.keys = make(map[string]expr)
 
diff --git a/ui.go b/ui.go
index 2ed56c81..440e1a9f 100644
--- a/ui.go
+++ b/ui.go
@@ -432,10 +432,6 @@ func (win *win) printDir(screen tcell.Screen, dir *dir, context *dirContext, dir
 			}
 		}
 
-		if i == dir.pos {
-			st = st.Reverse(true)
-		}
-
 		var s []rune
 
 		s = append(s, ' ')
@@ -477,16 +473,26 @@ func (win *win) printDir(screen tcell.Screen, dir *dir, context *dirContext, dir
 			}
 		}
 
-		s = append(s, ' ')
+		ce := ""
+		if i == dir.pos {
+			if dirStyle.previewing {
+				ce = gOpts.cursorpreviewfmt
+			} else {
+				ce = gOpts.cursorfmt
+			}
+		}
+		cursorescapefmt := optionToFmtstr(ce)
 
-		win.print(screen, lnwidth+1, i, st, string(s))
+		s = append(s, ' ')
+		styledFilename := fmt.Sprintf(cursorescapefmt, string(s))
+		win.print(screen, lnwidth+1, i, st, styledFilename)
 
 		tag, ok := context.tags[path]
 		if ok {
 			if i == dir.pos {
-				win.print(screen, lnwidth+1, i, st, tag)
+				win.print(screen, lnwidth+1, i, st, fmt.Sprintf(cursorescapefmt, tag))
 			} else {
-				win.print(screen, lnwidth+1, i, tcell.StyleDefault, fmt.Sprintf(gOpts.tagfmt, tag))
+				win.print(screen, lnwidth+1, i, tcell.StyleDefault, fmt.Sprintf(optionToFmtstr(gOpts.tagfmt), tag))
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -652,8 +658,16 @@ func (ui *ui) echomsg(msg string) {
 	log.Print(msg)
 }
 
+func optionToFmtstr(optstr string) string {
+	if !strings.Contains(optstr, "%s") {
+		return optstr + "%s\033[0m"
+	} else {
+		return optstr
+	}
+}
+
 func (ui *ui) echoerr(msg string) {
-	ui.msg = fmt.Sprintf(gOpts.errorfmt, msg)
+	ui.msg = fmt.Sprintf(optionToFmtstr(gOpts.errorfmt), msg)
 	log.Printf("error: %s", msg)
 }