The Problem

The kernel configuration tree in make menuconfig contains thousands of options spread across deeply nested menus. Manually browsing through them to find a specific option like CONFIG_EXT4_FS or CONFIG_USB_STORAGE is tedious and slow, especially if you don’t remember where exactly it lives.

There is a faster way.

First, open menuconfig in the usual way from the kernel source directory:

make menuconfig

Searching with /

While in make menuconfig, press / to open the search dialog. Type the name of the option you are looking for — without the CONFIG_ prefix. For example, to find the BTRFS filesystem option, type:

BTRFS_FS

You can also search by a partial name. Typing just BTRFS will return all options that contain that string. This is useful when you don’t remember the exact Kconfig symbol — a broad search will show you all related options.

The search results look like this:

Symbol: BTRFS_FS [=m]
Type  : tristate
Prompt: Btrfs filesystem support
  Location:
    -> File systems (BLOCK [=y])
(1)   -> Btrfs filesystem support (BTRFS_FS [=m])
  Defined at fs/btrfs/Kconfig:1
  Depends on: BLOCK [=y]
  Selects: CRYPTO [=y], CRYPTO_CRC32C [=y], ZLIB_DEFLATE [=y]

Symbol: BTRFS_FS_POSIX_ACL [=y]
Type  : bool
Prompt: Btrfs POSIX Access Control Lists
  Location:
    -> File systems (BLOCK [=y])
      -> Btrfs filesystem support (BTRFS_FS [=m])
(2)     -> Btrfs POSIX Access Control Lists (BTRFS_FS_POSIX_ACL [=y])
  Defined at fs/btrfs/Kconfig:43
  Depends on: BTRFS_FS [=m]

Jumping to the Option

The key detail here: notice the numbered entries (1), (2) in the results. Each numbered entry corresponds to a specific location in the menu tree where that option can be found.

After reviewing the search output, press the corresponding number and menuconfig will close the search dialog and take you directly to that option’s location in the menu tree, with the option highlighted and ready to toggle.

For example, pressing 1 from the results above takes you straight to the Btrfs filesystem support entry under File systems. Pressing 2 takes you to the Btrfs POSIX Access Control Lists sub-option. No manual navigation required.

This is significantly faster than closing the search and manually digging through File systems -> Btrfs filesystem support -> … to find the right entry. For options buried three or four levels deep, the time savings add up quickly.

Opening Help for an Option

One more useful shortcut: when you have any option highlighted in the menu, press ? to display its built-in help text and description. This shows the full Kconfig help entry, dependencies, and what the option does — without leaving menuconfig.

This is particularly helpful right after jumping to an option via search. You land on the option, press ? to confirm it’s the one you need, then toggle it.

Typical Workflow

In practice, the whole sequence takes seconds:

  1. Press / to open search.
  2. Type the option name (e.g. EXT4_FS).
  3. Review the numbered results.
  4. Press the number (e.g. 1) to jump to the option.
  5. Toggle it with Y, M, or N.

Combined with / search and number-jumping, this makes menuconfig much more practical for targeted configuration changes, even in a kernel with over 15,000 options.