nano Command Manual
This manual documents GNU nano, a small and friendly text
editor.
1 Introduction
GNU nano is a small and friendly text editor. Besides basic text
editing, nano offers many extra features like an interactive
search and replace, go to line and column number, auto-indentation,
feature toggles, internationalization support, and filename tab
completion.
1.1 Overview
The original goal for nano was a complete bug-for-bug compatible
emulation of Pico, but nano's current goal is to be as compatible
as possible while offering a superset of Pico's functionality. See
See Pico Compatibility, for more info.
The usual way to invoke nano is:
nano [OPTION]... [FILE]
But it is also possible to edit several files in a row. Additionally,
the cursor can be put on a desired line number by adding this number
with a plus sign before any filename, and even in a desired column by
adding it with a comma. So the complete synopsis is:
nano [OPTION]... [[+LINE] FILE]...
nano [OPTION]... [[+,COLUMN] FILE]...
nano [OPTION]... [[+LINE,COLUMN] FILE]...
Email bug reports to nano@nano-editor.org.
1.2 Command Line Options
nano takes the following options from the command line:
+LINE,COLUMN- Start at line number LINE and column number COLUMN (at least one of
which must be specified) instead of the default of line 1, column 1.
-?- Same as
-h, --help.
-A, --smarthome- Make the Home key smarter. When Home is pressed anywhere but at the
very beginning of non-whitespace characters on a line, the cursor will
jump to that beginning (either forwards or backwards). If the cursor is
already at that position, it will jump to the true beginning of the
line.
-B, --backup- When saving a file, back up the previous version of it to the current
filename suffixed with a ~.
-C <dir>, --backupdir=<dir>- Set the directory where
nano puts unique backup files if file
backups are enabled.
-D, --boldtext- Use bold text instead of reverse video text.
-E, --tabstospaces- Convert typed tabs to spaces.
-F, --multibuffer- Enable multiple file buffers, if available.
-H, --historylog- Log search and replace strings to ~/.nano_history, so they can be
retrieved in later sessions, if nanorc support is available.
-I, --ignorercfiles- Don't look at SYSCONFDIR/nanorc or ~/.nanorc, if nanorc support is
available.
-K, --rebindkeypad- Interpret the numeric keypad keys so that they all work properly. You
should only need to use this option if they don't, as mouse support
won't work properly with this option enabled.
-L, --nonewlines- Don't add newlines to the ends of files.
-N, --noconvert- Don't convert files from DOS/Mac format.
-O, --morespace- Use the blank line below the titlebar as extra editing space.
-Q <str>, --quotestr=<str>- Set the quoting string for justifying. The default value is
^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+
if extended regular expression support is available, or "> " otherwise.
Note that \t above stands for a literal Tab character.
-R, --restricted- Restricted mode: don't read or write to any file not specified on the
command line; read any nanorc files; allow suspending; allow a file to
be appended to, prepended to, or saved under a different name if it
already has one; or use backup files or spell checking. Also accessible
by invoking
nano with any name beginning with 'r' (e.g. "rnano").
-S, --smooth- Enable smooth scrolling. Text will scroll line-by-line, instead of the
usual chunk-by-chunk behavior.
-T <#cols>, --tabsize=<#cols>- Set the displayed tab length to #cols columns. The value of #cols must
be greater than 0. The default value is 8.
-U, --quickblank- Do quick statusbar blanking. Statusbar messages will disappear after 1
keystroke instead of 25. Note that -c overrides this.
-V, --version- Show the current version number and exit.
-W, --wordbounds- Detect word boundaries more accurately by treating punctuation
characters as parts of words.
-Y <str>, --syntax=<str>- Specify a specific syntax highlighting from the nanorc to use, if
available. See See Nanorc Files, for more info.
-c, --const- Constantly display the cursor position and line number on the statusbar.
Note that this overrides -U.
-d, --rebinddelete- Interpret the Delete key differently so that both Backspace and Delete
work properly. You should only need to use this option if Backspace
acts like Delete on your system.
-h, --help- Show a summary of command line options and exit.
-i, --autoindent- Automatically indent new lines to the same number of spaces and tabs as
the previous line.
-k, --cut- Cut from the current cursor position to the end of the current line.
-l, --nofollow- When writing files, if the given file is a symbolic link, it is removed
and a new file is created.
-m, --mouse- Enable mouse support, if available for your system. When enabled, mouse
clicks can be used to place the cursor, set the mark (with a double
click), and execute shortcuts. The mouse will work in the X Window
System, and on the console when gpm is running.
-o <dir>, --operatingdir=<dir>- Set operating directory. Makes
nano set up something similar to
a chroot.
-p, --preserve- Preserve the ^Q (XON) and ^S (XOFF) sequences so data being sent to the
editor can be can be stopped and started.
-r <#cols>, --fill=<#cols>- Wrap lines at column #cols. If this value is 0 or less, wrapping will
occur at the width of the screen less #cols, allowing it to vary along
with the width of the screen if the screen is resized. The default
value is -8.
-s <prog>, --speller=<prog>- Invoke the given program as the spell checker. By default,
nano
uses the command specified in the SPELL environment variable, or, if
SPELL is not set, its own interactive spell checker that requires the
spell program to be installed on your system.
-t, --tempfile- Don't ask whether or not to save the current contents of the file when
exiting, assume yes. This is most useful when using
nano as the
composer of a mailer program.
-v, --view- Don't allow the contents of the file to be altered. Note that this
option should NOT be used in place of correct file permissions to
implement a read-only file.
-w, --nowrap- Don't wrap long lines at any length. This option overrides any value
for -r.
-x, --nohelp- Expert Mode: don't show the Shortcut Lists at the bottom of the screen.
This affects the location of the statusbar as well, as in Expert Mode it
is located at the very bottom of the editor.
Note: When accessing the help system, Expert Mode is temporarily
disabled to display the help system navigation keys.
-z, --suspend- Enable
nano's suspend ability using the system's suspend
keystroke (usually ^Z).
-a, -b, -e, -f, -g, -j- Ignored, for compatibility with Pico.
2 Editor Basics
2.1 Entering Text
All key sequences in nano are entered using the keyboard.
nano is a "modeless" editor. All keys, with the exception of
Control and Meta key sequences, will enter text into the file being
edited.
2.2 Special Functions
Special functions use the Control (Ctrl) key, displayed in the help and
shortcut lists as ^; the Meta key, displayed as M; or the Escape (Esc)
key.
- Control key sequences are entered by holding down the Ctrl key and
pressing the desired key, or by pressing the Esc key twice and pressing
the desired key.
- Pressing Esc twice and then typing a three-digit number from 000 to 255
will enter the character with the corresponding value.
- Meta key sequences are entered by holding down the Meta key (normally
the Alt key) and pressing the desired key, or by pressing the Esc key
once and pressing the desired key. Certain operating systems "swallow"
the Alt key so that it never reaches the application; if your operating
system does this, you should use the Esc key to generate Meta key
sequences.
2.3 The Titlebar
The titlebar is the line displayed at the top of the editor. There are
three sections: left, center and right. The section on the left
displays the version of nano being used. The center section
displays the current filename, or "New Buffer" if the file has not yet
been named. The section on the right will display "Modified" if the
file has been modified since it was last saved or opened.
Special modes: When nano is in "File browser" mode, the center
section will display the current directory instead of the filename. See
See The File Browser, for more info.
2.4 The Statusbar
The statusbar is the third line from the bottom of the screen, or the
bottom line in Expert Mode. See See Expert Mode, for more info. It
shows important and informational messages. Any error messages that
occur from using the editor will appear on the statusbar. Any questions
that are asked of the user will be asked on the statusbar, and any user
input (search strings, filenames, etc.) will be input on the statusbar.
2.5 Shortcut Lists
The Shortcut Lists are the two lines at the bottom of the screen which
show some of the more commonly used functions in the editor.
2.6 Using the Mouse
When mouse support has been configured and enabled, a single mouse click
places the cursor at the indicated position. Clicking a second time in
the same position toggles the mark. Clicking in the shortcut list
executes the selected shortcut.
The mouse will work in the X Window System, and on the console when gpm
is running.
3 Online Help
The online help system in nano is available by pressing ^G.
It is fairly self explanatory, documenting the various parts of the
editor and available keystrokes. Navigation is via the ^Y (Page Up)
and ^V (Page Down) keys. ^X exits the help system.
4 Feature Toggles
Toggles allow you to change certain aspects of the editor that would
normally be done via command line options. They are invoked via Meta
key sequences. See See Special Functions, for more info. The
following global toggles are available:
Backup Files Toggle (Meta-B)- toggles the -B (
--backup) command line option.
Constant Cursor Position Display Toggle (Meta-C)- toggles the -c (
--const) command line option.
Multiple File Buffers Toggle (Meta-F)- toggles the -F (
--multibuffer) command line option.
Smart Home Key Toggle (Meta-H)- toggles the -A (
--smarthome) command line option.
Auto Indent Toggle (Meta-I)- toggles the -i (
--autoindent) command line option.
Cut To End Toggle (Meta-K)- toggles the -k (
--cut) command line option.
Long Line Wrapping Toggle (Meta-L)- toggles the -w (
--nowrap) command line option.
Mouse Support Toggle (Meta-M)- toggles the -m (
--mouse) command line option.
No Conversion From DOS/Mac Format Toggle (Meta-N)- toggles the -N (
--noconvert) command line option.
More Space For Editing Toggle (Meta-O)- toggles the -O (
--morespace) command line option.
Whitespace Display Toggle (Meta-P)- toggles whitespace display mode if you have a "whitespace" option in
your nanorc. See See Nanorc Files, for more info.
Tabs to Spaces Toggle (Meta-Q)- toggles the -E (
--tabstospaces) command line option.
Smooth Scrolling Toggle (Meta-S)- toggles the -S (
--smooth) command line option.
Expert/No Help Toggle (Meta-X)- toggles the -x (
--nohelp) command line option.
Color Syntax Highlighting Toggle (Meta-Y)- toggles color syntax highlighting if you have color syntaxes in your
nanorc. See See Nanorc Files, for more info.
Suspend Toggle (Meta-Z)- toggles the -z (
--suspend) command line option.
5 Nanorc Files
The nanorc files contain the default settings for nano. They
should not be in DOS or Mac format. During startup, nano will
first read its system-wide settings from SYSCONFDIR/nanorc, and then
user-specific settings from ~/.nanorc.
A nanorc file accepts a series of "set" and "unset" commands, which can
be used to configure nano on startup without using the command
line options. Additionally, the "syntax", "color", and "icolor"
keywords are used to define syntax highlighting rules for different text
patterns. nano will read one command per line.
Options in nanorc files take precedence over nano's defaults, and
command line options override nanorc settings. Options are also unset
by default, except for those that take arguments.
Quotes inside string parameters don't have to be escaped with
backslashes. The last double quote in the string will be treated as its
end. For example, for the "brackets" option,
""')>]}"
will match ", ', ), >, ], and
}.
The supported commands and arguments are:
set/unset autoindent- Use auto-indentation.
set/unset backup- Create backup files in "filename~".
set backupdir "directory"- Set the directory where
nano puts unique backup files if file
backups are enabled.
set/unset backwards- Do backwards searches by default.
set/unset boldtext- Use bold text instead of reverse video text.
set brackets "string"- Set the characters treated as closing brackets when justifying
paragraphs. They cannot contain blank characters. Only closing
punctuation, optionally followed by closing brackets, can end sentences.
The default value is
""')>]}"
set/unset casesensitive- Do case sensitive searches by default.
set/unset const- Constantly display the cursor position in the status bar.
set/unset cut- Use cut to end of line by default, instead of cutting the whole line.
set fill "n"- Wrap lines at column number "n". If "n" is 0 or less, the maximum line
length will be the screen width less "n" columns. The default value is
-8.
set/unset historylog- Enable ~/.nano_history for saving and reading search/replace strings.
set matchbrackets "string"- Set the opening and closing brackets that can be found by bracket
searches. They cannot contain blank characters. The former set must
come before the latter set, and both must be in the same order. The
default value is
"(<[{)>]}"
set/unset morespace- Use the blank line below the titlebar as extra editing space.
set/unset mouse- Enable mouse support, so that mouse clicks can be used to place the
cursor, set the mark (with a double click), or execute shortcuts.
set/unset multibuffer- Allow inserting files into their own buffers.
set/unset noconvert- Don't convert files from DOS/Mac format.
set/unset nofollow- Don't follow symlinks when writing files.
set/unset nohelp- Don't display the help lists at the bottom of the screen.
set/unset nonewlines- Don't add newlines to the ends of files.
set/unset nowrap- Don't wrap text at all.
set operatingdir "directory"nano will only read and write files inside "directory" and its
subdirectories. Also, the current directory is changed to here, so
files are inserted from this directory. By default, the operating
directory feature is turned off.
set/unset preserve- Preserve the XON and XOFF keys (^Q and ^S).
set punct "string"- Set the characters treated as closing punctuation when justifying
paragraphs. They cannot contain blank characters. Only closing
punctuation, optionally followed by closing brackets, can end sentences.
The default value is
"!.?".
set/unset quickblank- Do quick statusbar blanking. Statusbar messages will disappear after 1
keystroke instead of 25.
set quotestr "string"- The email-quote string, used to justify email-quoted paragraphs. This
is an extended regular expression if your system supports them,
otherwise a literal string. The default value is
"^([ \\t]*[#:>\\|}])+"
if you have extended regular expression support, or "> " otherwise.
Note that '\\t' stands for a literal Tab character.
set/unset rebinddelete- Interpret the Delete key differently so that both Backspace and Delete
work properly. You should only need to use this option if Backspace
acts like Delete on your system.
set/unset rebindkeypad- Interpret the numeric keypad keys so that they all work properly. You
should only need to use this option if they don't, as mouse support
won't work properly with this option enabled.
set/unset regexp- Do extended regular expression searches by default.
set/unset smarthome- Make the Home key smarter. When Home is pressed anywhere but at the
very beginning of non-whitespace characters on a line, the cursor will
jump to that beginning (either forwards or backwards). If the cursor is
already at that position, it will jump to the true beginning of the
line.
set/unset smooth- Use smooth scrolling by default.
set speller "spellprog"- Use spelling checker "spellprog" instead of the built-in one, which
calls "spell".
set/unset suspend- Allow
nano to be suspended.
set tabsize "n"- Use a tab size of "n" columns. The value of "n" must be greater than 0.
The default value is 8.
set/unset tabstospaces- Convert typed tabs to spaces.
set/unset tempfile- Save automatically on exit, don't prompt.
set/unset view- Disallow file modification.
set whitespace "string"- Set the two characters used to display the first characters of tabs and
spaces. They must be single-column characters.
set/unset wordbounds- Detect word boundaries more accurately by treating punctuation
characters as part of a word.
syntax "str" ["fileregex" ... ]- Defines a syntax named "str" which can be activated via the -Y/–syntax
command line option, or will be automatically activated if the current
filename matches the extended regular expression "fileregex". All
following "color" and "icolor" statements will apply to "syntax" until a
new syntax is defined.
The "none" syntax is reserved; specifying it on the command line is the
same as not having a syntax at all. The "default" syntax is special: it
takes no "fileregex", and applies to files that don't match any other
syntax's "fileregex".
color fgcolor,bgcolor "regex" ...- For the currently defined syntax, display all expressions matching the
extended regular expression "regex" with foreground color "fgcolor" and
background color "bgcolor", at least one of which must be specified.
Legal colors for foreground and background color are: white, black, red,
blue, green, yellow, magenta, and cyan. You may use the prefix "bright"
to force a stronger color highlight for the foreground. If your
terminal supports transparency, not specifying a "bgcolor" tells "nano"
to attempt to use a transparent background.
icolor fgcolor,bgcolor "regex" ...- Same as above, except that the expression matching is case insensitive.
color fgcolor,bgcolor start="sr" end="er"- Display expressions which start with the extended regular expression
"sr" and end with the extended regular expression "er" with foreground
color "fgcolor" and background color "bgcolor", at least one of which
must be specified. This allows syntax highlighting to span multiple
lines. Note that all subsequent instances of "sr" after an initial "sr"
is found will be highlighted until the first instance of "er".
icolor fgcolor,bgcolor start="sr" end="er"- Same as above, except that the expression matching is case insensitive.
include "syntaxfile"- Read in self-contained color syntaxes from "syntaxfile". Note that
"syntaxfile" can only contain "syntax", "color", and "icolor" commands.
6 The File Browser
When reading or writing files, pressing ^T will invoke the file browser.
Here, one can navigate directories in a graphical manner in order to
find the desired file.
Basic movement in the file browser is accomplished with the arrow keys,
page up, and page down. More advanced movement is accomplished by
searching via ^W (or 'w') and changing directories via ^_ (or 'g'). The
behavior of the Enter (or 's') key varies by what is currently selected.
If the currently selected object is a directory, the file browser will
enter and display the contents of the directory. If the object is a
file, this filename and path are copied to the statusbar, and the file
browser exits.
7 Pico Compatibility
nano attempts to emulate Pico as closely as possible, but there
are certain differences between the editors:
Search and Replace History- As of version 1.1.99pre1 of
nano, text entered as search or
replace strings will be stored and can be accessed with the up/down
arrow keys. Previously, nano offered a more consistent, but
incompatible with Pico, method for entering search and replace strings.
In the old method, previous entries would be displayed by default as
editable text in front of the cursor, as opposed to being bracketed and
uneditable as it is in Pico. The old behavior could be made compatible
with Pico via the -p option, but recent versions of Pico use the
-p option to preserve the XON and XOFF sequences within the
editor. Since, with the new method, search and replace strings can
still be edited by simply hitting the up arrow key once, the old method
was removed completely.
Writing, Appending, or Prepending Selected Text to Files- Text selected using the marking key (^^) can be written out, appended,
or prepended to a new or existing file using the WriteOut key (^O).
Toggles- Many options which alter the functionality of the program can be
"toggled" on or off using Meta key sequences, meaning the program does
not have to be restarted to turn a particular feature of the editor on
or off. Please see the internal help function (^G) for a list of what
functions can be toggled for a particular version of
nano. See
See Feature Toggles, for more info.
Cursor Position Display- The output of the "Display Cursor Position" in
nano displays
the given column position, as well as the row and total character
position of the cursor.
Interactive Replace and Spell Checker- It is worth noting that
nano's replace function is interactive,
i.e. it does not stop after one search string is found and automatically
replace it. The nano implementation will pause at each search
string found and query whether to replace this instance or not. The
internal spell checker operates similarly. Note that there is no way to
force these functions to behave in the Pico fashion. As of version
1.1.99pre1, misspelled words are sorted and trimmed for uniqueness in
the internal spell checker such that the words 'apple' and 'Apple' will
be prompted for correction separately.
8 Building and Configure Options
Building nano from source is fairly straightforward if you are
familiar with compiling programs with autoconf support:
- tar xvfz nano-x.y.z.tar.gz (where x.y.z is the version of
nano)
- cd nano-x.y.z/
- ./configure
- make
- make install
The possible options to ./configure are:
--disable-browser- Disable the mini file browser when reading or writing files.
--disable-help- Disable the help function. Doing this makes the binary much smaller,
but makes it difficult for new users to learn more than very basic
things about using the editor.
--disable-justify- Disable the justify and unjustify functions.
--disable-mouse- Disable all mouse functionality. This also disables the -m command line
option, which enables the mouse functionality.
--disable-operatingdir- Disable setting the operating directory. This also disables the -o
command line option, which sets the operating directory.
--disable-speller- Disable use of the spell checker. This also disables the -s command
line option, which allows specifying an alternate spell checker.
--disable-tabcomp- Disable the tab completion code when reading or writing files.
--disable-wrapping- Disable all long line wrapping. This also eliminates the -w command
line option, which enables long line wrapping.
--enable-tiny- This option disables all the above. It also disables some of the larger
internals of the editor, like the marking code and the cut to end of
line code. It also disables the function toggles.
--enable-debug- Enable support for runtime debug output. This can get pretty messy, so
chances are you only want this feature to work on the nano source.
--enable-extra- Enable extra features. At the moment, this is just easter egg-type
stuff.
--enable-color- Enable support for syntax coloring of files using the nanorc file. This
enables nanorc support as well.
--enable-multibuffer- Enable support for opening multiple files at a time and switching
between them on the fly.
--enable-nanorc- Enable support for reading the nanorc file at startup. You can store
custom settings in the nanorc file rather than having to pass command
line options to get desired behavior. See See Nanorc Files, for
more info.
--enable-all- Shortcut for enabling the above four features (extra, color,
multibuffer, and nanorc).
--disable-nls- Disables Native Language support. This will disable use of the
available GNU
nano translations.
--disable-wrapping-as-root- Disable long line wrapping by default when nano is run as root.
--enable-utf8- Enable support for reading and writing Unicode files. This will require
either the wide version of ncurses, or a UTF-8-enabled version of Slang.
--disable-utf8- Disable support for reading and writing Unicode files.
--with-slang- Compiling
nano with Slang is supported, and will make the binary
notably smaller than if compiled with ncurses or other curses libraries.