Nano is a text editor suited to working in a UNIX-based command line
environment. It is not as powerful as PC window-based editors, as it
does not rely on the mouse, but still has many useful features.
Most nano commands are invoked by holding down the Ctrl key (that is,
the control key), and pressing one of the other keys. In this text, the
control key is referred to using ^. For example, ^X means “hold down the
CTRL key and press the x key”. Most of the important commands are
listed at the bottom of your screen when nano is running.
File Control in nano
nano index.php Open or create the file “index.php” with nano on command line. Ctrl-o Y Enter Save changes. Ctrl-r Alt-f Open a new file with a new buffer within nano. Alt-> Switch to the next file buffer in nano. Alt-< Switch to the previous file buffer in nano. Ctrl-x Quit nano.
Navigating through file contents in nano
Ctrl-a Move to the beginning of the current line.
Ctrl-e Move to the end of the current line.
Ctrl-v Move down one page.
Ctrl-y Move up one page.
Alt-\ Go to the beginning of the file.
Alt-/ Go to the end of the file.
Alt-g Go to a target line number.
Alt-] Jump to matching open/close symbol.
Alt-a Alt-} Select a block and indent the block.
Alt-a Alt-{ Select a block and outden the block.
Copy and Paste in nano
Alt-a To select a block for copy or cut operation, do Alt-a again to unselect. Alt-a Alt-^ Copy a highlighted block to the clipboard. Alt-a Ctrl-k Cut a highlighted block to the clipboard. Ctrl-k Cut from the current cursor position to the end of the current line. Ctrl-u Paste the contents from the clipboard at the current cursor position.
Search and Replace in nano
Ctrl-w Search for a target string. Alt-w Repeat the last search. Alt-r Search and replace.
| File Management | |
| Key | Action |
| Ctrl+G | Display help text |
| Ctrl+X | Close the current file buffer / Exit from nano |
| Ctrl+O | Write the current file to disk |
| Ctrl+R | Insert another file into the current one |
| Alt+> | Switch to the next file buffer |
| Alt+< | Switch to the previous file buffer |
| Search and Replace | |
| Key | Action |
| Ctrl+W | Search for a string or a regular expression |
| Ctrl+\ | Replace a string or a regular expression |
| Alt+W | Repeat the last search |
| Navigation | |
| Key | Action |
| Ctrl+_ | Go to line and column number |
| Ctrl+Y | Go one screenful up |
| Ctrl+V | Go one screenful down |
| Alt+\ | Go to the first line of the file |
| Alt+/ | Go to the last line of the file |
| Ctrl+B | Go back one character |
| Ctrl+F | Go forward one character |
| Alt+Space | Go back one word |
| Ctrl+Space | Go forward one word |
| Ctrl+A | Go to beginning of current line |
| Ctrl+E | Go to end of current line |
| Ctrl+P | Go to previous line |
| Ctrl+N | Go to next line |
| Alt+( | Go to beginning of paragraph; then of previous paragraph |
| Alt+) | Go just beyond end of paragraph; then of next paragraph |
| Alt+- | Scroll up one line without scrolling the cursor |
| Alt++ | Scroll down one line without scrolling the cursor |
| Alt+< | Switch to the previous file buffer |
| Alt+> | Switch to the next file buffer |
| Ctrl+C | Display the position of the cursor |
| Alt+] | Go to the matching bracket |
| Editing | |
| Key | Action |
| Alt+U | Undo the last operation |
| Alt+E | Redo the last undone operation |
| Alt+} | Indent the current line |
| Alt+{ | Unindent the current line |
| Alt+^ | Copy the current line and store it in the cutbuffer |
| Ctrl+K | Cut the current line and store it in the cutbuffer |
| Ctrl+U | Uncut from the cutbuffer into the current line |
| Ctrl+J | Justify the current paragraph |
| Ctrl+T | Invoke the spell checker, if available |
| Alt+V | Insert the next keystroke verbatim |
| Ctrl+I | Insert a tab at the cursor position |
| Ctrl+M | Insert a newline at the cursor position |
| Ctrl+D | Delete the character under the cursor |
| Ctrl+H | Delete the character to the left of the cursor |
| Alt+T | Cut from the cursor position to the end of the file |
| Alt+J | Justify the entire file |
| Alt+D | Count the number of words, lines, and characters |
| Ctrl+^ | Mark text starting from the cursor position |
| Settings | |
| Key | Action |
| Alt+X | Help mode enable/disable |
| Alt+C | Constant cursor position display enable/disable |
| Alt+O | Use of one more line for editing enable/disable |
| Alt+S | Smooth scrolling enable/disable |
| Alt+$ | Soft wrapping of overlong lines enable/disable |
| Alt+P | Whitespace display enable/disable |
| Alt+Y | Color syntax highlighting enable/disable |
| Alt+H | Smart home key enable/disable |
| Alt+I | Auto indent enable/disable |
| Alt+K | Cut to end enable/disable |
| Alt+L | Hard wrapping of overlong lines enable/disable |
| Alt+Q | Conversion of typed tabs to spaces enable/disable |
| Alt+B | Backup files enable/disable |
| Alt+F | Reading file into separate buffer enable/disable |