Less command cheat sheet (--help in Markdown)

less_cheatsheet.md

Summary of less comands

For less v487, obtained through less --help.

Commands marked with [N] may be preceded by a number, N. Notes in parentheses indicate the behavior if N is given.

A key preceded by a caret indicates the Ctrl key; thus ^K is Ctrl-K.

• Display this help: h H
• Exit: q :q Q :Q ZZ

Moving

• Forward one line (or N lines): [N] e ^E j ^N CR
• Backward one line (or N lines): [N] y ^Y k ^K ^P
• Forward one window (or N lines): [N] f ^F ^V SPACE
• Backward one window (or N lines): [N] b ^B ESC-v
• Forward one window (and set window to N): [N] z
• Backward one window (and set window to N): [N] w
• Forward one window, but don't stop at end-of-file: [N] ESC-SPACE
• Forward one half-window (and set half-window to N): [N] d ^D
• Backward one half-window (and set half-window to N): [N] u ^U
• Left one half screen width (or N positions): [N] ESC-) RightArrow
• Right one half screen width (or N positions): [N] ESC-( LeftArrow
• Right to last column displayed: ESC-} ^RightArrow
• Left to first column: ESC-{ ^LeftArrow
• Forward forever; like tail -f: F
• Like F but stop when search pattern is found: ESC-F
• Repaint screen: r ^R ^L
• Repaint screen, discarding buffered input: R

Default "window" is the screen height. Default "half-window" is half of the screen height.

Searching

• Search forward for (N-th) matching line: [N] /pattern
• Search backward for (N-th) matching line: [N] ?pattern
• Repeat previous search (for N-th occurrence): [N] n
• Repeat previous search in reverse direction: [N] N
• Repeat previous search, spanning files: [N] ESC-n
• Repeat previous search, reverse dir. & spanning files: [N] ESC-N
• Undo (toggle) search highlighting: ESC-u
• Display only matching lines: [N] &pattern

A search pattern may be preceded by one or more of:

• Search for NON-matching lines: ^N or !
• Search multiple files (pass thru END OF FILE): ^E or *
• Start search at FIRST file (for /) or last file (for ?): ^F or @
• Highlight matches, but don't move (KEEP position): ^K
• Don't use REGULAR EXPRESSIONS: ^R

Jumping

• Go to first line in file (or line N): [N] g < ESC-<
• Go to last line in file (or line N): [N] G > ESC->
• Go to beginning of file (or N percent into file): [N] p %
• Go to the (N-th) next tag: [N] t
• Go to the (N-th) previous tag: [N] T
• Find close bracket } ) ]: [N] { ( [
• Find open bracket { ( [: [N] } ) ]
• Find close bracket : [N] ESC-^F <c1> <c2>
• Find open bracket : [N] ESC-^B <c1> <c2>

Each "find close bracket" command goes forward to the close bracket matching the (N-th) open bracket in the top line. Each "find open bracket" command goes backward to the open bracket matching the (N-th) close bracket in the bottom line.

• Mark the current position with : [N] m<letter>
• Go to a previously marked position: [N] '<letter>
• Go to the previous position: [N] ''
• Same as ': [N] ^X^X

A mark is any upper-case or lower-case letter. Certain marks are predefined:

• ^ means beginning of the file
• $ means end of the file

Changing files

• Examine a new file: [N] :e [file]
• Same as :e: [N] ^X^V
• Examine the (N-th) next file from the command line: [N] :n
• Examine the (N-th) previous file from the command line: [N] :p
• Examine the first (or N-th) file from the command line: [N] :x
• Delete the current file from the command line list: [N] :d
• Print current file name: [N] = ^G :f

Miscellaneous commands

• Toggle a command line option [see Options below]: [N] -<flag>
• Toggle a command line option, by name: [N] --<name>
• Display the setting of a command line option: [N] _<flag>
• Display the setting of an option, by name: [N] __<name>
• Execute the less cmd each time a new file is examined: [N] +cmd
• Execute the shell command with $SHELL: [N] !command
• Pipe file between current pos and mark X to shell command: [N] |Xcommand
• Save input to a file: s file
• Edit the current file with $VISUAL or $EDITOR: [N] v
• Print version number of less: [N] V

Options

Most options may be changed either on the command line, or from within less by using the - or -- command. Options may be given in one of two forms: either a single character preceded by a -, or a name preceded by --.

• Display help (from command line): -?, --help
• Search skips current screen: -a, --search-skip-screen
• Search starts just after target line: -A, --SEARCH-SKIP-SCREEN
• Number of buffers: -b [N], --buffers=[N]
• Don't automatically allocate buffers for pipes: -B, --auto-buffers
• Repaint by clearing rather than scrolling: -c, --clear-screen
• Dumb terminal: -d, --dumb
• Set screen colors. (MS-DOS only): -D [xn.n], --color=xn.n
• Quit at end of file: -e -E, --quit-at-eof --QUIT-AT-EOF
• Force open non-regular files: -f, --force
• Quit if entire file fits on first screen: -F, --quit-if-one-screen
• Highlight only last match for searches: -g, --hilite-search
• Don't highlight any matches for searches: -G, --HILITE-SEARCH
• Backward scroll limit: -h [N], --max-back-scroll=[N]
• Ignore case in searches that do not contain uppercase: -i, --ignore-case
• Ignore case in all searches: -I, --IGNORE-CASE
• Screen position of target lines: -j [N],--jump-target=[N]
• Display a status column at left edge of screen: -J, --status-column
• Use a lesskey file: -k [file],--lesskey-file=[file]
• Exit less in response to Ctrl-C: -K,--quit-on-intr
• Ignore the LESSOPEN environment variable: -L, --no-lessopen
• Set prompt style: -m -M, --long-prompt --LONG-PROMPT
• Don't use line numbers: -n -N, --line-numbers --LINE-NUMBERS
• Copy to log file (standard input only): -o [file], --log-file=[file]
• Copy to log file (unconditionally overwrite): -O [file], --LOG-FILE=[file]
• Start at pattern (from command line): -p [pattern], --pattern=[pattern]
• Define new prompt: -P [prompt], --prompt=[prompt]
• Quiet the terminal bell: -q -Q, --quiet --QUIET --silent --SILENT
• Output "raw" control characters: -r -R, --raw-control-chars --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS
• Squeeze multiple blank lines: -s, --squeeze-blank-lines
• Chop (truncate) long lines rather than wrapping: -S, --chop-long-lines
• Find a tag: -t [tag], --tag=[tag]
• Use an alternate tags file: -T [tagsfile], --tag-file=[tagsfile]
• Change handling of backspaces: -u -U, --underline-special --UNDERLINE-SPECIAL
• Display the version number of "less": -V, --version
• Highlight first new line after forward-screen: -w, --hilite-unread
• Highlight first new line after any forward movement: -W, --HILITE-UNREAD
• Set tab stops: -x [N[,...]], --tabs=[N[,...]]
• Don't use termcap init/deinit strings: -X, --no-init
• Forward scroll limit: -y [N], --max-forw-scroll=[N]
• Set size of window: -z [N], --window=[N]
• Set shell quote characters: -" [c[c]], --quotes=[c[c]]
• Don't display tildes after end of file: -~, --tilde
• Horizontal scroll amount (0 = one half screen width): -# [N], --shift=[N]
• Don't send termcap keypad init/deinit strings: --no-keypad
• The F command changes files if the input file is renamed: --follow-name
• Subsequent options use backslash as escape char: --use-backslash

Line editing

These keys can be used to edit text being entered on the "command line" at the bottom of the screen.

• Move cursor right one character: RightArrow ESC-l
• Move cursor left one character: LeftArrow ESC-h
• Move cursor right one word: Ctrl-RightArrow ESC-RightArrow ESC-w
• Move cursor left one word: Ctrl-LeftArrow ESC-LeftArrow ESC-b
• Move cursor to start of line: HOME ESC-0
• Move cursor to end of line: END ESC-$
• Delete char to left of cursor: BACKSPACE
• Delete char under cursor: DELETE ESC-x
• Delete word to left of cursor: Ctrl-BACKSPACE ESC-BACKSPACE
• Delete word under cursor: Ctrl-DELETE ESC-DELETE ESC-X
• Delete entire line: Ctrl-U ESC (MS-DOS only)
• Retrieve previous command line: UpArrow ESC-k
• Retrieve next command line: DownArrow ESC-j
• Complete filename & cycle: TAB
• Complete filename & reverse cycle: SHIFT-TAB ESC-TAB
• Complete filename, list all: Ctrl-L