Commands marked with * 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.
h H Display this help.
q :q Q :Q ZZ Exit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
MOVING
e ^E j ^N CR * Forward one line (or N lines).
y ^Y k ^K ^P * Backward one line (or N lines).
f ^F ^V SPACE * Forward one window (or N lines).
b ^B ESC-v * Backward one window (or N lines).
z * Forward one window (and set window to N).
w * Backward one window (and set window to N).
ESC-SPACE * Forward one window, but don't stop at end-of-file.
d ^D * Forward one half-window (and set half-window to N).
u ^U * Backward one half-window (and set half-window to N).
ESC-) RightArrow * Right one half screen width (or N positions).
ESC-( LeftArrow * Left one half screen width (or N positions).
ESC-} ^RightArrow Right to last column displayed.
ESC-{ ^LeftArrow Left to first column.
F Forward forever; like "tail -f".
ESC-F Like F but stop when search pattern is found.
r ^R ^L Repaint screen.
R Repaint screen, discarding buffered input.
---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
Default "window" is the screen height.
Default "half-window" is half of the screen height.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEARCHING
/pattern * Search forward for (N-th) matching line.
?pattern * Search backward for (N-th) matching line.
n * Repeat previous search (for N-th occurrence).
N * Repeat previous search in reverse direction.
ESC-n * Repeat previous search, spanning files.
ESC-N * Repeat previous search, reverse dir. & spanning files.
ESC-u Undo (toggle) search highlighting.
&pattern * Display only matching lines
---------------------------------------------------
A search pattern may be preceded by one or more of:
^N or ! Search for NON-matching lines.
^E or * Search multiple files (pass thru END OF FILE).
^F or @ Start search at FIRST file (for /) or last file (for ?).
^K Highlight matches, but don't move (KEEP position).
^R Don't use REGULAR EXPRESSIONS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
JUMPING
g < ESC-< * Go to first line in file (or line N).
G > ESC-> * Go to last line in file (or line N).
p % * Go to beginning of file (or N percent into file).
t * Go to the (N-th) next tag.
T * Go to the (N-th) previous tag.
{ ( [ * Find close bracket } ) ].
} ) ] * Find open bracket { ( [.
ESC-^F <c1> <c2> * Find close bracket <c2>.
ESC-^B <c1> <c2> * Find open bracket <c1>
---------------------------------------------------
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.
m<letter> Mark the current position with <letter>.
'<letter> Go to a previously marked position.
'' Go to the previous position.
^X^X Same as '.
---------------------------------------------------
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
:e [file] Examine a new file.
^X^V Same as :e.
:n * Examine the (N-th) next file from the command line.
:p * Examine the (N-th) previous file from the command line.
:x * Examine the first (or N-th) file from the command line.
:d Delete the current file from the command line list.
= ^G :f Print current file name.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
MISCELLANEOUS COMMANDS
-<flag> Toggle a command line option [see OPTIONS below].
--<name> Toggle a command line option, by name.
_<flag> Display the setting of a command line option.
__<name> Display the setting of an option, by name.
+cmd Execute the less cmd each time a new file is examined.
!command Execute the shell command with $SHELL.
|Xcommand Pipe file between current pos & mark X to shell command.
s file Save input to a file.
v Edit the current file with $VISUAL or $EDITOR.
V Print version number of "less".
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 --.
-? ........ --help
Display help (from command line).
-a ........ --search-skip-screen
Search skips current screen.
-A ........ --SEARCH-SKIP-SCREEN
Search starts just after target line.
-b [N] .... --buffers=[N]
Number of buffers.
-B ........ --auto-buffers
Don't automatically allocate buffers for pipes.
-c ........ --clear-screen
Repaint by clearing rather than scrolling.
Created
December 3, 2019 16:05
-
-
Save lucianenache/ffb485d4781c174df4bf489eed886c5c to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment