Page through text one screenful at a time, Search through output, Edit the command line. less provides more emulation plus extensive enhancements such as allowing backward paging through a file as well as forward movement.
Syntax
less [options]
<command> | less [options]
Moving Commands:
Commands marked with * can be preceded by a number, N. Notes in parentheses indicate the behavior if N is given.
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 * Left 8 character positions (or N positions). ESC-) LeftArrow * Right 8 character positions (or N positions). F Forward forever; like "tail -f" (less +F polls every second, tail -f uses inotify, which is more efficient). r ^R ^L Repaint screen. R Repaint screen, discarding buffered input. h H Display this help. q :q Q :Q ZZ Exit.
Default “window” is the screen height.
Default “half-window” is half of the screen height.
Searching Commands:
/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.
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Search patterns can be modified 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 commands:
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).
{ ( [ * 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.
mletter Mark the current position with . '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. v Edit the current file with $VISUAL or $EDITOR. V Print version number of "less".
OPTIONS:
Most options can be changed either on the command line, or from within less by using the – or — command.
Options can be given in one of two forms: either a single character preceded by a -, or a name preceeded by –.
FINDING:
-a ........ --search-skip-screen
Forward search, skips current screen.
-g ........ --hilite-search
Highlight only last match for searches.
-G ........ --HILITE-SEARCH
Don't highlight any matches for searches.
-h [N] .... --max-back-scroll=[N]
Backward scroll limit.
-i ........ --ignore-case
Ignore case in searches.
-I ........ --IGNORE-CASE
Ignore case in searches and in search patterns.
-j [N] .... --jump-target=[N]
Screen position of target lines.
-p [pattern] --pattern=[pattern]
Start at pattern (from command line).
-t [tag] .. --tag=[tag]
Find a tag.
-T [tagsfile] --tag-file=[tagsfile]
Use an alternate tags file.
-y [N] .... --max-forw-scroll=[N]
Forward scroll limit.
DISPLAY OPTIONS:
-D [xn.n] . --color=xn.n
Set screen colors. (MS-DOS only)
-c -C .... --clear-screen --CLEAR-SCREEN
Repaint by scrolling/clearing.
-P [prompt] --prompt=[prompt]
Define new prompt.
-m -M .... --long-prompt --LONG-PROMPT
Set prompt style.
-n -N .... --line-numbers --LINE-NUMBERS
Use line numbers.
-r ........ --raw-control-chars
Output "raw" control characters.
-s ........ --squeeze-blank-lines
Squeeze multiple blank lines.
-S ........ --chop-long-lines
Chop long lines.
-w ........ --hilite-unread
Highlight first new line after forward-screen.
-W ........ --HILITE-UNREAD
Highlight first new line after any forward movement.
-~ ........ --tilde
Don't display tildes after end of file.
-z [N] .... --window=[N]
Set size of window.
FILE OPTIONS:
-b [N] .... --buffers=[N]
Number of buffers.
-B ........ --auto-buffers
Don't automatically allocate buffers for pipes.
-f ........ --force
Force open non-regular files.
-k [file] . --lesskey-file=[file]
Use a lesskey file.
-o [file] . --log-file=[file]
Copy to log file (standard input only).
-O [file] . --LOG-FILE=[file]
Copy to log file (unconditionally overwrite).
MISC OPTIONS:
-d ........ --dumb
Dumb terminal.
-e -E .... --quit-at-eof --QUIT-AT-EOF
Quit at end of file.
-q -Q .... --quiet --QUIET --silent --SILENT
Quiet the terminal bell.
-u -U .... --underline-special --UNDERLINE-SPECIAL
Change handling of backspaces.
-x [N] .... --tabs=[N]
Set tab stops.
-X ........ --no-init
Don't use termcap init/deinit strings.
-" [c[c]] . --quotes=[c[c]]
Set shell quote characters.
-? ........ --help
Display help (from command line).
-V ........ --version
Display the version number of "less".
Line Editing:
These keys can be used to edit text being entered on the “command line” at the bottom of the screen.
RightArrow ESC-l Move cursor right one character. LeftArrow ESC-h Move cursor left one character. CNTL-RightArrow ESC-RightArrow ESC-w Move cursor right one word. CNTL-LeftArrow ESC-LeftArrow ESC-b Move cursor left one word. HOME ESC-0 Move cursor to start of line. END ESC-$ Move cursor to end of line. BACKSPACE Delete char to left of cursor. DELETE ESC-x Delete char under cursor. CNTL-BACKSPACE ESC-BACKSPACE Delete word to left of cursor. CNTL-DELETE ESC-DELETE ESC-X Delete word under cursor. CNTL-U ESC (MS-DOS only) Delete entire line. UpArrow ESC-k Retrieve previous command line. DownArrow ESC-j Retrieve next command line. TAB Complete filename & cycle. SHIFT-TAB ESC-TAB Complete filename & reverse cycle. CNTL-L Complete filename, list all.
When the output of less is redirected to a file, it behaves like cat, no additional output is added or input requested.
Related linux commands:
The less home page
echo – Display message on screen
head – Output the first part of file(s)
more – Display output one screen at a time
pg – Display one page at a time
tail – Output the last part of files
tee – Redirect output to multiple files
Equivalent Windows command: MORE – Display output one screen at a time.
