nano/doc/nano.1

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.TH NANO 1 "version 4.9" "March 2020"

.SH NAME
nano \- Nano's ANOther editor, inspired by Pico

.SH SYNOPSIS
.B nano
.RI [ options "] [[\fB+" line [\fB, column "]] " file ]...
.sp
.BR nano " [" \fIoptions "] [[" + [ crCR ]( / | ? ) \fIstring "] " \fIfile ]...

.SH NOTICE
Since version 4.0, \fBnano\fR by default:
.sp
.RS 4
\(bu does not automatically hard-wrap lines that become overlong,
.br
\(bu includes the line below the title bar in the editing area,
.br
\(bu does linewise (smooth) scrolling.
.RE
.sp
If you want the old, Pico behavior back, you can use \fB\-\-breaklonglines\fR,
\fB\-\-emptyline\fR, and \fB\-\-jumpyscrolling\fR (or \fB\-bej\fR for short).

.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBnano\fP is a small and friendly editor.  It copies the look and feel
of Pico, but is free software, and implements several features that Pico
lacks, such as: opening multiple files, scrolling per line, undo/redo,
syntax coloring, line numbering, and soft-wrapping overlong lines.
.sp
When giving a filename on the command line, the cursor can be put on a
specific line by adding the line number with a plus sign (\fB+\fR) before
the filename, and even in a specific column by adding it with a comma.
(Negative numbers count from the end of the file or line.)
The cursor can be put on the first or last occurrence of a specific string
by specifying that string after \fB+/\fR or \fB+?\fR before the filename.
The string can be made case sensitive and/or caused to be interpreted as a
regular expression by inserting \fBc\fR and/or \fBr\fR after the \fB+\fR sign.
These search modes can be explicitly disabled by using the uppercase variant
of those letters: \fBC\fR and/or \fBR\fR.  When the string contains spaces,
it needs to be enclosed in quotes.  To give an example: to open a file at
the first occurrence of the word "Foo", one would do:
.sp
.RS 4
.BI "nano +c/Foo " file
.RE
.sp
As a special case: if instead of a filename a dash (\fB\-\fR) is given,
\fBnano\fR will read data from standard input.

.SH EDITING
Entering text and moving around in a file is straightforward: typing the
letters and using the normal cursor movement keys.  Commands are entered
by using the Control (^) and the Alt or Meta (M\-) keys.
Typing \fB^K\fR deletes the current line and puts it in the cutbuffer.
Consecutive \fB^K\fRs will put all deleted lines together in the cutbuffer.
Any cursor movement or executing any other command will cause the next
\fB^K\fR to overwrite the cutbuffer.  A \fB^U\fR will paste the current
contents of the cutbuffer at the current cursor position.
.sp
When a more precise piece of text needs to be cut or copied, one can mark
its start with \fB^6\fR, move the cursor to its end (the marked text will be
highlighted), and then use \fB^K\fR to cut it, or \fBM\-6\fR to copy it to the
cutbuffer.  One can also save the marked text to a file with \fB^O\fR, or
spell check it with \fB^T\fR.
.sp
On some terminals, text can be selected also by holding down Shift while
using the arrow keys.  Holding down the Ctrl or Alt key too will increase
the stride.
Any cursor movement without Shift being held will cancel such a selection.
.sp
The two lines at the bottom of the screen show some important commands;
the built-in help (\fB^G\fR) lists all the available ones.
The default key bindings can be changed via a \fInanorc\fR file -- see
.BR nanorc (5).

.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.BR \-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.
.TP
.BR \-B ", " \-\-backup
When saving a file, back up the previous version of it, using the current
filename suffixed with a tilde (\fB~\fP).
.TP
.BR \-C\ \fIdirectory ", " \-\-backupdir= \fIdirectory
Make and keep not just one backup file, but make and keep a uniquely
numbered one every time a file is saved -- when backups are enabled (\fB\-B\fR).
The uniquely numbered files are stored in the specified \fIdirectory\fR.
.TP
.BR \-D ", " \-\-boldtext
For the interface, use bold instead of reverse video.  This will be overridden
by setting the options \fBtitlecolor\fP, \fBstatuscolor\fP, \fBkeycolor\fP,
\fBfunctioncolor\fP, \fBnumbercolor\fP, and/or \fBselectedcolor\fP in your
nanorc file.  See \fBnanorc\fR(5).
.TP
.BR \-E ", " \-\-tabstospaces
Convert typed tabs to spaces.
.TP
.BR \-F ", " \-\-multibuffer
Read a file into a new buffer by default.
.TP
.BR \-G ", " \-\-locking
Use vim-style file locking when editing files.
.TP
.BR \-H ", " \-\-historylog
Save the last hundred search strings and replacement strings and
executed commands, so they can be easily reused in later sessions.
.TP
.BR \-I ", " \-\-ignorercfiles
Don't look at the system's \fInanorc\fR nor at the user's \fInanorc\fR.
.TP
.BR \-J\ \fInumber ", " \-\-guidestripe= \fInumber
Draw a vertical stripe at the given column, to help judge the width of the
text.  (The color of the stripe can be changed with \fBset stripecolor\fR
in your \fInanorc\fR file.)
.TP
.BR \-K ", " \-\-rawsequences
Interpret escape sequences directly (instead of asking \fBncurses\fR to
translate them).  If you need this option to get your keyboard to work
properly, please report a bug.  Using this option disables \fBnano\fR's
mouse support.
.TP
.BR \-L ", " \-\-nonewlines
Don't automatically add a newline when a text does not end with one.
(This can cause you to save non-POSIX text files.)
.TP
.BR \-M ", " \-\-trimblanks
Snip trailing whitespace from the wrapped line when automatic
hard-wrapping occurs or when text is justified.
.TP
.BR \-N ", " \-\-noconvert
Disable automatic conversion of files from DOS/Mac format.
.TP
.BR \-O ", " \-\-morespace
Obsolete and ignored option, since the line below the title bar is included
into the editing space by default.  If you prefer to keep this line blank,
use \fB\-e\fR or \fB\-\-emptyline\fR.
.TP
.BR \-P ", " \-\-positionlog
For the 200 most recent files, log the last position of the cursor,
and place it at that position again upon reopening such a file.
.TP
.BR "\-Q ""\fIregex\fB""" ", " "\-\-quotestr=""" \fIregex """
Set the regular expression for matching the quoting part of a line.
The default value is \fB"^([\ \\t]*([!#%:;>|}]|//))+"\fP.
(Note that \fB\\t\fP stands for an actual Tab.)
This makes it possible to rejustify blocks of quoted text when composing
email, and to rewrap blocks of line comments when writing source code.
.TP
.BR \-R ", " \-\-restricted
Restricted mode: don't read or write to any file not specified on the
command line.  This means: don't read or write history files;
don't allow suspending; don't allow spell checking;
don't allow a file to be appended to, prepended to, or saved under a
different name if it already has one; and don't make backup files.
Restricted mode can also be activated by invoking \fBnano\fP
with any name beginning with 'r' (e.g. "rnano").
.TP
.BR \-S ", " \-\-smooth
Obsolete and ignored option, since smooth scrolling has become the default.
If you prefer the chunk-by-chunk scrolling behavior,
use \fB\-j\fR or \fB\-\-jumpyscrolling\fR.
.TP
.BR \-T\ \fInumber ", " \-\-tabsize= \fInumber
Set the size (width) of a tab to \fInumber\fP columns.  The value of
\fInumber\fP must be greater than 0.  The default value is 8.
.TP
.BR \-U ", " \-\-quickblank
Do quick status-bar blanking: status-bar messages will disappear after 1
keystroke instead of 25.  Note that option \fB\-c\fR (\fB\-\-constantshow\fR)
overrides this.
.TP
.BR \-V ", " \-\-version
Show the current version number and exit.
.TP
.BR \-W ", " \-\-wordbounds
Detect word boundaries differently by treating punctuation
characters as part of a word.
.TP
.BR "\-X ""\fIcharacters\fB""" ", " "\-\-wordchars=""" \fIcharacters """
Specify which other characters (besides the normal alphanumeric ones)
should be considered as part of a word.  This overrides option
\fB\-W\fR (\fB\-\-wordbounds\fR).
.TP
.BR \-Y\ \fIname ", " \-\-syntax= \fIname
Specify the name of the syntax highlighting to use from among the ones
defined in the \fInanorc\fP files.
.TP
.BR \-Z ", " \-\-zap
Let an unmodified Backspace or Delete erase the marked region
(instead of a single character, and without affecting the cutbuffer).
.TP
.BR \-a ", " \-\-atblanks
When doing soft line wrapping, wrap lines at whitespace
instead of always at the edge of the screen.
.TP
.BR \-b ", " \-\-breaklonglines
Automatically hard-wrap the current line when it becomes overlong.
(This option is the opposite of \fB\-w\fR (\fB\-\-nowrap\fR) --
the last one given takes effect.)
.TP
.BR \-c ", " \-\-constantshow
Constantly show the cursor position on the status bar.
Note that this overrides option \fB\-U\fR (\fB\-\-quickblank\fR).
.TP
.BR \-d ", " \-\-rebinddelete
Interpret the Delete and Backspace keys differently so that both Backspace
and Delete work properly.  You should only use this option when on your
system either Backspace acts like Delete or Delete acts like Backspace.
.TP
.BR \-e ", " \-\-emptyline
Do not use the line below the title bar, leaving it entirely blank.
.TP
.BR \-f\ \fIfile ", " \-\-rcfile= \fIfile
Read only this \fIfile\fR for setting nano's options, instead of reading
both the system-wide and the user's nanorc files.
.TP
.BR \-g ", " \-\-showcursor
Make the cursor visible in the file browser (putting it on the
highlighted item) and in the help viewer.  Useful for braille users
and people with poor vision.
.TP
.BR \-h ", " \-\-help
Show a summary of the available command-line options and exit.
.TP
.BR \-i ", " \-\-autoindent
Automatically indent a newly created line to the same number of tabs
and/or spaces as the previous line (or as the next line if the previous
line is the beginning of a paragraph).
.TP
.BR \-j ", " \-\-jumpyscrolling
Scroll the buffer contents per half-screen instead of per line.
.TP
.BR \-k ", " \-\-cutfromcursor
Make the 'Cut Text' command (normally \fB^K\fR) cut from the current cursor
position to the end of the line, instead of cutting the entire line.
.TP
.BR \-l ", " \-\-linenumbers
Display line numbers to the left of the text area.
.TP
.BR \-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.  Text can still be
selected through dragging by holding down the Shift key.
.TP
.BR \-n ", " \-\-noread
Treat any name given on the command line as a new file.  This allows
\fBnano\fR to write to named pipes: it will start with a blank buffer,
and will write to the pipe when the user saves the "file".  This way
\fBnano\fR can be used as an editor in combination with for instance
\fBgpg\fR without having to write sensitive data to disk first.
.TP
.BR \-o\ \fIdirectory ", " \-\-operatingdir= \fIdirectory
Set the operating directory.  This makes \fBnano\fP set up something
similar to a chroot.
.TP
.BR \-p ", " \-\-preserve
Preserve the XON and XOFF sequences (\fB^Q\fR and \fB^S\fR) so they
will be caught by the terminal.
.TP
.BR \-r\ \fInumber ", " \-\-fill= \fInumber
Set the target width for justifying and automatic hard-wrapping at this
\fInumber\fR of columns.  If the value is 0 or less, wrapping will occur
at the width of the screen minus \fInumber\fR columns, allowing the wrap
point to vary along with the width of the screen if the screen is resized.
The default value is \-8.
.TP
.B "\-s ""\fIprogram\fR [\fIargument \fR...]\fB""\fR, \fB\-\-speller=""\fIprogram\fR [\fIargument \fR...]\fB"""
Use this command to perform spell checking and correcting, instead of
using the built-in corrector that calls \fBhunspell\fR or GNU \fBspell\fR.
.TP
.BR \-t ", " \-\-tempfile
Save a changed buffer without prompting (when exiting with \fB^X\fR).
.TP
.BR \-u ", " \-\-unix
Save a file by default in Unix format.  This overrides nano's
default behavior of saving a file in the format that it had.
(This option has no effect when you also use \fB\-\-noconvert\fR.)
.TP
.BR \-v ", " \-\-view
Just view the file and disallow editing: read-only mode.
This mode allows the user to open also other files for viewing,
unless \fB\-\-restricted\fR is given too.
.TP
.BR \-w ", " \-\-nowrap
Do not automatically hard-wrap the current line when it becomes overlong.
This is the default.  (This option is the opposite of \fB\-b\fR
(\fB\-\-breaklonglines\fR) -- the last one given takes effect.)

.TP
.BR \-x ", " \-\-nohelp
Don't show the two help lines at the bottom of the screen.
.TP
.BR \-y ", " \-\-afterends
Make Ctrl+Right stop at word ends instead of beginnings.
.TP
.BR \-z ", " \-\-suspendable
Allow the user to suspend the editor (with \fB^Z\fR by default).
.TP
.BR \-$ ", " \-\-softwrap
Display lines that exceed the screen's width over multiple screen lines.
(You can make this soft-wrapping occur at whitespace instead of rudely at
the screen's edge, by using also \fB\-\-atblanks\fR.)
Since
\&'$' normally refers to a variable in the Unix shell, you should specify
this option last when using other options (e.g.\& 'nano \-wS$') or pass it
separately (e.g.\& 'nano \-wS \-$').

.SH TOGGLES
Several of the above options can be switched on and off also while
\fBnano\fR is running.  For example, \fBM\-L\fR toggles the
hard-wrapping of long lines, \fBM\-S\fR toggles soft-wrapping,
\fBM\-N\fR toggles line numbers, \fBM\-M\fR toggles the mouse,
\fBM\-I\fR auto-indentation, and \fBM\-X\fR the help lines.
See at the end of the \fB^G\fR help text for a complete list.

.SH FILES
When \fB\-\-rcfile\fR is given, \fBnano\fR will read just the specified file
for setting its options and syntaxes and key bindings.  Without that option,
\fBnano\fR will read two configuration files: first the system's
\fInanorc\fR (if it exists), and then the user's \fInanorc\fR (if it
exists), either \fI~/.nanorc\fR or \fI$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nano/nanorc\fR
or \fI~/.config/nano/nanorc\fR, whichever is encountered first.  See
.BR nanorc (5)
for more information on the possible contents of those files.

.SH NOTES
If no alternative spell checker command is specified on the command
line nor in one of the \fInanorc\fP files, \fBnano\fP will check the
\fBSPELL\fP environment variable for one.
.sp
In some cases \fBnano\fP will try to dump the buffer into an emergency
file.  This will happen mainly if \fBnano\fP receives a SIGHUP or
SIGTERM or runs out of memory.  It will write the buffer into a file
named \fInano.save\fP if the buffer didn't have a name already, or will
add a ".save" suffix to the current filename.  If an emergency file with
that name already exists in the current directory, it will add ".save"
plus a number (e.g.\& ".save.1") to the current filename in order to make
it unique.  In multibuffer mode, \fBnano\fP will write all the open
buffers to their respective emergency files.

.SH BUGS
The recording and playback of keyboard macros works correctly only on a
terminal emulator, not on a Linux console (VT), because the latter does
not by default distinguish modified from unmodified arrow keys.
.sp
Please report any other bugs that you encounter via:
.br
.IR https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=nano .
.sp
When nano crashes, it will save any modified buffers to emergency .save files.
If you are able to reproduce the crash and you want to get a backtrace, define
the environment variable \fBNANO_NOCATCH\fR.

.SH HOMEPAGE
.I https://nano\-editor.org/

.SH SEE ALSO
.BR nanorc (5)
.sp
\fI/usr/share/doc/nano/\fP (or equivalent on your system)