Ask Ubuntu
Ask Ubuntu

Questions tagged [nano]

nano is a simple command line text editor which comes preinstalled in Ubuntu by default.

Sample screenshot

GNU nano is an easy-to-use text editor originally designed as a replacement for Pico, the ncurses-based editor.

However, nano also implements many features missing in pico, including:

  • feature toggles;
  • interactive search and replace (with regular expression support);
  • go to line (and column) command;
  • auto-indentation and color syntax-highlighting;
  • filename tab-completion and support for multiple buffers;
  • full internationalization support.

nano comes installed in Ubuntu by default. It can be launched by typing nano in the Terminal, optionally followed by some options and/or a filename. For more information regarding usage, see this online man page.

Links

  1. Homepage
  2. Wikipedia link
179 questions
467
votes
7 answers

How to show line numbering in nano when opening a file

Is there a way to tell nano to automatically show line numbering each time I open a file?
Luis Alvarado
  • 216,643
282
votes
4 answers

Any way to search for text within nano?

Nano is the editor I use in command prompts. When I open a large file I would like to search for some text (think Ctrl + F). Is there a way to do this?
JD Isaacks
  • 5,497
252
votes
15 answers

How do I enable syntax highlighting in nano?

Can nano do syntax highlighting like gedit and vim? How can I enable it? I need at least bash and python syntax highlights.
Oxwivi
  • 18,499
226
votes
2 answers

How to change visudo editor from nano to vim?

When I use visudo, it always opens it with nano editor. How to change the editor to vim?
dedunu
  • 9,556
216
votes
3 answers

How to use Undo functionality in Nano?

I use the commmand line text editor nano. How do I undo an action while editing text? For example: I typed some text and then changed my mind. Now I want to return to previous state. How?
user44
  • 2,263
172
votes
13 answers

How do I delete multiple lines in nano without affecting the clipboard?

I can select all file by going to the 1st line Alt+\, start marking the text by Alt+A, go to the last line by Alt+/ But there, I don't know which key to remove the selected text. Hit delete doesn't work for me but Ctrl+K to cut the text will destroy…
Nam G VU
  • 2,378
158
votes
10 answers

Copy (only copy, not cutting) in Nano?

I need to copy some text in Nano, so I searched using Google and found a few posts here on Stack Exchange and other sites in which the OP asks "How can I copy?" and people usually answer "You can use ctrl+K". The person asks how to copy and they are…
user423047
137
votes
4 answers

How to save a file using nano

I am trying to install Java via the terminal using the guide How to Install Oracle Java JRE on Ubuntu Linux. Everything went perfectly fine until "Step 11: Save the /etc/profile file and exit": I spent maybe 30 minutes figuring out what ^ means…
user288690
  • 1,573
  • 3
  • 12
  • 8
104
votes
2 answers

Delete whole line in nano editor

some times while I am editing my files with nano I am facing difficulty while deleting some big line, I need to hold Del key for long time. is there any shortcut I can found to delete the total line at a time ? I have checked the man-page , still no…
Raja G
  • 105,327
  • 107
  • 262
  • 331
87
votes
4 answers

How do I get back to nano after hitting Ctrl-Z if I have no shell prompt (in Matlab session)

I'm using nano inside a MATLAB session that is running inside a screen (-x) terminal. I accidentally hit Ctrl-Z and it immediately leaves nano, prints "Use "fg" to return to nano", but does not show a command prompt. Whatever I type appears on the…
user282315
  • 938
71
votes
6 answers

How to switch the editor in mc (midnight commander) from nano to mcedit?

Using ubuntu 10.10 the editor in mc (midnight commander) is nano. How can i switch to the internal mc editor (mcedit)?
sdu
  • 1,640
63
votes
5 answers

How to edit files in a terminal with nano?

Sometimes, a graphical text editor like gedit or kate cannot be used (because you're in a virtual console for example). Luckily, there are text editors for the terminal. An easy one is nano, but I cannot understand how to work with it. If I start…
Lekensteyn
  • 178,446
60
votes
6 answers

Difference between Nano and Vim

I have recently started using Ubuntu and hence, the terminal. As text editor, I have used the pre-installed nano. Now I wonder whether I should install and use vim as well. What are each of those text editors' special features, advantages and…
Maxsash
  • 783
42
votes
6 answers

Getting error while opening /etc/profile: Error reading lock file /etc/.profile.swp: Not enough data read

I am getting this error while opening /etc/profile file using nano. Error reading lock file /etc/.profile.swp: Not enough data read How can I fix this?
Vaibhav Phadke
  • 531
40
votes
2 answers

How do I get spaces instead of tabs in nano?

I usually edit Python files with nano, so I need four spaces instead of a tab. How can I get nano to automatically insert spaces for tabs, and control how many of them it inserts?
Stefano Palazzo
  • 88,393
1
2 3
…
11 12