Less Command

The less command functions similar to more and can be used to browse the contents of files. When using the less command to display a file, you can use the pageup key to move up a page, the pagedown key to move down a page, the ↑ and ↓ keys to browse line by line, and the q key to exit the browsing. Unlike more, less does not need to read the entire file when loading, so it loads faster. After exiting less, the shell does not retain the displayed content, whereas more leaves the displayed content in the shell.

Syntax

less [option] [file]

Options

  • -b <buffer size>: Set the size of the buffer.
  • -e: Automatically exit the command when the end of the file is reached.
  • -f: Force open special files, such as device files, directories, and binary files.
  • -g: Highlight only the last searched keyword.
  • -i: Ignore case when searching.
  • -m: Display the percentage similar to the more command.
  • -N: Display line numbers for each line.
  • -o <file>: Save the output of less to the specified file.
  • -Q: Disable the bell warning sound.
  • -s: Condense multiple adjacent empty lines into one.
  • -S: Truncate lines that are too long.
  • -x <num>: Display tab characters as a specified number of spaces.

Common Operations

  • ctrl + F: Move forward one screen.
  • ctrl + B: Move backward one screen.
  • ctrl + D: Move forward half a screen.
  • ctrl + U: Move backward half a screen.
  • j: Move forward one line.
  • k: Move backward one line.
  • /string: Search forward for a string.
  • ?string: Search backward for a string.
  • n: Repeat the previous search related to / or ?.
  • N: Reverse repeat the previous search related to / or ?.
  • b: Scroll backward one page.
  • d: Scroll backward half a page.
  • h: Display the help screen.
  • Q: Quit the less command.
  • u: Scroll forward half a page.
  • y: Scroll forward one line.
  • space: Scroll one page.
  • enter: Scroll one line.
  • pageup: Scroll upward one page.
  • pagedown: Scroll downward one page.
  • G: Move to the last line.
  • g: Move to the first line.
  • q / ZZ: Quit the less command.
  • v: Open the current file in the configured editor.
  • h: Display the less help document.
  • &pattern: Display only the lines that match the pattern, not the entire file.
  • ma: Mark the current position with marker a.
  • a: Navigate to the marker a.

Examples

Browse the file.txt file.

less file.txt

View process information using ps and page through it using less.

ps -ef | less

View the file.txt file and search for the string 1 backward.

less file.txt 
/1

Daily Question

https://github.com/WindrunnerMax/EveryDay

References

https://man.linuxde.net/less https://www.runoob.com/linux/linux-comm-less.html https://www.tutorialspoint.com/unix_commands/less.htm