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Nano Cheat Sheet
Changing the View
Show Line Numbers
ALT + N
CTRL + 3 then SHIFT 3
Both options work but ALT + N is easier <.<
Word-wrapping ("soft mode" aka "normal" mode)
ALT + SHIFT + 4
Visible White Space
ALT + P
Hide / Show the Help Lines
ALT + X
Current File
Save the file
CTRL + S
Save as...
CTRL + O
Exit file
CTRL + X
Searching within the file
CTRL + W (forward)
CTRL + Q (backward)
(helpful mnemonic: "CTRL + Where..?")
Find next occurrence (of previous search)
ALT + W (forward)
ALT + Q (backward)
"Find and Replace"
ALT + R
Navigation
Move the cursor
General Movement
UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT
HOME, END, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN
Move one word at at a time
CTRL + RIGHT
CTRL + LEFT
Move one "block" at a time
CTRL + UP
CTRL + DOWN
A "block" is a series of non-empty lines.
Jump to opening / closing bracket
ALT + ]
This is useful for coding - if you have an open or close bracket, you can place the cursor on that bracket and then use this keyboard shortcut to find the corresponding bracket.
Go To Line
ALT + G
CTRL + _
ALT + G is easier <.<
Show Current Line and Column #
CTRL + C
Move the *viewport* (without moving the cursor)
ALT + UP
ALT + DOWN
Go to Beginning
ALT + \
Go to End
ALT + /
Selecting, Copying, Cutting, and Pasting Text
Selecting text with the "Mark"
ALT + A
This toggles the selection. Now you can use the standard navigation keys to move the cursor. The text between the beginning location of the cursor and the current location of the cursor will be highlighted (selected)
Selecting text with "SHIFT"
If you hold "Shift" while moving the cursor, it will highlight the text you are moving over.
Select the next character
SHIFT + LEFT
SHIFT + RIGHT
Select/unselect one word at a time
CTRL + SHIFT + RIGHT
CTRL + SHIFT + LEFT
Select/unselect one block at a time
CTRL + SHIFT + UP
CTRL + SHIFT + DOWN
Some notes on Selecting Text
When you mark/select text in nano, it doesn't select the first character of the block or word when you are moving by block/word. I've developed a habit of holding SHIFT but releasing CTRL, then move one more character to get it just right.
Copying Text
ALT + 6
Cutting Text
CTRL + K
Pasting Text
CTRL + U
Some notes on Copying/Pasting Text
If you use the copy or cut keybind, then the current line will be copied or cut. If you have text selected, then the selected text will be cut. Pasting will take place at the current cursor position.
Commonly Needed Configurations
create the file ~/.nanorc
To use any of the rules below, just add the line to the .nanorc file
To set tabsize:
set tabsize 4
The above example is a 4 space tab suitable for python
To set tabs to spaces
set tabstospaces
this line is necessary to make nano treat tabs as spaces instead of tabs. This is also necessary for python
To always show line numbers by default
set linenumbers
This line helps with coding and debugging.
/cheatsheet/