Ctrl+X Exit the editor. If you've edited text without saving, you'll be prompted as to whether you really want to exit.
Ctrl+O Write (output) the current contents of the text buffer to a file. A filename prompt will appear; press
Ctrl+T to open the file navigator shown above.
Ctrl+R Read a text file into the current editing session. At the filename prompt, hit Ctrl+T for the file navigator.
Ctrl+K Cut a line into the clipboard. You can press this repeatedly to copy multiple lines, which are then stored as one chunk.
Ctrl+J Justify (fill out) a paragraph of text. By default, this reflows text to match the width of the editing window.
Ctrl+U Uncut text, or rather, paste it from the clipboard. Note that after a Justify operation, this turns into unjustify.
Ctrl+T Check spelling.
Ctrl+W Find a word or phrase. At the prompt, use the cursor keys to go through previous search terms, or hit Ctrl+R
to move into replace mode. Alternatively you can hit Ctrl+T to go to a specific line.
Ctrl+C Show current line number and file information.
Ctrl+G Get help; this provides information on navigating through files and common keyboard commands.
| Ctrl Key
Combination |
Function Key |
Alt Key
Combination |
Description |
| ^G |
F1 |
|
Display
the help text |
| ^X |
F2 |
|
Close
the current file buffer / Exit from nano |
| ^O |
F3 |
|
Write
the current file to disk |
| ^J |
F4 |
|
Justify
the current paragraph |
| ^R |
F5 |
|
Insert
another file into the current one |
| ^W |
F6 |
|
Search
for a string or a regular expression |
| ^Y |
F7 |
|
Move
to the previous screen |
| ^V |
F8 |
|
Move
to the next screen |
| ^K |
F9 |
|
Cut
the current line and store it in the cutbuffer |
| ^U |
F10 |
|
Uncut
from the cutbuffer into the current line |
| ^C |
F11 |
|
Display
the position of the cursor |
| ^T |
F12 |
|
Invoke
the spell checker, if available |
| ^_ |
F13 |
M-G |
Go
to line and column number |
| ^\ |
F14 |
M-R |
Replace
a string or a regular expression |
| ^^ |
F15 |
M-A |
Mark
text at the cursor position |
|
F16 |
M-W |
Repeat
last search |
|
|
M-^
or M-6 |
Copy
the current line and store it in the cutbuffer |
|
|
M-} |
Indent
the current line |
|
|
M-{ |
Unindent
the current line |
| ^F |
|
|
Move
forward one character |
| ^B |
|
|
Move
back one character |
| ^Space |
|
|
Move
forward one word |
|
|
M-Space |
Move
back one word |
| ^P |
|
|
Move
to the previous line |
| ^N |
|
|
Move
to the next line |
| ^A |
|
|
Move
to the beginning of the current line |
| ^E |
|
|
Move
to the end of the current line |
|
|
M-(
or M-9 |
Move
to the beginning of the current paragraph |
|
|
M-)
or M-0 |
Move
to the end of the current paragraph |
|
|
M-\
or M-| |
Move
to the first line of the file |
|
|
M-/
or M-? |
Move
to the last line of the file |
|
|
M-] |
Move
to the matching bracket |
|
|
M--
or M-_ |
Scroll
up one line without scrolling the cursor |
|
|
M-+
or M-= |
Scroll
down one line without scrolling the cursor |
|
|
M-<
or M-, |
Switch
to the previous file buffer |
|
|
M->
or M-. |
Switch
to the next file buffer |
|
|
M-V |
Insert
the next keystroke verbatim |
| ^I |
|
|
Insert
a tab at the cursor position |
| ^M |
|
|
Insert
a newline at the cursor position |
| ^D |
|
|
Delete
the character under the cursor |
| ^H |
|
|
Delete
the character to the left of the cursor |
|
|
M-T |
Cut
from the cursor position to the end of the file |
|
|
M-J |
Justify
the entire file |
|
|
M-D |
Count
the number of words, lines, and characters |
| ^L |
|
|
Refresh
(redraw) the current screen |
|
|
M-X |
Help
mode enable/disable |
|
|
M-C |
Constant
cursor position display enable/disable |
|
|
M-O |
Use
of one more line for editing enable/disable |
|
|
M-S |
Smooth
scrolling enable/disable |
|
|
M-P |
Whitespace
display enable/disable |
|
|
M-Y |
Color
syntax highlighting enable/disable |
|
|
M-H |
Smart
home key enable/disable |
|
|
M-I |
Auto
indent enable/disable |
|
|
M-K |
Cut
to end enable/disable |
|
|
M-L |
Long
line wrapping enable/disable |
|
|
M-Q |
Conversion
of typed tabs to spaces enable/disable |
|
|
M-B |
Backup
files enable/disable |
|
|
M-F |
Multiple
file buffers enable/disable |
|
|
M-M |
Mouse
support enable/disable |
|
|
M-N |
No
conversion from DOS/Mac format enable/disable |
|
|
M-Z |
Suspension
enable/disable |
