less Cheatsheet
Quick reference for navigating, searching, and controlling output with the less pager in Linux
The `less` command is a pager for viewing text one screen at a time. This cheatsheet covers navigation keys, search patterns, startup options, and practical workflows for logs and command output.
Basic Usage
Common ways to open files and piped output in less.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
less file.txt | Open a file in the pager |
less /var/log/syslog | Read a system log file |
command | less | Pipe command output into less |
less +G file.txt | Open a file and jump to the end |
less +/pattern file.txt | Open a file and jump to first match |
Navigation Keys
Move through content quickly in the pager.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
Space | Move forward one page |
b | Move backward one page |
Enter | Move forward one line |
k / y | Move backward one line |
d / u | Move forward / backward half a page |
g | Jump to top of file |
G | Jump to bottom of file |
50g | Jump to line 50 |
F | Follow mode — stream new content as it is appended (press Ctrl+C to stop) |
q | Quit less |
Search and Match Navigation
Find text and move between matches.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
/pattern | Search forward for pattern |
?pattern | Search backward for pattern |
n | Next match in current search direction |
N | Previous match in current search direction |
&pattern | Show only lines matching pattern |
& (empty) | Clear &pattern filtered view |
Useful Options
Flags that improve readability in daily use.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
less -N file.txt | Show line numbers |
less -S file.txt | Disable line wrap (horizontal scrolling) |
less -R file.txt | Show ANSI colors in output |
less -i file.txt | Case-insensitive search by default |
less -F file.txt | Quit automatically if content fits one screen |
less -X file.txt | Keep screen content after quitting |
Log and Output Workflows
Practical examples for troubleshooting and analysis.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
less +F /var/log/syslog | Follow a log file live (like tail -f); press Ctrl+C to stop and search |
journalctl -xe | less | Page through recent systemd logs |
dmesg | less | Inspect kernel messages page by page |
ps aux | less | Browse long process listings |
git log | less | Read long commit history safely |
grep -R \"ERROR\" /var/log | less | Review search results interactively |
Troubleshooting
Quick fixes for common less issues.
| Issue | Check |
|---|---|
| Search does not find expected text | Retry with exact case or use -i for case-insensitive search |
| Color codes look broken | Use less -R when input includes ANSI colors |
| Lines wrap and are hard to read | Use less -S and move sideways with arrow keys |
| Pager exits immediately | Content may fit one screen; remove -F if you need manual paging |
| You opened from pipe and lost context | Rerun command with | less and search using /pattern |
Related Guides
Use these guides for deeper command and text-processing workflows.
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| less Command in Linux | Full less tutorial with examples |
| head Command in Linux | Show the first lines of files |
| tail Command in Linux | Follow file growth and recent lines |
| grep Command in Linux | Search text patterns in files |
| wc Command in Linux | Count lines, words, and bytes |
