{"id":59104,"date":"2023-10-09T18:01:27","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T10:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=59104"},"modified":"2023-10-22T15:54:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-22T07:54:24","slug":"linux-command-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/linux-command-less\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use the Less Command in Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"

At its core, less<\/code> command provides an interactive environment to view the contents of a file, enabling users to scroll line-by-line or page-by-page. Unlike other tools such as cat<\/a><\/code>, which simply dumps the entire file content to the console, less ensures easy navigation, search functionalities, and even offers features like text highlighting.<\/p>\n

Especially useful for peering into large files or logs, its efficiency and straightforwardness have rendered less an indispensable command for both newcomers and seasoned Linux professionals.<\/p>\n

General syntax for less<\/code> command:<\/p>\n

\r\n$ less [FILE]\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
1. Display line numbers<\/h3>\n
less -N [file]<\/pre>\n
The -N<\/code> option allows you to see line numbers in the output of the less command.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
When you execute less -N example.txt<\/code>, the command less -N<\/code> will open the file example.txt<\/code> in the less<\/code> pager with line numbers displayed at the beginning of each line. Here is a sample output for what you might see:<\/p>\n
     1 This is line one of the file.\r\n     2 Line two comes after line one.\r\n     3 The third line is this one.\r\n     4 And here's line four.\r\n     5 This example has five lines in total.\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
2. Search for text in a file<\/h3>\n
less -p [word] [filename]<\/pre>\n
This command helps you find a word or phrase in a file.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
The command less -p apple fruit.txt<\/code> would open the file fruit.txt<\/code> and display the contents starting from the first occurrence of the word \u201capple.\u201d<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say the content of fruit.txt<\/code> is:<\/p>\n
orange\r\nbanana\r\napple\r\ngrape\r\napple\r\ncherry\r\n<\/pre>\n
Executing less -p apple fruit.txt<\/code> would open the file in a pager starting from the line with the first occurrence of \u201capple,\u201d displaying something like:<\/p>\n
apple\r\ngrape\r\napple\r\ncherry\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
3. Display multiple files<\/h3>\n
less [file1] [file2] [file3]<\/pre>\n
Use this command to open multiple files by typing the input file names one by one.<\/p>\n
\n
4. Reduce blank lines<\/h3>\n
less -s [filename]<\/pre>\n
This option reduces a series of blanks lines and replaces them with a single blank line.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
The output of the less -s file1.txt<\/code> command will simply be the contents of file1.txt<\/code>, but displayed one screen at a time in your terminal, and with multiple consecutive blank lines condensed into single blank lines.<\/p>\n
Suppose file1.txt<\/code> contains the following:<\/p>\n
This is line 1\r\n\r\nThis is line 3\r\n\r\nThis is line 5\r\n\r\nThis is line 7\r\n<\/pre>\n
If you run less -s file1.txt<\/code>, you would see:<\/p>\n
This is line 1\r\n\r\nThis is line 3\r\n\r\nThis is line 5\r\n\r\nThis is line 7\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
5. Keep content in terminal after exit<\/h3>\n
less -X [file]<\/pre>\n
By default, when you exit less<\/code>, the contents of the file will be removed from the screen. To keep them on the screen, use the -X<\/code> option.<\/p>\n
\n
More Linux commands:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Directory Operations<\/td>\nrmdir<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 cd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 pwd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 exa<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 ls<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
File Operations<\/td>\ncat<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 cp<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 dd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 less<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 touch<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 ln<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 rename<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 more<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 head<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
File System Operations<\/td>\nchown<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 mkfs<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 locate<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Networking<\/td>\nping<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 curl<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 wget<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 iptables<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 mtr<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Search and Text Processing<\/td>\nfind<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 grep<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 sed<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 whatis<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 ripgrep<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 fd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 tldr<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
System Information and Management<\/td>\nenv<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 history<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 top<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 who<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 htop<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 glances<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 lsof<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
User and Session Management<\/td>\nscreen<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 su<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 sudo<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 open<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From viewing large files to highlighting text, the Linux ‘less’ command offers an interactive and efficient way to navigate and search file contents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3397],"tags":[888,3316],"topic":[],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Use the Less Command in Linux - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From viewing large files to highlighting text, the Linux 'less' command offers an interactive and efficient way to navigate and search file contents.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/linux-command-less\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Use the Less Command in Linux\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From viewing large files to highlighting text, the Linux 'less' command offers an interactive and efficient way to navigate and search file contents.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/linux-command-less\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-09T10:01:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-22T07:54:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hongkiat.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hongkiat.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-less\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-less\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hongkiat.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc686597d92f9086729e4bcc1577ba3\"},\"headline\":\"How to Use the Less Command in Linux\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-09T10:01:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-22T07:54:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-less\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":321,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Linux\",\"Linux Commands\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Desktop\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-less\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-less\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Use the Less Command in Linux - 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