less <filepaths...>

Opposite of more

Arguments

NameDescription
filepathsfilepaths

Options

NameDescription
-?, --helpThis option displays a summary of the commands accepted by less (the same as the h command). (Depending on how your shell interprets the question mark, it may be necessary to quote the question mark, thus: "-?"
-a, --search-skip-screenBy default, forward searches start at the top of the displayed screen and backwards searches start at the bottom of the displayed screen (except for repeated searches invoked by the n or N commands, which start after or before the "target" line respectively; see the -j option for more about the target line). The -a option causes forward searches to instead start at the bottom of the screen and backward searches to start at the top of the screen, thus skipping all lines displayed on the screen
-A, --SEARCH-SKIP-SCREENCauses all forward searches (not just non-repeated searches) to start just after the target line, and all backward searches to start just before the target line. Thus, forward searches will skip part of the displayed screen (from the first line up to and including the target line). Similarly backwards searches will skip the displayed screen from the last line up to and including the target line. This was the default behavior in less versions prior to 441
-b, --buffers <n>Specifies the amount of buffer space less will use for each file, in units of kilobytes (1024 bytes). By default 64 KB of buffer space is used for each file (unless the file is a pipe; see the -B option). The -b option specifies instead that n kilobytes of buffer space should be used for each file. If n is -1, buffer space is unlimited; that is, the entire file can be read into memory
-B, --auto-buffersBy default, when data is read from a pipe, buffers are allocated automatically as needed. If a large amount of data is read from the pipe, this can cause a large amount of memory to be allocated. The -B option disables this automatic allocation of buffers for pipes, so that only 64 KB (or the amount of space specified by the -b option) is used for the pipe. Warning: use of -B can result in erroneous display, since only the most recently viewed part of the piped data is kept in memory; any earlier data is lost
-c, --clear-screenCauses full screen repaints to be painted from the top line down. By default, full screen repaints are done by scrolling from the bottom of the screen
-C, --CLEAR-SCREENSame as -c, for compatibility with older versions of less
-d, --dumbThe -d option suppresses the error message normally displayed if the terminal is dumb; that is, lacks some important capability, such as the ability to clear the screen or scroll backward. The -d option does not otherwise change the behavior of less on a dumb terminal
-D, --color <xcolor>Changes the color of different parts of the displayed text. x is a single character which selects the type of text whose color is being set: B Binary characters. C Control characters. E Errors and informational messages. M Mark letters in the status column. N Line numbers enabled via the -N option. P Prompts. R The rscroll character. S Search results. W The highlight enabled via the -w option. d Bold text. k Blinking text. s Standout text. u Underlined text. The uppercase letters can be used only when the --use-color option is enabled. When text color is specified by both an uppercase letter and a lowercase letter, the uppercase letter takes precedence. For example, error messages are normally displayed as standout text. So if both "s" and "E" are given a color, the "E" color applies to error messages, and the "s" color applies to other standout text. The "d" and "u" letters refer to bold and underline text formed by overstriking with backspaces (see the -u option), not to text using ANSI escape sequences with the -R option. A lowercase letter may be followed by a + to indicate that both the normal format change and the specified color should both be used. For example, -Dug displays underlined text as green without underlining; the green color has replaced the usual underline formatting. But -Du+g displays underlined text as both green and in underlined format. color is either a 4-bit color string or an 8-bit color string: A 4-bit color string is zero, one or two characters, where the first character specifies the foreground color and the second specifies the background color as follows: b Blue c Cyan g Green k Black m Magenta r Red w White y Yellow The corresponding upper-case letter denotes a brighter shade of the color. For example, -DNGk displays line numbers as bright green text on a black background, and -DEbR displays error messages as blue text on a bright red background. If either character is a "-" or is omitted, the corresponding color is set to that of normal text. An 8-bit color string is one or two decimal integers separated by a dot, where the first integer specifies the foreground color and the second specifies the background color. Each integer is a value between 0 and 255 inclusive which selects a "CSI 38;5" color value (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#SGR_parameters) If either integer is a "-" or is omitted, the corresponding color is set to that of normal text. On MS-DOS versions of less, 8-bit color is not supported; instead, decimal values are interpreted as 4-bit CHAR_INFO.Attributes values (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/console/char-info-str)
-e, --quit-at-eofCauses less to automatically exit the second time it reaches end-of-file. By default, the only way to exit less is via the "q" command
-E, --QUIT-AT-EOFCauses less to automatically exit the first time it reaches end- of-file
-f, --forceForces non-regular files to be opened. (A non-regular file is a directory or a device special file.) Also suppresses the warning message when a binary file is opened. By default, less will refuse to open non-regular files. Note that some operating systems will not allow directories to be read, even if -f is set
-F, --quit-if-one-screenCauses less to automatically exit if the entire file can be displayed on the first screen
-g, --hilite-searchNormally, less will highlight ALL strings which match the last search command. The -g option changes this behavior to highlight only the particular string which was found by the last search command. This can cause less to run somewhat faster than the default
-G, --HILITE-SEARCHThe -G option suppresses all highlighting of strings found by search commands
-h, --max-back-scroll <n>Specifies a maximum number of lines to scroll backward. If it is necessary to scroll backward more than n lines, the screen is repainted in a forward direction instead. (If the terminal does not have the ability to scroll backward, -h0 is implied.)
-i, --ignore-caseCauses searches to ignore case; that is, uppercase and lowercase are considered identical. This option is ignored if any uppercase letters appear in the search pattern; in other words, if a pattern contains uppercase letters, then that search does not ignore case
-I, --IGNORE-CASELike -i, but searches ignore case even if the pattern contains uppercase letters
-j, --jump-target <n>Specifies a line on the screen where the "target" line is to be positioned. The target line is the line specified by any command to search for a pattern, jump to a line number, jump to a file percentage or jump to a tag. The screen line may be specified by a number: the top line on the screen is 1, the next is 2, and so on. The number may be negative to specify a line relative to the bottom of the screen: the bottom line on the screen is -1, the second to the bottom is -2, and so on. Alternately, the screen line may be specified as a fraction of the height of the screen, starting with a decimal point: .5 is in the middle of the screen, .3 is three tenths down from the first line, and so on. If the line is specified as a fraction, the actual line number is recalculated if the terminal window is resized, so that the target line remains at the specified fraction of the screen height. If any form of the -j option is used, repeated forward searches (invoked with "n" or "N") begin at the line immediately after the target line, and repeated backward searches begin at the target line, unless changed by -a or -A. For example, if "-j4" is used, the target line is the fourth line on the screen, so forward searches begin at the fifth line on the screen. However nonrepeated searches (invoked with "/" or "?") always begin at the start or end of the current screen respectively
-J, --status-columnDisplays a status column at the left edge of the screen. The status column shows the lines that matched the current search, and any lines that are marked (via the m or M command)
-k, --lesskey-file <filename>Causes less to open and interpret the named file as a lesskey(1) file. Multiple -k options may be specified. If the LESSKEY or LESSKEY_SYSTEM environment variable is set, or if a lesskey file is found in a standard place (see KEY BINDINGS), it is also used as a lesskey file
-K, --quit-on-intrCauses less to exit immediately (with status 2) when an interrupt character (usually ^C) is typed. Normally, an interrupt character causes less to stop whatever it is doing and return to its command prompt. Note that use of this option makes it impossible to return to the command prompt from the "F" command
-L, --no-lessopenIgnore the LESSOPEN environment variable (see the INPUT PREPROCESSOR section below). This option can be set from within less, but it will apply only to files opened subsequently, not to the file which is currently open
-m, --long-promptCauses less to prompt verbosely (like more), with the percent into the file. By default, less prompts with a colon
-M, --LONG-PROMPTCauses less to prompt even more verbosely than more
-n, --line-numbersSuppresses line numbers. The default (to use line numbers) may cause less to run more slowly in some cases, especially with a very large input file. Suppressing line numbers with the -n option will avoid this problem. Using line numbers means: the line number will be displayed in the verbose prompt and in the = command, and the v command will pass the current line number to the editor (see also the discussion of LESSEDIT in PROMPTS below)
-N, --LINE-NUMBERSCauses a line number to be displayed at the beginning of each line in the display
-o, --log-file <filename>Causes less to copy its input to the named file as it is being viewed. This applies only when the input file is a pipe, not an ordinary file. If the file already exists, less will ask for confirmation before overwriting it
-O, --LOG-FILE <filename>The -O option is like -o, but it will overwrite an existing file without asking for confirmation. If no log file has been specified, the -o and -O options can be used from within less to specify a log file. Without a file name, they will simply report the name of the log file. The "s" command is equivalent to specifying -o from within less
-p, --pattern <pattern>The -p option on the command line is equivalent to specifying +/pattern; that is, it tells less to start at the first occurrence of pattern in the file
-P, --prompt <prompt>Provides a way to tailor the three prompt styles to your own preference. This option would normally be put in the LESS environment variable, rather than being typed in with each less command. Such an option must either be the last option in the LESS variable, or be terminated by a dollar sign. -Ps followed by a string changes the default (short) prompt to that string. -Pm changes the medium (-m) prompt. -PM changes the long (-M) prompt. -Ph changes the prompt for the help screen. -P= changes the message printed by the = command. -Pw changes the message printed while waiting for data (in the F command). All prompt strings consist of a sequence of letters and special escape sequences. See the section on PROMPTS for more details
-q, --quiet, --silentCauses moderately "quiet" operation: the terminal bell is not rung if an attempt is made to scroll past the end of the file or before the beginning of the file. If the terminal has a "visual bell", it is used instead. The bell will be rung on certain other errors, such as typing an invalid character. The default is to ring the terminal bell in all such cases
-Q, --QUIET, --SILENTCauses totally "quiet" operation: the terminal bell is never rung. If the terminal has a "visual bell", it is used in all cases where the terminal bell would have been rung
-r, --raw-control-charsCauses "raw" control characters to be displayed. The default is to display control characters using the caret notation; for example, a control-A (octal 001) is displayed as "^A". Warning: when the -r option is used, less cannot keep track of the actual appearance of the screen (since this depends on how the screen responds to each type of control character). Thus, various display problems may result, such as long lines being split in the wrong place. USE OF THE -r OPTION IS NOT RECOMMENDED
-R, --RAW-CONTROL-CHARSLike -r, but only ANSI "color" escape sequences and OSC 8 hyperlink sequences are output in "raw" form. Unlike -r, the screen appearance is maintained correctly, provided that there are no escape sequences in the file other than these types of escape sequences. Color escape sequences are only supported when the color is changed within one line, not across lines. In other words, the beginning of each line is assumed to be normal (non-colored), regardless of any escape sequences in previous lines. For the purpose of keeping track of screen appearance, these escape sequences are assumed to not move the cursor. OSC 8 hyperlinks are sequences of the form: ESC ] 8 ; ANSI color escape sequences are sequences of the form: ESC [ ... m where the "..." is zero or more color specification characters. You can make less think that characters other than "m" can end ANSI color escape sequences by setting the environment variable LESSANSIENDCHARS to the list of characters which can end a color escape sequence. And you can make less think that characters other than the standard ones may appear between the ESC and the m by setting the environment variable LESSANSIMIDCHARS to the list of characters which can appear
-s, --squeeze-blank-linesCauses consecutive blank lines to be squeezed into a single blank line. This is useful when viewing nroff output
-S, --chop-long-linesCauses lines longer than the screen width to be chopped (truncated) rather than wrapped. That is, the portion of a long line that does not fit in the screen width is not displayed until you press RIGHT-ARROW. The default is to wrap long lines; that is, display the remainder on the next line
-t, --tag <tag>The -t option, followed immediately by a TAG, will edit the file containing that tag. For this to work, tag information must be available; for example, there may be a file in the current directory called "tags", which was previously built by ctags(1) or an equivalent command. If the environment variable LESSGLOBALTAGS is set, it is taken to be the name of a command compatible with global(1), and that command is executed to find the tag. (See http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html). The -t option may also be specified from within less (using the - command) as a way of examining a new file. The command ":t" is equivalent to specifying -t from within less
-T, --tag-file <tagsfile>Specifies a tags file to be used instead of "tags"
-u, --underline-specialCauses backspaces and carriage returns to be treated as printable characters; that is, they are sent to the terminal when they appear in the input
-U, --UNDERLINE-SPECIALCauses backspaces, tabs, carriage returns and "formatting characters" (as defined by Unicode) to be treated as control characters; that is, they are handled as specified by the -r option. By default, if neither -u nor -U is given, backspaces which appear adjacent to an underscore character are treated specially: the underlined text is displayed using the terminal's hardware underlining capability. Also, backspaces which appear between two identical characters are treated specially: the overstruck text is printed using the terminal's hardware boldface capability. Other backspaces are deleted, along with the preceding character. Carriage returns immediately followed by a newline are deleted. Other carriage returns are handled as specified by the -r option. Unicode formatting characters, such as the Byte Order Mark, are sent to the terminal. Text which is overstruck or underlined can be searched for if neither -u nor -U is in effect
-V, --versionDisplays the version number of less
-w, --hilite-unreadTemporarily highlights the first "new" line after a forward movement of a full page. The first "new" line is the line immediately following the line previously at the bottom of the screen. Also highlights the target line after a g or p command. The highlight is removed at the next command which causes movement. The entire line is highlighted, unless the -J option is in effect, in which case only the status column is highlighted
-W, --HILITE-UNREADLike -w, but temporarily highlights the first new line after any forward movement command larger than one line
-x, --tabs= <n,...>Sets tab stops. If only one n is specified, tab stops are set at multiples of n. If multiple values separated by commas are specified, tab stops are set at those positions, and then continue with the same spacing as the last two. For example, -x9,17 will set tabs at positions 9, 17, 25, 33, etc. The default for n is 8
-X, --no-initDisables sending the termcap initialization and deinitialization strings to the terminal. This is sometimes desirable if the deinitialization string does something unnecessary, like clearing the screen
-y, --max-forw-scroll <n>Specifies a maximum number of lines to scroll forward. If it is necessary to scroll forward more than n lines, the screen is repainted instead. The -c or -C option may be used to repaint from the top of the screen if desired. By default, any forward movement causes scrolling
-z, --window <n>Changes the default scrolling window size to n lines. The default is one screenful. The z and w commands can also be used to change the window size. The "z" may be omitted for compatibility with some versions of more. If the number n is negative, it indicates n lines less than the current screen size. For example, if the screen is 24 lines, -z-4 sets the scrolling window to 20 lines. If the screen is resized to 40 lines, the scrolling window automatically changes to 36 lines
--quotesChanges the filename quoting character. This may be necessary if you are trying to name a file which contains both spaces and quote characters. Followed by a single character, this changes the quote character to that character. Filenames containing a space should then be surrounded by that character rather than by double quotes. Followed by two characters, changes the open quote to the first character, and the close quote to the second character. Filenames containing a space should then be preceded by the open quote character and followed by the close quote character. Note that even after the quote characters are changed, this option remains -" (a dash followed by a double quote)
-~, --tildeNormally lines after end of file are displayed as a single tilde (~). This option causes lines after end of file to be displayed as blank lines
-#, --shiftSpecifies the default number of positions to scroll horizontally in the RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW commands. If the number specified is zero, it sets the default number of positions to one half of the screen width. Alternately, the number may be specified as a fraction of the width of the screen, starting with a decimal point: .5 is half of the screen width, .3 is three tenths of the screen width, and so on. If the number is specified as a fraction, the actual number of scroll positions is recalculated if the terminal window is resized, so that the actual scroll remains at the specified fraction of the screen width
--follow-nameNormally, if the input file is renamed while an F command is executing, less will continue to display the contents of the original file despite its name change. If --follow-name is specified, during an F command less will periodically attempt to reopen the file by name. If the reopen succeeds and the file is a different file from the original (which means that a new file has been created with the same name as the original (now renamed) file), less will display the contents of that new file
--incsearchSubsequent search commands will be "incremental"; that is, less will advance to the next line containing the search pattern as each character of the pattern is typed in
--line-num-widthSets the minimum width of the line number field when the -N option is in effect. The default is 7 characters
--mouseEnables mouse input: scrolling the mouse wheel down moves forward in the file, scrolling the mouse wheel up moves backwards in the file, and clicking the mouse sets the "#" mark to the line where the mouse is clicked. The number of lines to scroll when the wheel is moved can be set by the --wheel-lines option. Mouse input works only on terminals which support X11 mouse reporting, and on the Windows version of less
--MOUSELike --mouse, except the direction scrolled on mouse wheel movement is reversed
--no-keypadDisables sending the keypad initialization and deinitialization strings to the terminal. This is sometimes useful if the keypad strings make the numeric keypad behave in an undesirable manner
--no-histdupsThis option changes the behavior so that if a search string or file name is typed in, and the same string is already in the history list, the existing copy is removed from the history list before the new one is added. Thus, a given string will appear only once in the history list. Normally, a string may appear multiple times
--rscrollThis option changes the character used to mark truncated lines. It may begin with a two-character attribute indicator like LESSBINFMT does. If there is no attribute indicator, standout is used. If set to "-", truncated lines are not marked
--save-marksSave marks in the history file, so marks are retained across different invocations of less
--status-col-widthSets the width of the status column when the -J option is in effect. The default is 2 characters
--use-backslashThis option changes the interpretations of options which follow this one. After the --use-backslash option, any backslash in an option string is removed and the following character is taken literally. This allows a dollar sign to be included in option strings
--use-colorEnables the colored text in various places. The -D option can be used to change the colors. Colored text works only if the terminal supports ANSI color escape sequences (as defined in ECMA-48 SGR; see https://www.ecma-international.org/publications-and- standards/standards/ecma-48)
--wheel-lines <n>Set the number of lines to scroll when the mouse wheel is rolled