Nano Editor Cheat Sheet

Modes in Nano

  • Normal Editing Mode – Default; type directly into the file.
  • Command Mode – Use Ctrl + key shortcuts for actions like save, exit, search, etc.

Basic Navigation

  • Arrow Keys → Move up, down, left, right
  • Page Up / Page Down → Scroll by pages
  • Ctrl + A → Move to start of line
  • Ctrl + E → Move to end of line
  • Ctrl + Y → Move one page up
  • Ctrl + V → Move one page down
  • Ctrl + _ → Go to specific line number

Saving and Exiting

  • Ctrl + O → Write out (save)
  • Enter → Confirm file name
  • Ctrl + X → Exit
  • Ctrl + C → Show current cursor position

Cut and Paste

  • Ctrl + K → Cut line
  • Ctrl + U → Uncut/Paste line
  • Ctrl + ^ → Start marking text (select region)

Search and Replace

  • Ctrl + W → Search
  • Ctrl + \ → Search and replace
  • Ctrl + T → Spell check

Undo / Redo

  • Nano does not have built-in undo in older versions; use cut/paste to correct mistakes.

Other Useful Commands

  • Ctrl + G → Show help / list of commands
  • Ctrl + J → Justify current paragraph
  • Ctrl + R → Read file into current document
  • Ctrl + X → Exit (prompt to save if modified)