LESS(1)                                                                                              General Commands Manual                                                                                             LESS(1)

NAME
       less - opposite of more

SYNOPSIS
       less -?
       less --help
       less -V
       less --version
       less [-[+]aABcCdeEfFgGiIJKLmMnNqQrRsSuUVwWX~]
            [-b space] [-h lines] [-j line] [-k keyfile]
            [-{oO} logfile] [-p pattern] [-P prompt] [-t tag]
            [-T tagsfile] [-x tab,...] [-y lines] [-[z] lines]
            [-# shift] [+[+]cmd] [--] [filename]...
       (See the OPTIONS section for alternate option syntax with long option names.)

DESCRIPTION
       Less is a program similar to more(1), but it has many more features.  Less does not have to read the entire input file before starting, so with large input files it starts up faster than text editors like vi(1).  Less
       uses  termcap  (or  terminfo  on some systems), so it can run on a variety of terminals.  There is even limited support for hardcopy terminals.  (On a hardcopy terminal, lines which should be printed at the top of the
       screen are prefixed with a caret.)

       Commands are based on both more and vi.  Commands may be preceded by a decimal number, called N in the descriptions below.  The number is used by some commands, as indicated.

COMMANDS
       In the following descriptions, ^X means control‐X.  ESC stands for the ESCAPE key; for example ESC‐v means the two character sequence "ESCAPE", then "v".

       h or H Help: display a summary of these commands.  If you forget all the other commands, remember this one.

       SPACE or ^V or f or ^F
              Scroll forward N lines, default one window (see option -z below).  If N is more than the screen size, only the final screenful is displayed.  Warning: some systems use ^V as a special literalization character.

       z      Like SPACE, but if N is specified, it becomes the new window size.

       ESC‐SPACE
              Like SPACE, but scrolls a full screenful, even if it reaches end‐of‐file in the process.

       ENTER or RETURN or ^N or e or ^E or j or ^J
              Scroll forward N lines, default 1.  The entire N lines are displayed, even if N is more than the screen size.

       d or ^D
              Scroll forward N lines, default one half of the screen size.  If N is specified, it becomes the new default for subsequent d and u commands.

       b or ^B or ESC‐v
              Scroll backward N lines, default one window (see option -z below).  If N is more than the screen size, only the final screenful is displayed.

       w      Like ESC‐v, but if N is specified, it becomes the new window size.

       y or ^Y or ^P or k or ^K
              Scroll backward N lines, default 1.  The entire N lines are displayed, even if N is more than the screen size.  Warning: some systems use ^Y as a special job control character.

       u or ^U
              Scroll backward N lines, default one half of the screen size.  If N is specified, it becomes the new default for subsequent d and u commands.

       J      Like j, but continues to scroll beyond the end of the file.

       K or Y Like k, but continues to scroll beyond the beginning of the file.

       ESC‐) or RIGHTARROW
              Scroll horizontally right N characters, default half the screen width (see the -# option).  If a number N is specified, it becomes the default for future RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW commands.  While  the  text  is
              scrolled, it acts as though the -S option (chop lines) were in effect.

       ESC‐( or LEFTARROW
              Scroll horizontally left N characters, default half the screen width (see the -# option).  If a number N is specified, it becomes the default for future RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW commands.

       ESC‐} or ^RIGHTARROW
              Scroll horizontally right to show the end of the longest displayed line.