Nano Keyboard Shortcuts
Complete Nano keyboard shortcuts reference — 66 shortcuts across 9 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for Linux & Mac.
File Handling (5)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl + S | Save File |
| Ctrl + O | Save As |
| Ctrl + R | Insert File |
| Ctrl + X | Exit |
| Ctrl + G | Display Help |
Editing (7)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl + K | Cut Line |
| Alt + 6 | Copy Line |
| Ctrl + U | Paste |
| Ctrl + ] | Complete Word |
| Alt + 3 | Comment Line |
| Alt + U | Undo |
| Alt + E | Redo |
Deletion (5)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl + H | Delete Character Left |
| Ctrl + D | Delete Character |
| Alt + Backspace | Delete Word Left |
| Ctrl + Delete | Delete Word Right |
| Alt + Delete | Delete Line |
Search & Replace (5)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl + F | Search Forward |
| Ctrl + B | Search Backward |
| Alt + F | Find Next Forward |
| Alt + B | Find Next Backward |
| Alt + R | Replace |
Operations (12)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl + T | Execute Command |
| Ctrl + T, Ctrl + S | Spell Check |
| Ctrl + T, Ctrl + Y | Syntax Check |
| Ctrl + T, Ctrl + O | Run Formatter |
| Tab | Indent Region |
| Shift + Tab | Unindent Region |
| Ctrl + J | Justify Paragraph |
| Alt + J | Justify Buffer |
| Alt + T | Cut to End of Buffer |
| Alt + V | Verbatim Input |
| Alt + : | Record Macro |
| Alt + ; | Replay Macro |
Moving Around (14)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl + Left | Word Backward |
| Ctrl + Right | Word Forward |
| Ctrl + A | Start of Line |
| Ctrl + E | End of Line |
| Ctrl + P | Line Up |
| Ctrl + N | Line Down |
| Ctrl + Up | Previous Block |
| Ctrl + Down | Next Block |
| Alt + Home | First Row in View |
| Alt + End | Last Row in View |
| Ctrl + Y | Page Up |
| Ctrl + V | Page Down |
| Alt + \ | Top of Buffer |
| Alt + / | End of Buffer |
Special Movement (9)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Alt + G | Go to Line |
| Alt + ] | Matching Bracket |
| Alt + < | Scroll Left |
| Alt + > | Scroll Right |
| Alt + Up | Scroll Viewport Up |
| Alt + Down | Scroll Viewport Down |
| Ctrl + L | Center Line |
| Alt + Left | Previous Buffer |
| Alt + Right | Next Buffer |
Information (2)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl + C | Report Cursor Position |
| Alt + D | Report Counts |
Toggles (7)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Alt + A | Set Mark |
| Alt + C | Constant Position Info |
| Alt + N | Line Numbers |
| Alt + P | Visible Whitespace |
| Alt + S | Soft Wrapping |
| Alt + X | Hide Help Lines |
| Alt + Z | Hide Info Bars |
📜 Every shortcut on this page is taken from the official Nano documentation —
nano-editor.org🔧 Spotted an error or a missing shortcut?
Suggest an edit on GitHub — every accepted fix goes live on this page, the API and the CLI.
🤖 Ask AI about Nano shortcuts
Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"