nano

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GNU nano is an easy to use terminal-based text editor that also provides some more advanced functionality. nano allows just anyone to jump into editing text files, but still provides useful productivity features that don't get in the way of wanting to just open a file and edit away.

By default, at the bottom of the screen, nano displays some useful pointers on basic functionality and how to find more help, so that first-time users can start to find their way around (this is configurable). It of course comes with classic basic features, such as copy/paste, undo/redo, syntax highlighting, interactive search-and-replace, auto-indentation, macros, etc.

nano's small size, portability, and ease of use, have lead to it being the editor that gets included in Gentoo's official stage3 installation seeds (a text editor is an absolute requirement in these stage3 files, and nano is as good as any, if not arguably better). This makes it a staple of Gentoo installations, and though of course it can be easily replaced with another text editor, a working text editor is such an essential part of the Gentoo operating system (particularly in the case of system issues) that keeping nano installed as a backup is usually for the best.

Note
Technically, nano gets included by default in stage3 files because it is the first "one of many" dependency of the virtual/editor package, which is part of the system set. It is not however in the world set. In order to avoid surprises when performing system maintenance, it is useful to be informed about the basics of how default, fallback, and virtual packages work in Gentoo, and the implications on choosing and installing text editors (notably nano can sometimes get unintentionally depcleaned after installing certain other text editors, if not paying attention).

Installation

USE flags

USE flags for app-editors/nano GNU GPL'd Pico clone with more functionality

+spell Add dictionary support

debug Enable debug messages and assert warnings. Note that these will all be sent straight to stderr rather than some logging facility.

justify Enable justify/unjustify functions for text formatting.

magic Add magic file support (sys-apps/file) to automatically detect appropriate syntax highlighting

minimal Disable all fancy features, including ones that otherwise have a dedicated USE flag (such as spelling).

ncurses Add ncurses support (console display library)

nls Add Native Language Support (using gettext - GNU locale utilities)

unicode Add support for Unicode

verify-sig Verify upstream signatures on distfiles

Data provided by the Gentoo Package Database · Last update: 2026年07月31日 19:07 More information about USE flags

Emerge

root #emerge --ask app-editors/nano

Usage

First steps

Start nano by typing nano in a terminal followed by options or a file. Passing a file name is the most common use:

user $nano filename

Nano now shows the content of the text file and which can be modified as desired. Navigate through the text with the arrow keys.

At the bottom nano shows shortcuts for common actions, e.g. save or exit. The shortcut to save is shown as ^O. Prefix the shortcut with the Ctrl key. So to save a document (after editing it) press Ctrl+O. To exit press Ctrl+X.

Warning
Prior to nano 4.0, when editing configuration files, always pass nano the -w option. Without this option, long lines are wrapped by inserting newlines - this will often break configuration files.

To see an overview over all options run nano --help

Cut, copy, and paste

Lines can be cut with the shortcut Ctrl+K (copied with Alt+^) and paste with Ctrl+U. To cut or copy multiple lines press the shortcut multiple times.

Search

Search the text with Ctrl+W. Continue the search with Alt+W.

More shortcuts

Action	Shortcut	Other shortcut
Show the help	`Ctrl`+`G`	`F1`
Close file	`Ctrl`+`X`	`F2`
Save file	`Ctrl`+`O`	`F3`
Search text	`Ctrl`+`W`	`F6`
Continue search	`Alt`+`W`	`F16`
Copy line to clipboard	`Alt`+`^`	`Alt`+`6`
Cut line to clipboard	`Ctrl`+`K`	`F9`
Paste line from clipboard	`Ctrl`+`U`	`F10`
Go to the first line of the file	`Alt`+`\`	`Ctrl`+`Home`
Go to the end line of the file	`Alt`+`/`	`Ctrl`+`End`

Configuration

Set options permanently in the /etc/nanorc configuration file. This configuration applies system wide to all users. To change options only for one user, set the option in the user's ~/.nanorc file. As a general rule, files present in a user's home directory override system wide settings.

Syntax highlighting

Support for syntax highlight is achieved through plugins and include statements in nano's configuration file (~/.nanorc for individual users).

user $mkdir ~/.nano

Copy the plugin into the ~/.nano directory, then reference it with a include statement. For example:

FILE ~/.nanorcApply ebulid specific syntax highlighting for nano

# Ebuild specific highlighting
include "~/.nano/gentoo.nanorc"