A Beginner's Guide to Nano Text Editor on Ubuntu

Nano is one of the most user-friendly and widely available text editors in the Linux world, especially for beginners. Whether you’re editing configuration files or writing scripts, Nano is a great tool to use in the terminal. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to install, open, and use Nano effectively on Ubuntu.

Why Use Nano?

Nano is ideal for beginners because:

• It’s simple and easy to use.
• It’s available on most Linux distributions by default.
• It displays helpful shortcuts at the bottom of the editor.

Unlike more advanced editors like Vim or Emacs, Nano doesn’t require any prior knowledge of modes or complex commands—just simple keyboard shortcuts to edit and save files.

How to Install Nano on Ubuntu

In most cases, Nano comes pre-installed on Ubuntu. However, if for some reason it’s not installed, you can easily install it with the following command:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nano

Once installed, you can verify it by running:

nano --version

Opening a File with Nano

To open an existing file or create a new one, use the following command:

nano filename

• If filename exists, it will open that file.
• If it doesn’t exist, Nano will open a blank file with that name, and you can start editing.

For example:

nano textfile.txt

Nano Basic Editing Commands

When you open Nano, you’ll notice a few things:

• The main part of the screen is the file you are editing.
• At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a list of shortcuts (e.g., ^X means Ctrl + X).

Here are some basic commands you’ll use frequently in Nano:

Saving a File

Once you’ve made changes to the file, you can save them by pressing:

Ctrl + O

Nano will prompt you for confirmation to save the file. Press Enter to confirm.

Exiting Nano

After saving your changes, you can exit Nano by pressing:

Ctrl + X

If you haven’t saved your changes, Nano will ask you if you want to save the file before exiting.

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Text

• To cut a line, position your cursor on the line and press:

Ctrl + K

• To paste the cut line, move the cursor to the desired location and press:

Ctrl + U

• To copy text, first cut it, then immediately undo the cut using Ctrl + U. This will paste the text back and copy it to the clipboard.

Navigating in Nano

Moving the Cursor

• Arrow keys: Move up, down, left, or right.
• Ctrl + A: Move to the beginning of the line.
• Ctrl + E: Move to the end of the line.
• Ctrl + Y: Move up one screen (page).
• Ctrl + V: Move down one screen (page).

Searching for Text

To search for text in the file:

1. Press Ctrl + W.
2. Type the search term and press Enter.
3. Nano will jump to the first match in the file. Press Ctrl + W again to find the next match.

Nano Configuration

Nano has a configuration file located at ~/.nanorc, where you can customize its behavior. Here are a few common options:

Enable Line Numbers

To display line numbers, add the following line to ~/.nanorc:

set linenumbers

Enable Syntax Highlighting

Nano supports basic syntax highlighting for various programming languages. This feature is often enabled by default, but you can add or modify it in the config file.

For example, to enable syntax highlighting for Python, add:

include /usr/share/nano/python.nanorc

Conclusion

Nano is a powerful yet simple text editor that’s perfect for beginners who are just getting started with command-line text editing on Linux. While it may not have all the features of more advanced editors, it provides everything you need for basic editing tasks and is widely supported across Linux distributions.

With the basics of opening, editing, and saving files, you’re ready to start working with Nano on Ubuntu. As you become more comfortable with it, you can explore its more advanced features, such as syntax highlighting and multi-file editing.