The Nano editor is a simple display-oriented and free text editor that comes by default with all Linux operating systems.

How does nano text editor work. You can move the cursor the point you are typing by using the ARROW keys. Vim has a little bit of a learning curve that Nano dont haveIn this article I will show you how to configure the Nano text editor. As soon as you modify anything in the file youll notice that it reflects this information on the editor.

Use the Ctrl-x command to save and exit the text editor. This way you wont get stuck at exiting the editor like Vim. They change automatically depending on what action you are taking.

Unlike Pico nano is licensed under the GNU General Public License GPL. Below are the most basic steps for getting started with nano. Nano provides all basic features like text editing search and replace go to line and column number auto-indentation feature toggles and filename tab completion.

It is almost like using a regular text editor at least for writing and editing. When you have launched a nano editor by typing the Nano command on the terminal. It emulates the Pico text editor a part of the Pine email client which also provides additional functionality.

There are many different text editors to choose from and a small number are installed by default in most Linux distributions. So lets get started. It doesnt have fancy changing modes that have vim.

To see all valid shortcuts press CtrlG displayed as G or F1. The programs such as Vi and emacs might be more powerful but the smart feature set of Nano makes it easy to learn and use for beginners. Nano editor also shows important keyboard shortcuts you need to use for editing at the bottom of the editor.