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Viewing Content

less

Opens text in a scrollable pager.

less lets you read files or command output page by page. It loads efficiently and supports searching.

Syntax
less [options] file

Arguments explained

  • file is the text file to view.
  • +F follows appended output like tail -f.
  • -S chops long lines instead of wrapping them.

Common examples

Read a log
less /var/log/syslog

Opens the log with scroll and search support.

Search inside less
less /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Press / then type a pattern to search while viewing.

less Command
FieldDetails
Commandless
CategoryViewing Content
Primary useOpens text in a scrollable pager.
Syntaxless [options] file

Related articles

cat

Prints and concatenates file contents.

more

Displays text page by page.

tail

Shows the last lines of a file or follows new output.