Nano Text Editor Cheat Sheet

📝 GNU Nano Developer Shortcut Guide

Nano is a lightweight terminal text editor widely used by developers for quick edits.
This guide covers essential shortcuts for navigation, editing, file handling, and productivity.

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🔑 Navigation Shortcuts

• Start of line → Ctrl+A
• End of line → Ctrl+E
• Next word → Ctrl+Space
• Previous word → Alt+Space
• Forward one character → Ctrl+F
• Backward one character → Ctrl+B
• Go to specific line number → Ctrl+/
• Next page → Ctrl+V
• Previous page → Ctrl+Y

Usage:
Use these shortcuts to move quickly through code or configuration files without relying on arrow keys.

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✂️ Editing & Deletion

• Delete character before cursor → Ctrl+H
• Delete character under cursor → Ctrl+D
• Delete word left → Alt+Backspace
• Delete word right → Ctrl+Del
• Delete current line → Alt+Del
• Cut current line → Ctrl+K
• Copy current line → Alt+6
• Paste cutbuffer → Ctrl+U

Usage:
These are vital for developers editing code snippets, removing unnecessary lines, or restructuring text quickly.

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📂 File Handling

• Save current file → Ctrl+S
• Write file (Save As) → Ctrl+O
• Insert another file → Ctrl+R
• Exit Nano → Ctrl+X

Usage:
When working on multiple files, Ctrl+R lets you insert content from another file directly into the current buffer.

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🔍 Search & Replace

• Forward search → Ctrl+F
• Backward search → Ctrl+B
• Replace text → Alt+R
• Find next occurrence forward → Alt+F
• Find next occurrence backward → Alt+B

Usage:
Perfect for finding function names, variables, or replacing repeated code patterns.

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🛠 Developer-Friendly Operations

• Undo last action → Alt+U
• Redo last undone action → Alt+E
• Comment/uncomment line/region → Alt+3
• Spell check → Ctrl+T Ctrl+S
• Syntax check → Ctrl+T Ctrl+Y
• Formatter → Ctrl+T Ctrl+O
• Indent marked region → Tab
• Unindent marked region → Shift+Tab

Usage:
These shortcuts help maintain clean code formatting and allow quick commenting/uncommenting during debugging.

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📊 Quick Reference Table

Action	Shortcut
Start of line	Ctrl+A
End of line	Ctrl+E
Go to line number	Ctrl+/
Delete word left	Alt+Backspace
Delete word right	Ctrl+Del
Delete line	Alt+Del
Cut line	Ctrl+K
Paste	Ctrl+U
Undo	Alt+U
Redo	Alt+E

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✅ Tips for Developer

• Use marking (Ctrl+^) to select text before cutting/copying.
• Combine search + replace to refactor variable names quickly.
• Keep multiple buffers open with Ctrl+R and Ctrl+X to switch between files.
• Enable syntax highlighting by editing your nanorc file for better readability.

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🚀 Conclusion

Mastering these shortcuts makes Nano a powerful tool for developers working directly in the terminal.
It’s especially useful for quick edits to scripts, configs, or code without needing a full IDE.