Editor Basics

Entering Text

All key sequences in nano are entered using the keyboard. nano is a "modeless" editor, all keys with the exception of Control and Meta key sequences will enter text into the file being edited.

Special Functions

Special functions use the Control key (displayed in the help and shotcut lists as ^) or the Meta key (displayed as M).

• Control key sequences are entered by holding down the Control key and pressing the desired letter.
• Meta key sequences can be entered in a number of possible ways: Pressing the Escape key, then releasing it and pressing the desired key, or holding down the Alt key while pressing the desired key. This varies from keyboard to keyboard, and certain commercial operating systems "swallow" the Alt key so that it never reaches the application. If your operating system does this, you should use the Escape key to generate Meta key sequences.

The Titlebar

The titlebar is the line displayed at the top of the editor. There are three sections: left, center and right. The section on the left displays the version of nano being used. The center section displays the current file name, or "New Buffer" if the file has not yet been named. The section on the right will display "Modified" if the file has been modified since it ws last saved or opened.

Special modes: When nano is in "File browser" mode, the center section will display the current directory instead of the filename. See section The File Browser.

The Statusbar

The statusbar is located three lines from the bottom of the screen (or the bottom line in Expert Mode. @xref{Expert Mode}, for more info.

The Statusbar shows important and informational messages. Any error messages that occur from using the editor will appear on the statusbar. Any questions that are asked of the user will be asked on the statusbar, and any user input (serch strings, file names, etc) will be input on the statusbar.

Shortcut Lists

The Shorcut Lists are the two lines at the bottom of the screen which show some of the more commonly used functions in the editor. The exact functions which are displayed depend on whether Pico Compatibility Mode mode is enabled. See section Pico Compatibility, for more info.

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