Scroll through command output without a temporary file

Question

I am wandering if there is a way to read the full output of a command when it uses more than the screen. I am currently having to output the command into a file, and then using nano to scroll through it.

E.g. $ ls -Al /etc/ only displays the end of the output and cuts of the rest.

ctrl-alt-delor · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-06T20:35:07.193

4

You need to use less less is a pager, it allows you to view a page at a time. e.g.

command | less
ls -Al /etc | less

The most common command while in less are:

enter advance one line
space advance one page
q quit / exit help
h help

see man less for more info, like how to search.

edited Oct 06 '15 at 20:35

answered Oct 06 '15 at 20:31

ctrl-alt-delor

27,993

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36

1

That's possible by pressing shift + pg up.

More information on scrollback and the scrollback buffer can be found here.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36

Community

1

answered Oct 06 '15 at 20:25

Jan

7,772
2
35
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This will depend on the terminal (emulator). – ctrl-alt-delor Oct 06 '15 at 20:32
It works for me. – Krii Oct 06 '15 at 20:33
@richard Which one(s) don't implement a scrollback buffer? – Jan Oct 06 '15 at 20:33
1

@Jan I can not list them all, but some examples are the console alt ctrl F1, old or low resource using emulators, and some physical terminals. – ctrl-alt-delor Oct 06 '15 at 20:41
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@richard, the linux console does have a scrollback buffer, it just only works for the current vt, and is lost on vt switch. – hildred Oct 07 '15 at 02:59

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 06 '15 at 20:32

0

Pipe any command's output into less and it will allow pagination, searching nd whatnot.

ls -lA /etc | less

As 'less' is displaying your text, hit h for help, read and ponder. man less - more to read.

answered Oct 06 '15 at 20:32

Hannu

494

Scroll through command output without a temporary file

3 Answers3