Nano Cheat Sheet

Basics #

Shortcut	Action
	Open or create a file
	Edit a system file
`Ctrl + S`	Save
`Ctrl + O`, `Enter`	Save as ("Write Out")
`Ctrl + X`	Exit (asks to save if there are changes)
`Ctrl + G`	Help
`Ctrl + C`	Show the cursor position (line/column)

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl + K`	Cut the current line (or the selection)
`Alt + 6`	Copy the current line (or the selection)
`Ctrl + U`	Paste
`Alt + A`	Start selecting (set mark), then move with the arrows
`Alt + U` / `Alt + E`	Undo / redo
`Alt + 3`	Comment / uncomment the line
`Tab` / `Shift + Tab`	Indent / unindent the selection
`Ctrl + J`	Justify the paragraph
`Ctrl + R`	Insert another file here

set linenumbers
set mouse
set autoindent
set tabsize 4
set tabstospaces
set softwrap
include "/usr/share/nano/*.nanorc"   # syntax highlighting

Make nano the default editor (for git commit, crontab -e…): export EDITOR=nano in ~/.bashrc.
Git only: git config --global core.editor nano.

Option	What it does
`+25`	Open at line 25 (`+25,8` = line 25, column 8)
`-l`, `--linenumbers`	Show line numbers
`-m`, `--mouse`	Mouse support
`-i`, `--autoindent`	Keep the indentation of the previous line
`-E`, `--tabstospaces`	Type spaces instead of tabs
`-T 4`, `--tabsize=4`	Tab width
`-w`, `--nowrap`	Don't wrap long lines while typing
`--softwrap`	Wrap long lines on screen only
`-B`, `--backup`	Keep a backup `file~` when saving
`-v`, `--view`	Read-only
`-c`, `--constantshow`	Always show the cursor position
`-x`, `--nohelp`	Hide the help lines at the bottom
`-Y sh`, `--syntax=sh`	Force a syntax highlighting
`-R`, `--restricted`	Restricted mode (can't open other files)