Software & Apps Linux Everything You Need to Know About the 'more' Command Turn a long-scroll list into handy pages within the shell session by Gary Newell Writer Gary Newell was a freelance contributor, application developer, and software tester with 20+ years in IT, working on Linux, UNIX, and Windows. our editorial process Gary Newell Updated on February 19, 2020 Linux Switching from Windows Tweet Share Email The more utility in the Linux shell accepts input from some other command, then arranges the output in a series of pages within the shell session. This program precludes the need to scroll long lists of output. It's a standard part of any Linux installation regardless of your distribution. It's a simpler variant of the Less utility. Using the 'more' Utility The more command has been standard in Linux since the early days of BSD; versions of it date to 1988. More runs in two modes: First as a shell utility, and second as an interactive program. To invoke more from the terminal, use the following syntax: more [optio Alternatively, pipe the output of a command to more. For example, an extended process listing using the ps command generally runs several pages; to paginate the output using more, pipe the output as follows: Options for the 'more' Command More supports several optional switches, including: -d: Offers help information when invalid keys are pressed during interactive mode.-l: Skip pauses after lines containing a form-feed character.-f: Count logical, rather than screen, lines (e.g., don't wrap long lines).-p: Skip scrolling and instead clear the screen before displaying the next page.-s: Condense several blank lines into one.-number: Stipulate the number of screen lines to display for each page.+number: Display the file starting at the specified line number.+/string: Search for string and begin displaying the file at that point.--help: Displays the utility's help text, then exists. Using 'more' Interactively When more runs in the foreground, it supports several commands patterned on the Vi editor. Common commands include: h: Displays help text.space: Displays the next page of text (by default, the current screen size).z: Displays next X lines of text—by default, the current screen size, but if you type a number and then press z, it'll advance by that many lines and then change the default.q: Exit.s: Skip forward X lines of text (precede with a number, otherwise defaults to 1).f: Skip forward X screenfuls of text (precede with a number, otherwise defaults to 1).b: Skip backward X screenfuls of text (precede with a number, otherwise defaults to 1)—this command cannot, however, be used when you've piped a command into more.=: Displays the current line number./pattern: Searches for an occurrence of a regular expression rendered between double-quote marks; if you specify a number before the /pattern string, it'll find the Xth occurrence of that string.n: Searches for the next occurrence of the pattern.v: Starts an editor (by default, Vi) at the current line. Example Usage To display the contents of a sample file beginning at line 1500: more To display the first occurrence of the phrase Linux rocks! from a sample file: more +/"Linux rocks Environment Variables More respects environment variables. To set standard settings (e.g., standard number of lines or pages to skip), use the MORE variable. To specify a specific editor, use the VISUAL variable. Consult the manpage for more for precise guidance. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit