more command

Display file contents one screen at a time.

Overview

more is a filter for paging through text one screenful at a time. It's used to view the contents of text files in a controlled manner, allowing users to navigate forward through the file. Unlike its more advanced counterpart less, more primarily allows forward navigation.

Options

-d

Display helpful prompts and provide more user-friendly error messages.

$ more -d large_file.txt
--More--(50%) [Press space to continue, 'q' to quit.]

-f

Count logical lines rather than screen lines (useful with long lines that wrap).

$ more -f wrapped_text.txt

-p

Clear the screen before displaying each page.

$ more -p document.txt

-c

Clear screen before displaying, but do so by drawing from the top line down.

$ more -c large_file.txt

-s

Squeeze multiple blank lines into one.

$ more -s file_with_blanks.txt

-u

Suppress underlining (useful for some terminal types).

$ more -u formatted_text.txt

-number

Set the number of lines per screenful.

$ more -10 short_file.txt

+number

Start displaying the file at line number.

$ more +100 large_file.txt

+/pattern

Start displaying at the first line containing the pattern.

$ more +/ERROR log_file.txt

Usage Examples

Basic Usage

$ more /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
--More--(28%)

Viewing Multiple Files

$ more file1.txt file2.txt
::::::::::::::
file1.txt
::::::::::::::
Contents of file1...
--More--(75%)

Piping Command Output to more

$ ls -la /usr/bin | more
total 123456
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root   69632 Apr 18 09:23 .
drwxr-xr-x 14 root root    4096 Jan 15 12:34 ..
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root root   35344 Feb  7  2022 [
--More--(2%)

Starting at a Specific Pattern

$ more +/function script.js
function calculateTotal() {
  // Function implementation
}
--More--(45%)

Tips

Navigation Commands

While viewing a file with more, you can use these commands:

Using more with Large Files

For very large files, more loads the file as you read it, making it more memory-efficient than loading the entire file at once.

When to Use less Instead

If you need to navigate both forward and backward through a file with more flexibility, consider using less instead, which offers more features.

Customizing the Prompt

Set the MORE environment variable to customize the prompt and behavior:

$ export MORE="-d"

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What's the difference between more and less?

A. more is an older utility that primarily allows forward navigation through a file. less is more feature-rich, allowing both forward and backward navigation, and has additional search capabilities.

Q2. How do I exit more?

A. Press the q key to quit.

Q3. Can I search for text in more?

A. Yes, press / followed by your search pattern, then press Enter. Use n to find the next occurrence.

Q4. How can I display line numbers in more?

A. more doesn't have a built-in line numbering feature. For line numbers, consider using less -N or cat -n file.txt | more.

Q5. How do I make more display a specific number of lines at a time?

A. Use the -number option, e.g., more -20 file.txt to display 20 lines at a time.

References

https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/more.1.html

Revisions