OS Manuals

/usr/bin/lynx

Cross-platform text-based browser

From lynx 2.9.3-r4 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running lynx --help (exit 0). permalink

USAGE: lynx [options] [file]
Options are:
  -                 receive options and arguments from stdin
  -accept_all_cookies
                    accept cookies without prompting if Set-Cookie handling
                    is on (off)
  -anonymous        apply restrictions for anonymous account,
                    see also -restrictions
  -assume_charset=MIMEname
                    charset for documents that don't specify it
  -assume_local_charset=MIMEname
                    charset assumed for local files
  -assume_unrec_charset=MIMEname
                    use this instead of unrecognized charsets
  -auth=id:pw       authentication information for protected documents
  -base             prepend a request URL comment and BASE tag to text/html
                    outputs for -source dumps
  -bibhost=URL      local bibp server (default http://bibhost/)
  -book             use the bookmark page as the startfile (off)
  -buried_news      toggles scanning of news articles for buried references (on)
  -cache=NUMBER     NUMBER of documents cached in memory
  -case             enable case sensitive user searching (off)
  -center           toggle center alignment in HTML TABLE (off)
  -cfg=FILENAME     specifies a lynx.cfg file other than the default
  -child            exit on left-arrow in startfile, and disable save to disk
  -child_relaxed    exit on left-arrow in startfile (allows save to disk)
  -cmd_log=FILENAME log keystroke commands to the given file
  -cmd_script=FILENAME
                    read keystroke commands from the given file
                    (see -cmd_log)
  -collapse_br_tags toggles collapsing of BR tags (on)
  -connect_timeout=N
                    set the N-second connection timeout (18000)
  -convert_to=FORMAT
                    convert input, FORMAT is in MIME type notation
                    (experimental)
  -cookie_file=FILENAME
                    specifies a file to use to read cookies
  -cookie_save_file=FILENAME
                    specifies a file to use to store cookies
  -cookies          toggles handling of Set-Cookie headers (on)
  -core             toggles forced core dumps on fatal errors (off)
  -crawl            with -traversal, output each page to a file
                    with -dump, format output as with -traversal, but to stdout
  -curses_pads      uses curses pad feature to support left/right shifting (on)
  -debug_partial    incremental display stages with MessageSecs delay (off)
  -default_colors   use terminal default foreground/background colors (on)
  -delay=NNN        set NNN-second delay at statusline message (0.000)
  -display=DISPLAY  set the display variable for X exec'ed programs
  -display_charset=MIMEname
                    charset for the terminal output
  -dont_wrap_pre    inhibit wrapping of text in <pre> when -dump'ing and
                    -crawl'ing, mark wrapped lines in interactive session (off)
  -dump             dump each parameter (file or URL) to stdout and exit
  -editor=EDITOR    enable edit mode with specified editor
  -emacskeys        enable emacs-like key movement (off)
  -enable_scrollback
                    toggles compatibility with comm programs' scrollback
                    keys (may be incompatible with some curses packages) (off)
  -error_file=FILE  write the HTTP status code here
  -fail_on_alert    exit with error code if any alert is written (off)
  -force_empty_hrefless_a
                    force HREF-less 'A' elements to be empty (close them as
                    soon as they are seen) (off)
  -force_html       forces the first document to be interpreted as HTML (off)
  -force_secure     toggles forcing of the secure flag for SSL cookies (off)
  -forms_options    toggles forms-based vs old-style options menu (on)
  -from             toggle transmission of From headers (on)
  -ftp              disable ftp access (off)
  -get_data         user data for get forms, read from stdin,
                    terminated by '---' on a line
  -head             send a HEAD request (off)
  -help             print this usage message
  -hiddenlinks=[option]
                    hidden links: options are merge, listonly, or ignore
  -historical       toggles use of '>' or '-->' as terminator for comments (off)
  -homepage=URL     set homepage separate from start page
  -html5_charsets   toggles use of HTML5 charset replacements (off)
  -image_links      toggles inclusion of links for all images (off)
  -index=URL        set the default index file to URL
  -ismap            toggles inclusion of ISMAP links when client-side
                    MAPs are present (off)
  -justify          do justification of text (off)
  -link=NUMBER      starting count for lnk#.dat files produced by -crawl (0)
  -list_decoded     with -dump, forces it to decode URL-encoded links (on)
  -list_inline      with -dump, forces it to show links inline with text (off)
  -listonly         with -dump, forces it to show only the list of links (off)
  -localhost        disable URLs that point to remote hosts (off)
  -lss=FILENAME     specifies a lynx.lss file other than the default
  -mime_header      include mime headers and force source dump
  -minimal          toggles minimal versus valid comment parsing (on)
  -newschunksize=NUMBER
                    number of articles in chunked news listings
  -newsmaxchunk=NUMBER
                    maximum news articles in listings before chunking
  -nobold           disable bold video-attribute
  -nobrowse         disable directory browsing
  -nocc             disable Cc: prompts for self copies of mailings (off)
  -nocolor          turn off color support
  -nofilereferer    disable transmission of Referer headers for file URLs (on)
  -nolist           disable the link list feature in dumps (off)
  -nolog            disable mailing of error messages to document owners (on)
  -nomargins        disable the right/left margins in the default
                    style-sheet (off)
  -nomore           disable -more- string in statusline messages
  -nonrestarting_sigwinch
                    make window size change handler non-restarting (off)
  -nonumbers        disable the link/form numbering feature in dumps (off)
  -nopause          disable forced pauses for statusline messages
  -noprint          disable some print functions, like -restrictions=print (off)
  -noredir          don't follow Location: redirection (off)
  -noreferer        disable transmission of Referer headers (off)
  -noreverse        disable reverse video-attribute
  -nostatus         disable the miscellaneous information messages (off)
  -notitle          disable the title at the top of each page (off)
  -nounderline      disable underline video-attribute
  -nozap=DURATION ("initially" or "full") disable checks for 'z' key
  -number_fields    force numbering of links as well as form input fields (off)
  -number_links     force numbering of links (off)
  -partial          toggles display partial pages while downloading (on)
  -partial_thres    [=NUMBER]
                    number of lines to render before repainting display
                    with partial-display logic (-1)
  -passive_ftp      toggles passive ftp connection (on)
  -pauth=id:pw      authentication information for protected proxy server
  -popup            toggles handling of single-choice SELECT options via
                    popup windows or as lists of radio buttons (off)
  -post_data        user data for post forms, read from stdin,
                    terminated by '---' on a line
  -preparsed        show parsed text/html with -source and in source view
                    to visualize how lynx behaves with invalid HTML (off)
  -prettysrc        do syntax highlighting and hyperlink handling in source
                    view (off)
  -print            enable print functions (DEFAULT), opposite of -noprint (on)
  -pseudo_inlines   toggles pseudo-ALTs for inlines with no ALT string (on)
  -raw              toggles default setting of 8-bit character translations
                    or CJK mode for the startup character set (off)
  -realm            restricts access to URLs in the starting realm (off)
  -read_timeout=N   set the N-second read-timeout (18000)
  -reload           flushes the cache on a proxy server
                    (only the first document affected) (off)
  -restrictions=[options]
                    use -restrictions to see list
  -resubmit_posts   toggles forced resubmissions (no-cache) of forms with
                    method POST when the documents they returned are sought
                    with the PREV_DOC command or from the History List (off)
  -rlogin           disable rlogins (off)
  -scrollbar        toggles showing scrollbar (off)
  -scrollbar_arrow  toggles showing arrows at ends of the scrollbar (on)
  -selective        require .www_browsable files to browse directories
  -session=FILENAME resumes from specified file on startup and
                    saves session to that file on exit
  -sessionin=FILENAME
                    resumes session from specified file
  -sessionout=FILENAME
                    saves session to specified file
  -short_url        enables examination of beginning and end of long URL in
                    status line (off)
  -show_cfg         Show `LYNX.CFG' setting (off)
  -show_cursor      toggles hiding of the cursor in the lower right corner (on)
  -show_rate        toggles display of transfer rate (on)
  -socks5_proxy=URL (via which) SOCKS5 proxy to connect (unrelated to -nosocks!)
  -soft_dquotes     toggles emulation of the old Netscape and Mosaic
                    bug which treated '>' as a co-terminator for
                    double-quotes and tags (off)
  -source           dump the source of the first file to stdout and exit
  -stack_dump       disable SIGINT cleanup handler (off)
  -startfile_ok     allow non-http startfile and homepage with -validate (off)
  -stderr           write warning messages to standard error when -dump
                    or -source is used (off)
  -stdin            read startfile from standard input (off)
  -tagsoup          use TagSoup rather than SortaSGML parser (off)
  -telnet           disable telnets (off)
  -term=TERM        set terminal type to TERM
  -tlog             toggles use of a Lynx Trace Log for the current
                    session (on)
  -tna              turn on "Textfields Need Activation" mode (off)
  -trace            turns on Lynx trace mode (off)
  -trace_mask       customize Lynx trace mode (0)
  -traversal        traverse all http links derived from startfile
  -trim_blank_lines
                    toggle trimming of leading/trailing/collapsed-br blank lines (on)
  -trim_input_fields
                    trim input text/textarea fields in forms (off)
  -underline_links  toggles use of underline/bold attribute for links (off)
  -underscore       toggles use of _underline_ format in dumps (off)
  -unique_urls      toggles use of unique-urls setting for -dump and -listonly options (off)
  -update_term_title enables updating the title of terminal emulators (off)
  -use_mouse        turn on mouse support (off)
  -useragent=Name   set alternate Lynx User-Agent header
  -validate         accept only http URLs (meant for validation)
                    implies more restrictions than -anonymous, but
                    goto is allowed for http and https (off)
  -verbose          toggles [LINK], [IMAGE] and [INLINE] comments
                    with filenames of these images (on)
  -version          print Lynx version information
  -vikeys           enable vi-like key movement (off)
  -width=NUMBER     screen width for formatting of dumps (default is 80)
  -with_backspaces  emit backspaces in output if -dumping or -crawling
                    (like 'man' does) (off)
  -xhtml_parsing    enable XHTML 1.0 parsing (off)
Options (159)
OptionDescriptionSource
-accept_all_cookiesaccept cookies without prompting if Set-Cookie handling is on (off)help + man
-anonymousapply restrictions for anonymous account, see also -restrictions.help + man
-assume_charset MIMEnamecharset for documents that do not specify it.help + man
-assume_local_charset MIMEnamecharset assumed for local files, i.e., files which Lynx creates such as internal pages for the options menu.help + man
-assume_unrec_charset MIMEnameuse this instead of unrecognized charsets.help + man
-auth id:pwset authorization ID and password for protected documents at startup.help + man
-baseprepend a request URL comment and BASE tag to text/html outputs for -source dumps.help + man
-bibhost URLspecify a local bibp server (default http://bibhost/).help + man
-bookuse the bookmark page as the startfile (off)help + man
-buried_newstoggles scanning of news articles for buried references, and converts them to news links.help + man
-cache NUMBERset the NUMBER of documents cached in memory.help + man
-caseenable case sensitive user searching (off)help + man
-centertoggle center alignment in HTML TABLE (off)help + man
-cfg FILENAMEspecifies a Lynx configuration file other than the default lynx.cfg.help + man
-childexit on left-arrow in startfile, and disable save to disk and associated print/mail options.help + man
-child_relaxedexit on left-arrow in startfile, but allow save to disk and associated print/mail options.help + man
-cmd_script FILENAMEread keystroke commands from the given file (see -cmd_log)help + man
-connect_timeout NSets the connection timeout, where N is given in seconds.help + man
-convert_to FORMATconvert input, setting output format in MIME type notation (e.g., www/present, www/source), and optionally setting the current character set (i.e., adding “;” followed by charset=VALUE).help + man
-cookie_file FILENAMEspecifies a file to use to read cookies.help + man
-cookie_save_file FILENAMEspecifies a file to use to store cookies.help + man
-cookiestoggles handling of Set-Cookie headers (on)help + man
-coretoggles forced core dumps on fatal errors (off)help + man
-crawlwith -traversal, output each page to a file with -dump, format output as with -traversal, but to stdouthelp + man
-curses_padstoggles the use of curses “pad” feature which supports left/right scrolling of the display.help + man
-debug_partialseparate incremental display stages with MessageSecs delay The default is “off”.help + man
-default_colorstoggles the default-colors feature which is normally set in the lynx.cfg file.help + man
-delay NNNset NNN-second delay at statusline message (0.000)help + man
-display DISPLAYset the $DISPLAY variable for X exec-ed programs.help + man
-display_charset MIMEnameset the charset for the terminal output.help + man
-dont_wrap_preinhibit wrapping of text when -dump'ing and -crawl'ing, mark wrapped lines of <pre> in interactive session.help + man
-dumpdumps the formatted output of the default document or those specified on the command line to standard output.help + man
-editor EDITORenable external editing, using the specified EDITOR.help + man
-emacskeysenable emacs-like key movement (off)help + man
-enable_scrollbacktoggles compatibility with communication programs' scrollback keys (may be incompatible with some curses packages).help + man
-error_file FILEdefine a file where Lynx will report HTTP access codes.help + man
-fail_on_alertexit with an error code if any alert message is written.help + man
-force_empty_hrefless_aforce HREF-less 'A' elements to be empty (close them as soon as they are seen) (off)help + man
-force_htmlforces the first document to be interpreted as HTML (off)help + man
-force_securetoggles forcing of the secure flag for SSL cookies (off)help + man
-forms_optionstoggles whether the Options Menu is key-based or form-based.help + man
-fromtoggle transmission of From headers (on)help + man
-ftpdisable ftp access (off)help + man
-get_dataproperly formatted data for a get form are read from the standard input and passed to the form.help + man
-headsend a HEAD request for the mime headers.help + man
-helpprint the Lynx command syntax usage message, and exit.help + man
-hiddenlinks optionhidden links: options are merge, listonly, or ignorehelp
-historicaltoggles use of “>” or “-->” as a terminator for comments.help + man
-homepage URLset homepage separate from start page.help + man
-html5_charsetstoggles use of HTML5 charset replacements (off)help
-image_linkstoggles inclusion of links for all images (off)help + man
-index URLset the default index file to the specified URL.help + man
-ismaptoggles inclusion of ISMAP links when client-side MAPs are present (off)help + man
-justifydo justification of text (off)help + man
-link NUMBERstarting count for lnk#.dat files produced by -crawl (0)help + man
-list_decodedwith -dump, forces it to decode URL-encoded links (on)help + man
-list_inlinewith -dump, forces it to show links inline with text (off)help + man
-listonlywith -dump, forces it to show only the list of links (off)help + man
-localhostdisable URLs that point to remote hosts (off)help + man
-lss FILENAMEspecify filename containing color-style information.help + man
-mime_headerprints the MIME header of a fetched document along with its source.help + man
-minimaltoggles minimal versus valid comment parsing (on)help + man
-newschunksize NUMBERnumber of articles in chunked news listings.help + man
-newsmaxchunk NUMBERmaximum news articles in listings before chunking.help + man
-nobolddisable bold video-attribute.help + man
-nobrowsedisable directory browsing.help + man
-noccdisable Cc: prompts for self copies of mailings (off)help + man
-nocolorforce color mode off, overriding terminal capabilities and any -color flags, COLORTERM variable, and saved .lynxrc settings.help + man
-nofilerefererdisable transmission of Referer headers for file URLs (on)help + man
-nolistdisable the link list feature in dumps (off)help + man
-nologdisable mailing of error messages to document owners (on)help + man
-nomarginsdisable the right/left margins in the default style-sheet (off)help + man
-nomoredisable -more- string in statusline messages.help + man
-nonrestarting_sigwinchThis flag is not available on all systems, Lynx needs to be compiled with HAVE_SIGACTION defined.help + man
-nonumbersdisable the link/form numbering feature in dumps (off)help + man
-nopausedisable forced pauses for statusline messages.help + man
-noprintdisable some print functions, like -restrictions=print (off)help + man
-noredirprevents automatic redirection and prints a message with a link to the new URL.help + man
-norefererdisable transmission of Referer headers (off)help + man
-noreversedisable reverse video-attribute.help + man
-nostatusdisable the miscellaneous information messages (off)help + man
-notitledisable the title at the top of each page (off)help + man
-nounderlinedisable underline video-attribute.help + man
-number_fieldsforce numbering of links as well as form input fields The default is “off”.help + man
-number_linksforce numbering of links (off)help + man
-partialtoggles display partial pages while downloading (on)help + man
-partial_thres NUMBER[=NUMBER] number of lines to render before repainting display with partial-display logic (-1)help + man
-passive_ftptoggles passive ftp connection (on)help + man
-pauth id:pwset authorization ID and password for a protected proxy server at startup.help + man
-popuptoggles handling of single-choice SELECT options via popup windows or as lists of radio buttons (off)help + man
-post_dataproperly formatted data for a post form are read in from the standard input and passed to the form.help + man
-preparsedshow HTML source preparsed and reformatted when used with -source or in source view to visualize how lynx behaves with invalid HTML.help + man
-prettysrcdo syntax highlighting and hyperlink handling in source view (off)help + man
-printenable print functions (DEFAULT), opposite of -noprint (on)help + man
-pseudo_inlinestoggles pseudo-ALTs for inline images with no ALT string.help + man
-rawtoggles default setting of 8-bit character translations or CJK mode for the startup character set (off)help + man
-realmrestricts access to URLs in the starting realm (off)help + man
-read_timeout NSets the read-timeout, where N is given in seconds.help + man
-reloadflushes the cache on a proxy server (only the first document given on the command-line is affected).help + man
-restrictions optionsuse -restrictions to see listhelp
-resubmit_poststoggles forced resubmissions (no-cache) of forms with method POST when the documents they returned are sought with the PREV_DOC command or from the History List (off)help + man
-rlogindisable recognition of rlogin commands.help + man
-scrollbartoggles showing scrollbar (off)help + man
-scrollbar_arrowtoggles showing arrows at ends of the scrollbar (on)help + man
-selectiverequire .www_browsable files to browse directories.help + man
-sessionin FILENAMEresumes session from specified file.help + man
-sessionout FILENAMEsaves session to specified file.help + man
-short_urlshow very long URLs in the status line with “...” to represent the portion which cannot be displayed.help + man
-show_cfgPrint the configuration settings, e.g., as read from “lynx.cfg”, and exit.help + man
-show_cursorIf enabled the cursor will not be hidden in the right hand corner but will instead be positioned at the start of the currently selected link.help + man
-show_rateIf enabled the transfer rate is shown in bytes/second.help + man
-soft_dquotestoggles emulation of the old Netscape and Mosaic bug which treated '>' as a co-terminator for double-quotes and tags (off)help + man
-sourceworks the same as dump but outputs HTML source instead of formatted text.help + man
-stack_dumpdisable SIGINT cleanup handler The default is “off”.help + man
-startfile_okallow non-http startfile and homepage with -validate (off)help + man
-stderrWhen dumping a document using -dump or -source, Lynx normally does not display alert (error) messages that you see on the screen in the status line.help + man
-stdinread the startfile from standard input (UNIX only).help + man
-tagsoupinitialize parser, using Tag Soup DTD rather than SortaSGML.help + man
-telnetdisable recognition of telnet commands.help + man
-term TERMtell Lynx what terminal type to assume it is talking to.help + man
-tlogtoggles between using a Lynx Trace Log and stderr for trace output from the session.help + man
-tnaturn on "Textfields Need Activation" mode (off)help + man
-traceturns on Lynx trace mode (off)help + man
-trace_mask valueturn on optional traces, which may result in very large trace files.help + man
-traversaltraverse all http links derived from startfile.help + man
-trim_blank_linestoggles trimming of trailing blank lines as well as the related trimming of blank lines while collapsing BR tags.help + man
-trim_input_fieldstrim input text/textarea fields in forms (off)help + man
-underline_linkstoggles use of underline/bold attribute for links (off)help + man
-underscoretoggles use of _underline_ format in dumps (off)help + man
-unique_urlscheck for duplicate link numbers in each page and corresponding lists, and reuse the original link number.help + man
-use_mouseturn on mouse support, if available.help + man
-useragent Nameset alternate Lynx User-Agent header.help + man
-validateaccept only http URLs (meant for validation) implies more restrictions than -anonymous, but goto is allowed for http and https (off)help + man
-verbosetoggles [LINK], [IMAGE] and [INLINE] comments with filenames of these images (on)help + man
-versionprint version information, and exit.help + man
-vikeysenable vi-like key movement (off)help + man
-width NUMBERnumber of columns for formatting of dumps, default is 80.help + man
-with_backspacesemit backspaces in output if -dumping or -crawling (like 'man' does) (off)help + man
-xhtml_parsingtells Lynx that it can ignore certain tags which have no content in an XHTML 1.0 document.help + man
-blinkforces high intensity background colors for color mode, if available and supported by the terminal. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-cmd_log FILENAMEwrite keystroke commands and related information to the specified file. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-collapse_br_tagstoggles collapsing of BR tags. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-colorforces color mode on, if available. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-execenable local program execution (normally not configured). (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-fileversionsinclude all versions of files in local VMS directory listings. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-find_leakstoggle memory leak-checking. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-html5_charsettoggles use of HTML5 charset replacements. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-locexecenable local program execution from local files only (if Lynx was compiled with local execution enabled). (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-nested_tablestoggles nested-tables logic (for debugging). (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-noexecdisable local program execution. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-nosocksdisable SOCKS proxy usage by a SOCKSified Lynx. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-nozap DURATIONdisables checks for “z” key initially if DURATION is “initially” or completely otherwise. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-session FILENAMEresumes from specified file on startup and saves session to that file on exit. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-socks5_proxy URLTells lynx which SOCKS5 proxy to use for connections. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-syslog textinformation for syslog call. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-syslog_urlslog requested URLs with syslog. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-timeout NFor win32, sets the network read-timeout, where N is given in seconds. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-update_term_titleenables updating the title in terminal emulators. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-wdebugenable Waterloo tcp/ip packet debug (print to watt debugfile). (in the manual page but not in --help)man

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.