-A, --smarthome | --smarthome Enable smart home key | help + man |
-B, --backup | When saving a file, back up the previous version of it, using the current filename suffixed with a tilde (~). | help + man |
-C, --backupdir dir | Make and keep not just one backup file, but make and keep a uniquely numbered one every time a file is saved — when backups are enabled (-B). | help + man |
-D, --boldtext | For the interface, use bold instead of reverse video. | help + man |
-E, --tabstospaces | Convert each typed tab to spaces — to the number of spaces that a tab at that position would take up. | help + man |
-F, --newbuffer | --newbuffer Read a file into a new buffer by default | help + man |
-G, --locking | Use vim-style file locking when editing files. | help + man |
-H, --historylog | Save the last hundred search strings and replacement strings and executed commands, so they can be easily reused in later sessions. | help + man |
-I, --ignorercfiles | Don't look at the system's nanorc nor at the user's nanorc. | help + man |
-J, --guidestripe number | Draw a vertical stripe at the given column, to help judge the width of the text. | help + man |
-K, --rawsequences | Interpret escape sequences directly, instead of asking ncurses to translate them. | help + man |
-L, --nonewlines | Don't automatically add a newline when a text does not end with one. | help + man |
-M, --trimblanks | Snip trailing whitespace from the wrapped line when automatic hard-wrapping occurs or when text is justified. | help + man |
-N, --noconvert | Disable automatic conversion of files from DOS format. | help + man |
-O, --bookstyle | When justifying, treat any line that starts with whitespace as the beginning of a paragraph (unless auto-indenting is on). | help + man |
-P, --positionlog | For the 200 most recent files, log the last position of the cursor, and place it at that position again upon reopening such a file. | help + man |
-Q, --quotestr regex | Set the regular expression for matching the quoting part of a line. | help + man |
-R, --restricted | Read and write only the file (or files) specified on the command line. | help + man |
-S, --softwrap | Display over multiple screen rows lines that exceed the screen's width. | help + man |
-T, --tabsize number | --tabsize=<number> Make a tab this number of columns wide | help + man |
-U, --quickblank | Make status-bar messages disappear after 1 keystroke instead of after 20. | help + man |
-V, --version | --version Print version information and exit | help + man |
-W, --wordbounds | Detect word boundaries differently by treating punctuation characters as part of a word. | help + man |
-X, --wordchars string | Specify which other characters (besides the normal alphanumeric ones) should be considered as part of a word. | help + man |
-Y, --syntax name | Specify the name of the syntax highlighting to use from among the ones defined in the nanorc files. | help + man |
-Z, --zap | Let an unmodified Backspace or Delete erase the marked region (instead of a single character, and without affecting the cutbuffer). | help + man |
-a, --atblanks | When doing soft line wrapping, wrap lines at whitespace instead of always at the edge of the screen. | help + man |
-b, --breaklonglines | Automatically hard-wrap the current line when it becomes overlong, that is: when it becomes wider than the value given with -r (--fill). | help + man |
-c, --constantshow | Constantly report the cursor position on the status bar. | help + man |
-d, --rebinddelete | Interpret the Delete and Backspace keys differently so that both Backspace and Delete work properly. | help + man |
-e, --emptyline | Do not use the line below the title bar, leaving it entirely blank. | help + man |
-f, --rcfile file | Read only this file for setting nano's options, instead of reading both the system-wide and the user's nanorc files. | help + man |
-g, --showcursor | Make the cursor visible in the file browser (putting it on the highlighted item) and in the help viewer. | help + man |
-h, --help | Show a summary of the available command-line options and exit. | help + man |
-i, --autoindent | Automatically indent a newly created line to the same number of tabs and/or spaces as the previous line (or as the next line if the previous line is the beginning of a paragraph). | help + man |
-j, --jumpyscrolling | Scroll the buffer contents per half-screen instead of per line. | help + man |
-k, --cutfromcursor | Make the 'Cut' command (^K) cut from the cursor to end-of-line, instead of cutting the entire line. | help + man |
-l, --linenumbers | --linenumbers Show line numbers in front of the text | help + man |
-m, --mouse | --mouse Enable the use of the mouse | help + man |
-n, --noread | Treat any name given on the command line as a new file. | help + man |
-o, --operatingdir dir | Change to the given directory, and allow reading and writing files only in this directory and its subdirectories. | help + man |
-p, --preserve | Preserve the XOFF and XON sequences (^S and ^Q) so that they are caught by the terminal (stopping and resuming the output). | help + man |
-q, --indicator | Display a “scrollbar” on the righthand side of the edit window. | help + man |
-r, --fill number | Set the target width for justifying and automatic hard-wrapping at this number of columns. | help + man |
-s program | --speller=<program> Use this alternative spell checker | help |
-t, --saveonexit | Save a changed buffer without prompting (when exiting with ^X). | help + man |
-u, --unix | --unix Save a file by default in Unix format | help + man |
-v, --view | Just view the file and disallow editing: read-only mode. | help + man |
-w, --nowrap | Do not automatically hard-wrap the current line when it becomes overlong. | help + man |
-x, --nohelp | Don't show the two help lines at the bottom of the screen. | help + man |
-y, --afterends | Make Ctrl+Right and Ctrl+Delete stop at word ends instead of beginnings. | help + man |
-z, --listsyntaxes | --listsyntaxes List the names of available syntaxes | help + man |
-@, --colonparsing | When a filename given on the command line ends in a colon plus digits and this filename does not exist, then snip the colon plus digits and understand the digits as a line number. | help + man |
-0, --zero | Hide all elements of the interface (title bar, status bar, and help lines) and use all rows of the terminal for showing the contents of the buffer. | help + man |
-1, --solosidescroll | When the cursor approaches the right edge of the edit window, scroll only the current line sideways by a large amount, instead of scrolling all visible lines sideways by just the amount needed to… | help + man |
--magic | When neither the file's name nor its first line give a clue, try using libmagic to determine the applicable syntax. (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
--stateflags | Use the top-right corner of the screen for showing some state flags: I when auto-indenting, M when the mark is on, L when hard-wrapping (breaking long lines), R when recording a macro, and S when… (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
--minibar | Suppress the title bar and instead show information about the current buffer at the bottom of the screen, in the space for the status bar. (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |
--modernbindings | Use key bindings similar to the ones that most modern programs use: ^X cuts, ^C copies, ^V pastes, ^Z undoes, ^Y redoes, ^F searches forward, ^G searches next, ^S saves, ^O opens a file, ^Q quits,… (in the manual page but not in --help) | man |