XZLESS(1) XZ Utils XZLESS(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

xzless, lzless - view xz or lzma compressed (text) files

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**xzless** \[*file*...]  
**lzless** \[*file*...] (DEPRECATED)

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

**xzless** is a filter that displays text from compressed files to a terminal. Files supported by [**xz**(1)](/man/os/xz/xz.1) are decompressed; other files are assumed to be in uncompressed form already. If no *files* are given, **xzless** reads from standard input.

**xzless** uses [**less**(1)](/man/os/xz/less.1) to present its output. Unlike **xzmore**, its choice of pager cannot be altered by setting an environment variable. Commands are based on both [**more**(1)](/man/os/xz/more.1) and [**vi**(1)](/man/os/xz/vi.1) and allow back and forth movement and searching. See the [**less**(1)](/man/os/xz/less.1) manual for more information.

The command named **lzless** is provided for backward compatibility with LZMA Utils. It is deprecated and will be removed in a future version.

# [ENVIRONMENT](#ENVIRONMENT)

[**LESSMETACHARS**](#LESSMETACHARS)

A list of characters special to the shell. Set by **xzless** unless it is already set in the environment.

[**LESSOPEN**](#LESSOPEN)

Set to a command line to invoke the [**xz**(1)](/man/os/xz/xz.1) decompressor for preprocessing the input files to [**less**(1)](/man/os/xz/less.1).

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**less**(1)](/man/os/xz/less.1), [**xz**(1)](/man/os/xz/xz.1), [**xzmore**(1)](/man/os/xz/xzmore.1), [**zless**(1)](/man/os/xz/zless.1)

2025-03-06 Tukaani

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Document: lzless(1) from xz 5.8.4-r0 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/tukaani-project/xz