I use the commmand line text editor nano. How do I undo an action while editing text?
For example: I typed some text and then changed my mind. Now I want to return to previous state. How?
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You may want to consider changing the accepted answer here, as there is a newer, more accurate one.– ScimonsterJul 6, 2017 at 9:09
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3 Answers
Starting with nano version 2.3.5 in July 2014, undo/redo became standard:
- Alt-U or Option-U or EscU - undo
- Alt-E or Option-E or EscE - redo
It's in the help:
And if you stretch the screen wider than about 1400 pixels, there's a hint at bottom right:
If these keys don't work, check nano --version.
nano versions 2.1.10 - 2.3.4 should use the command line option
-u(thanks @sil). Tip: addalias nano="nano -u"to your .bashrc (thanks @Benia). The implementation of undo during this period appears to have been buggy or incomplete.nano versions 2.1.3 - 2.1.9 had some kind of undo feature. The
-uoption was not necessary.
M stands for meta.
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4Clicking alt+u doesn't work for me to undo.– user423047Oct 5, 2016 at 8:07
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7@Benia try using Esc key instead of Alt. Let me know if that helps Oct 5, 2016 at 8:13
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Nano's undo code is experimental. As you'll see from the nano manual (type "man nano" in a Terminal to read that), you'll need to start nano with the -u option (so "nano -u somefile.txt"), and then you can use Alt-U to undo.
You can also add the line
set undo
in the .nanorc file. This enables the experimental undo feature on startup in versions below 2.4, such as 2.2.6 which seems to be the standard installation on many Linux distros.
