Micro is a modern terminal text editor with intuitive keybindings. If you know Ctrl+S to save and Ctrl+Z to undo, you already know the basics.
[micro](/man/micro) textfile.txt
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+q | Quit micro |
| Ctrl+s | Save current file |
| Ctrl+o | Open a file |
| Ctrl+g | Open the help menu |
| Ctrl+e | Open the command bar |
Standard arrow keys, Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down all work as expected. These shortcuts provide additional movement.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Left | Move to previous word |
| Ctrl+Right | Move to next word |
| Ctrl+Up | Scroll up without moving cursor |
| Ctrl+Down | Scroll down without moving cursor |
| Home | Move to beginning of line |
| End | Move to end of line |
| Ctrl+Home | Move to start of file |
| Ctrl+End | Move to end of file |
Hold Shift with any movement key to select text. These shortcuts select larger regions.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Shift+Arrow | Extend selection by one character or line |
| Ctrl+Shift+Left | Select to previous word |
| Ctrl+Shift+Right | Select to next word |
| Shift+Home | Select to beginning of line |
| Shift+End | Select to end of line |
| Ctrl+a | Select all text |
Copy, cut, and paste use the familiar system shortcuts.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+z | Undo |
| Ctrl+y | Redo |
| Ctrl+c | Copy selected text |
| Ctrl+x | Cut selected text |
| Ctrl+v | Paste from clipboard |
| Ctrl+k | Cut the current line |
| Ctrl+d | Duplicate the current line |
| Ctrl+u | Upper/lowercase selection toggle |
| Tab | Indent selection or insert tab |
| Backtab | Unindent selection |
Micro supports incremental search and regex-aware find and replace.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+f | Find |
| Ctrl+n | Find next match |
| Ctrl+p | Find previous match |
| Ctrl+r | Toggle find and replace |
| Alt+F | Find literal (no regex) |
Micro supports multiple open files in tabs and split views.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+t | Open a new tab |
| Alt+, | Switch to previous tab |
| Alt+. | Switch to next tab |
| Ctrl+w | Close current tab |
| Ctrl+b | Run a shell command |
| Ctrl+j | Jump to a matching bracket |
| Ctrl+l | Toggle line numbers |
| Alt+g | Toggle gutter |
Micro has built-in mouse support. Click to place the cursor, scroll to navigate, and drag to select text.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Mouse wheel | Scroll up and down |
| Click | Place cursor |
| Drag | Select text |
| Ctrl+Click | Place additional cursor (multi-cursor mode) |
| Alt+n | Spawn a multi-cursor at next search match |
| Alt+m | Spawn a multi-cursor on every search match |
| Alt+p | Remove the last multi-cursor |
| Alt+c | Remove all multi-cursors |
| Alt+x | Skip current multi-cursor match |
These alternative keybindings are available for Emacs users.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Alt+f | Move forward one word |
| Alt+b | Move backward one word |
| Alt+a | Move to beginning of line |
| Alt+e | Move to end of line |