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⤢ GNU NANO KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS · WINDOWS · 38 1 2 3 Alt Comment … 4 5 6 Alt Copy Lin… 7 8 9 0 Q Ctrl Backward… W Ctrl Search (… E Ctrl Move to … R Ctrl Read / I… T Ctrl Open Fil… Y Ctrl Redo U Ctrl Paste (U… I O Ctrl Save Fil… P A Ctrl Move to … S D Alt Word / L… F G Alt Go to Li… H J Ctrl Justify … K Ctrl Cut Line… L Ctrl Refresh … Z Ctrl Undo X Ctrl Exit nano C Ctrl Report C… V Ctrl Page Dow… B N M MORE SHORTCUTS Search and Replace Ctrl \ Set / Unset Mark … Ctrl 6 Help Ctrl G Find Next (Forwar… Alt W Page Up (Previous… Ctrl Y Find Previous (Ba… Alt Q Previous Word Ctrl Space Next Word Alt Space Go to First Line Alt \ Go to Last Line Alt / Set / Unset Mark … Alt A Search and Replac… Alt R Indent Marked Reg… Alt RIGHTBRACE Unindent Marked R… Alt LEFTBRACE Verbatim Input (i… Alt V Full Justify (who… Alt J Record Macro Alt : Run / Replay Macro Alt ; shortcutposters.com UPDATED JAN 2026 · COMPATIBLE WITH GNU NANO · WINDOWS
GNU NANO KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS · WINDOWS · 38 1 2 3 Alt Comment … 4 5 6 Alt Copy Lin… 7 8 9 0 A Ctrl Move to … Z Ctrl Undo E Ctrl Move to … R Ctrl Read / I… T Ctrl Open Fil… Y Ctrl Redo U Ctrl Paste (U… I O Ctrl Save Fil… P Q Ctrl Backward… S D Alt Word / L… F G Alt Go to Li… H J Ctrl Justify … K Ctrl Cut Line… L Ctrl Refresh … M W Ctrl Search (… X Ctrl Exit nano C Ctrl Report C… V Ctrl Page Dow… B N MORE SHORTCUTS Search and Replace Ctrl \ Set / Unset Mark … Ctrl 6 Help Ctrl G Find Next (Forwar… Alt W Page Up (Previous… Ctrl Y Find Previous (Ba… Alt Q Previous Word Ctrl Space Next Word Alt Space Go to First Line Alt \ Go to Last Line Alt / Set / Unset Mark … Alt A Search and Replac… Alt R Indent Marked Reg… Alt RIGHTBRACE Unindent Marked R… Alt LEFTBRACE Verbatim Input (i… Alt V Full Justify (who… Alt J Record Macro Alt : Run / Replay Macro Alt ; shortcutposters.com UPDATED JAN 2026 · COMPATIBLE WITH GNU NANO · WINDOWS
⤢ SEARCH Search (Where Is) Ctrl W Search and Replace Ctrl \ Find Next (Forward) Alt W Backward Search Ctrl Q Find Previous (Backw… Alt Q Search and Replace (… Alt R MISC Help Ctrl G Report Cursor Positi… Ctrl C Justify Current Para… Ctrl J Word / Line / Charac… Alt D Refresh Screen Ctrl L Full Justify (whole … Alt J Record Macro Alt : Run / Replay Macro Alt ; CUT/PASTE Cut Line / Marked Re… Ctrl K Paste (Uncut) Ctrl U Copy Line / Marked R… Alt 6 EDITING Undo Ctrl Z Redo Ctrl Y Set / Unset Mark (se… Ctrl 6 Comment / Uncomment … Alt 3 Set / Unset Mark (al… Alt A Indent Marked Region Alt RIGHTBRACE Unindent Marked Regi… Alt LEFTBRACE Verbatim Input (inse… Alt V FILE Save File (Write Out) Ctrl O Exit nano Ctrl X Read / Insert File Ctrl R Open File Browser Ctrl T NAVIGATION Move to Beginning of… Ctrl A Move to End of Line Ctrl E Go to Line / Column Alt G Page Up (Previous Sc… Ctrl Y Page Down (Next Scre… Ctrl V Previous Word Ctrl Space Next Word Alt Space Go to First Line Alt \ Go to Last Line Alt / GNU nano KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS · WINDOWS · 38 BOTH LAYOUTS QWERTY Q W E R T Y AZERTY A Z E R T Y shortcutposters.com UPDATED JAN 2026 · COMPATIBLE WITH GNU NANO · WINDOWS ⤢ SEARCH 06 Search (Where Is) Ctrl W Search and Replace Ctrl \ Find Next (Forward) Alt W Backward Search Ctrl Q Find Previous (Backwa… Alt Q Search and Replace (a… Alt R MISC 08 Help Ctrl G Report Cursor Position Ctrl C Justify Current Parag… Ctrl J Word / Line / Charact… Alt D Refresh Screen Ctrl L Full Justify (whole b… Alt J Record Macro Alt : Run / Replay Macro Alt ; CUT/PASTE 03 Cut Line / Marked Reg… Ctrl K Paste (Uncut) Ctrl U Copy Line / Marked Re… Alt 6 EDITING 08 Undo Ctrl Z Redo Ctrl Y Set / Unset Mark (sel… Ctrl 6 Comment / Uncomment L… Alt 3 Set / Unset Mark (alt… Alt A Indent Marked Region Alt RIGHTBRACE Unindent Marked Region Alt LEFTBRACE Verbatim Input (inser… Alt V FILE 04 Save File (Write Out) Ctrl O Exit nano Ctrl X Read / Insert File Ctrl R Open File Browser Ctrl T NAVIGATION 09 Move to Beginning of … Ctrl A Move to End of Line Ctrl E Go to Line / Column Alt G Page Up (Previous Scr… Ctrl Y Page Down (Next Scree… Ctrl V Previous Word Ctrl Space Next Word Alt Space Go to First Line Alt \ Go to Last Line Alt / GNU nano KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS · WINDOWS · 38 BOTH LAYOUTS QWERTY Q W E R T Y AZERTY A Z E R T Y shortcutposters.com UPDATED JAN 2026 · COMPATIBLE WITH GNU NANO · WINDOWS
⤢ GNU NANO · KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS Windows · 6 SETS · No.01 GNU NANO TOTAL 38 SHORTCUTS FOR WINDOWS · SHIPPED COMBOS SETS FILE 04 CUT/PASTE 03 SEARCH 06 EDITING 08 NAVIGATION 09 MISC 08 REF. EDITION · JAN 2026 shortcutposters.com Save File (Write Out) Ctrl O Exit nano Ctrl X Read / Insert File Ctrl R Open File Browser Ctrl T Cut Line / Marked Region Ctrl K Paste (Uncut) Ctrl U Copy Line / Marked Region Alt 6 Search (Where Is) Ctrl W Search and Replace Ctrl \ Find Next (Forward) Alt W Backward Search Ctrl Q Find Previous (Backward) Alt Q Search and Replace (alternate) Alt R Undo Ctrl Z Redo Ctrl Y Set / Unset Mark (select text) Ctrl 6 Comment / Uncomment Lines Alt 3 Set / Unset Mark (alternate) Alt A Indent Marked Region Alt RIGHTBRACE Unindent Marked Region Alt LEFTBRACE Verbatim Input (insert next keystroke literally) Alt V Move to Beginning of Line Ctrl A Move to End of Line Ctrl E Go to Line / Column Alt G Page Up (Previous Screen) Ctrl Y Page Down (Next Screen) Ctrl V Previous Word Ctrl Space Next Word Alt Space Go to First Line Alt \ Go to Last Line Alt / Help Ctrl G Report Cursor Position Ctrl C Justify Current Paragraph Ctrl J Word / Line / Character Count Alt D Refresh Screen Ctrl L Full Justify (whole buffer) Alt J Record Macro Alt : Run / Replay Macro Alt ;
GNU NANO KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS · WINDOWS · 14 ESSENTIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 Alt Copy Lin… 7 8 9 0 Q W Ctrl Search (… E Ctrl Move to … R Ctrl Read / I… T Y Ctrl Redo U Ctrl Paste (U… I O Ctrl Save Fil… P A Ctrl Move to … S D F G Alt Go to Li… H J K Ctrl Cut Line… L Z Ctrl Undo X Ctrl Exit nano C V B N M MORE SHORTCUTS Search and Replace Ctrl \ Set / Unset Mark … Ctrl 6 shortcutposters.com UPDATED JAN 2026 · COMPATIBLE WITH GNU NANO · WINDOWS Keyboard map CUT/PASTE Cut Line / Marked Region Ctrl K Paste (Uncut) Ctrl U Copy Line / Marked Region Alt 6 SEARCH Search (Where Is) Ctrl W Search and Replace Ctrl \ NAVIGATION Move to Beginning of Line Ctrl A Move to End of Line Ctrl E Go to Line / Column Alt G FILE Save File (Write Out) Ctrl O Exit nano Ctrl X Read / Insert File Ctrl R EDITING Undo Ctrl Z Redo Ctrl Y Set / Unset Mark (select text) Ctrl 6 GNU nano KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS · WINDOWS · 14 ESSENTIAL BOTH LAYOUTS QWERTY Q W E R T Y AZERTY A Z E R T Y shortcutposters.com UPDATED JAN 2026 · COMPATIBLE WITH GNU NANO · WINDOWS Isometric CUT/PASTE 03 Cut Line / Marked Region Ctrl K Paste (Uncut) Ctrl U Copy Line / Marked Region Alt 6 SEARCH 02 Search (Where Is) Ctrl W Search and Replace Ctrl \ NAVIGATION 03 Move to Beginning of Line Ctrl A Move to End of Line Ctrl E Go to Line / Column Alt G FILE 03 Save File (Write Out) Ctrl O Exit nano Ctrl X Read / Insert File Ctrl R EDITING 03 Undo Ctrl Z Redo Ctrl Y Set / Unset Mark (select text) Ctrl 6 GNU nano KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS · WINDOWS · 14 ESSENTIAL BOTH LAYOUTS QWERTY Q W E R T Y AZERTY A Z E R T Y shortcutposters.com UPDATED JAN 2026 · COMPATIBLE WITH GNU NANO · WINDOWS Typewriter GNU NANO · KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS Windows · 5 SETS · No.01 GNU NANO TOTAL 14 SHORTCUTS FOR WINDOWS · SHIPPED COMBOS SETS FILE 03 CUT/PASTE 03 SEARCH 02 EDITING 03 NAVIGATION 03 REF. EDITION · JAN 2026 shortcutposters.com Save File (Write Out) Ctrl O Exit nano Ctrl X Read / Insert File Ctrl R Cut Line / Marked Region Ctrl K Paste (Uncut) Ctrl U Copy Line / Marked Region Alt 6 Search (Where Is) Ctrl W Search and Replace Ctrl \ Undo Ctrl Z Redo Ctrl Y Set / Unset Mark (select text) Ctrl 6 Move to Beginning of Line Ctrl A Move to End of Line Ctrl E Go to Line / Column Alt G Editorial GNU nano is a small, friendly terminal text editor that shows its most common commands right at the bottom of the screen. Its key bindings use Ctrl (shown as ^) and Meta (the Alt key, shown as M-) and are identical on every platform, so the same muscle memory works whether you are on macOS, Windows, or Linux.
Official: Official site
All GNU nano keyboard shortcuts (Windows)
+ 3 more controls in the table below
+ 3 more controls in the table below
9 Action Shortcut Move to Beginning of Line Ctrl A Move to End of Line Ctrl E Go to Line / Column Alt G Page Up (Previous Screen) Ctrl Y Page Down (Next Screen) Ctrl V Previous Word Ctrl Space Next Word Alt Space Go to First Line Alt \ Go to Last Line Alt /
8 Action Shortcut Undo Ctrl Z Redo Ctrl Y Set / Unset Mark (select text) Ctrl 6 Comment / Uncomment Lines Alt 3 Set / Unset Mark (alternate) Alt A Indent Marked Region Alt RIGHTBRACE Unindent Marked Region Alt LEFTBRACE Verbatim Input (insert next keystroke literally) Alt V
8 Action Shortcut Help Ctrl G Report Cursor Position Ctrl C Justify Current Paragraph Ctrl J Word / Line / Character Count Alt D Refresh Screen Ctrl L Full Justify (whole buffer) Alt J Record Macro Alt : Run / Replay Macro Alt ;
6 Action Shortcut Search (Where Is) Ctrl W Search and Replace Ctrl \ Find Next (Forward) Alt W Backward Search Ctrl Q Find Previous (Backward) Alt Q Search and Replace (alternate) Alt R
4 Action Shortcut Save File (Write Out) Ctrl O Exit nano Ctrl X Read / Insert File Ctrl R Open File Browser Ctrl T
3 Action Shortcut Cut Line / Marked Region Ctrl K Paste (Uncut) Ctrl U Copy Line / Marked Region Alt 6
Sourced from nano-editor.org , nano-editor.org
·
Last verified June 18, 2026
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Frequently asked questions
Does the poster include every GNU nano shortcut? GNU nano has 38 keyboard shortcuts in total — the complete list is free to read on this page. The poster features the most essential ones, curated to stay readable on a wall.
Can I print it at home? Yes. The digital download is a high-resolution 300 DPI file you can print at home or at any print shop, in standard frame sizes.
Does it cover both Mac and Windows? We sell separate Mac and Windows editions so every key matches your keyboard exactly. This page is the Windows edition.
Is this an official GNU nano product? No. This is an unofficial reference poster and is not affiliated with or endorsed by GNU nano. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. Was this reference helpful? Thanks — your feedback helps us improve.
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