How to show the Line Numbers in the Nano text editor

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# How to show the Line Numbers in the Nano text editor

The easiest way to show the line numbers in the nano text editor is to use the --linenumbers flag.

Issue the command nano --linenumbers myfile.txt to open the file with line numbers shown.

shell

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nano --linenumbers example.txt

The command above assumes that you are trying to open a file named example.txt with the line numbers shown.

Here is what the result of issuing the command looks like.

nano showing line numbers

The --linenumbers (or -l) flag displays the line numbers to the left of the text area as shown in the following clip.

nano show line numbers

You can also use the -l shorthand flag to achieve the same result.

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nano -l example.txt

Make sure to replace example.txt with the name of your actual file.

# Show the Line Numbers in Nano using a keyboard shortcut

You can also use a keyboard shortcut to show the line numbers in the nano editor.

Press Alt + Shift + 3 (or Alt + #) to show or hide the line numbers.

show hide line numbers using keyboard shortcut

You can also use the Alt + n keyboard shortcut to show or hide the line numbers.

The keyboard shortcut toggles the display of line numbers in front of the text.

# Show the Line Numbers in Nano using your global config file

You can also enable line numbering in nano by using your global config file located under ~/.nanorc.

Issue the following command to open the file.

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nano ~/.nanorc

using l shorthand flag to show line numbers

The file might be empty if you haven't previously edited it.

Add the following line to show the line numbers.

~/.nanorc

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set linenumbers

set line numbers in nano config

Save the file and restart your terminal.

Once you enable the setting, restart your terminal and issue the nano myfile.txt command.

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nano example.txt

Now any file you open will have the line numbers displayed.

show line numbers using global configuration file

# Show the current line number in Nano using a keyboard shortcut

You can also show the current line number in nano by using the Ctrl + C keyboard shortcut.

nano show current line number

You can also use the Alt + Shift + C keyboard shortcut to toggle the display of the current line number after opening a file.

# Show the current line number using a command line flag

You can also enable showing the current line number with the -c command line flag.

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nano -c example.txt

The longer form of the flag is −−constantshow.

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nano −−constantshow example.txt

Here is a short clip that demonstrates how this works.

# Show the current line number using your global config file

You can also use your global ~/.nanorc configuration file to show the current line number.

Issue the following command to open the file.

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nano ~/.nanorc

using l shorthand flag to show line numbers

The file might be empty if you haven't previously edited it.

Add the following line to show the current line number.

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set constantshow

show current line number using global config file

Save the file and restart your terminal.

Issue the nano myfile.txt command.

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nano example.txt

current line number shown in nano

Now the current line number will always be displayed at the bottom of the terminal window.

# A note on using nano with the `sudo` prefix

If you use the nano command with the sudo prefix and have difficulties showing the line numbers, set the -l or --linenumbers flag when opening the file.

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sudo nano --linenumbers example.txt

The command above assumes that you are trying to open a file named example.txt with the line numbers shown.

When you use the sudo prefix, you are issuing the nano command as a super user.

The line numbers might not be shown if you only edited your non-root ~/.nanorc file to enable the linenumbers setting.

You can also show line numbers for the root user via the global /root/.nanorc config file.

Assuming your ~/.nanorc file has the linenumbers setting enabled.

~/.nanorc

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set linenumbers

set line numbers in nano config

You can copy and paste the file to /root/.nanorc by issuing the following command.

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sudo cp ~/.nanorc /root/

You can use the cat command to verify the /root/.nanorc file has been copied successfully.

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sudo cat /root/.nanorc

Your /root/.nanorc file should contain the following line.

/root/.nanorc

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set linenumbers

Once set, you should be able to issue the sudo nano myfile.txt command with line numbers enabled.

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sudo nano example.txt

# Useful nano keyboard shortcuts

Here is a table containing some of the most useful nano keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard shortcut	Description
`Ctrl` + `S`	Save the current file.
`Ctrl` + `X`	Close the buffer and exit from `nano`
`Ctrl` + `C`	Cancel or report the current cursor position
`Alt` + `U`	Undo last action.
`Alt` + `E`	Redo last undone action.
`Ctrl` + `K`	Cut the current line into the cut buffer.
`Alt` + `6`	Copy the current line into the cut buffer.
`Ctrl` + `U`	Paste the contents of the cut buffer.
`Alt` + `Del`	Delete the current line.

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How to show the Line Numbers in the Nano text editor

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