Pico is the built-in editor from the Pine email client and the predecessor of Nano. It shows available shortcuts at the bottom of the screen; the ^ symbol means Ctrl.
[pico](/man/pico) textfile.txt
[pico](/man/pico) +25 textfile.txt
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+g | Display help text |
| Ctrl+x | Exit pico (prompts to save if modified) |
Many systems no longer ship pico; its open-source successor nano uses the same keybindings, and pico is often just an alias for it.
Use arrow keys for basic movement, or these Emacs-style shortcuts.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+f | Move forward one character |
| Ctrl+b | Move backward one character |
| Ctrl+n | Move to next line |
| Ctrl+p | Move to previous line |
| Ctrl+a | Move to beginning of line |
| Ctrl+e | Move to end of line |
| Ctrl+v | Scroll down one page |
| Ctrl+y | Scroll up one page |
| Ctrl+c | Show current cursor position |
Pico prompts for a filename when saving.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+o | Write out (save) the current file |
| Ctrl+r | Read (insert) another file into the current one |
Use Ctrl+^ to start selecting text, then move the cursor to extend the selection.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+d | Delete the character under the cursor |
| Ctrl+^ | Mark text (start selection) |
| Ctrl+k | Cut the current line (or selected text) |
| Ctrl+u | Paste (uncut) the last cut text |
| Ctrl+i | Insert a tab |
| Ctrl+j | Justify the current paragraph |
| Ctrl+t | Spell check |
| Ctrl+l | Refresh the display |
Ctrl+W stands for "Where is". Press Enter at the prompt to repeat the previous search.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+w | Search for text |