less.txt

h      help

# Search
/      search forward
?      search backward
# protip: search strings are some kind of regex; you can search for multiple separate things using |
n      next match
N      previous match
&      filter (show only matching lines). multiple uses will stack filters, use &<enter> to reset. ! negates. not sure
       what works in both regular search and filter
-I     case-insensitive all things
-N, -n enable, disable line numbers
-M -m  "ruler" with x/y z% lines shown
:n, :p next, previous file
Alt-u  toggle hilighting (also ESC u)
-S     toggle wrapping long lines
r / R  repaint screen / discarding buffered input (useful for buggered up color text)
-r     toggle interpreting escape sequences (colored & styled text), also works as CLI flag

# Navigate
pagedown / space   page down
pageup / b         page up
u                  half page up
g / p              start of file
G / Esc >          end of file
F                  go to end of file and wait for more input, like tail -f

# this is for CLI specifically:
-F     quit if the output fits on one screen
-r     interpret escape sequences (for colour, say)
-i     searching is case-insensitive by default (except when the pattern contains uppercase)
-I     searching is case-insensitive even when the pattern contains uppercase

# less can also list the files in (compressed) tar archives!
# for the contents of a compressed file you can
gunzip -c file.gz | less
# or
zcat file.gz | less
# orrrr
zless file.gz

# you can set some defaults in the LESS environment variable, like
$ export LESS='-I' # searches and patterns are case-insensitive by default