How to View File Contents Using more

How to View File Contents Using more

Hey there! 👋 Welcome to another beginner-friendly Linux tutorial from ProgramGuru.org.

Today we’re going to learn about a very handy command called more. If you’ve ever tried opening a large file using cat and saw a giant wall of text scroll by in a flash — this tutorial is for you!

The more command lets you view the content of a file one screen at a time. It's like a simple pager, and it’s super helpful when you're dealing with long log files, configuration files, or code files.

🛠 Step 1: Open Your Terminal

Let’s start by opening a terminal. If you’re on macOS, just hit Command + Space and type “Terminal”. On Linux, use Ctrl + Alt + T.

📄 Step 2: Create a Sample File (Optional)

If you don’t have a big file to test with, let’s create one:

seq 1 100 > numbers.txt

This command creates a file called numbers.txt with numbers from 1 to 100, one per line.

👀 Step 3: View the File Using more

Now let’s open the file using more:

more numbers.txt

You’ll see the first page of the file like this:

      1
      2
      3
      ...
     22
--More--

⏩ Navigation Tips

While you're viewing a file with more, here are a few useful keys:

• Space – Go to the next page
• Enter – Go down one line
• q – Quit and exit the viewer

🎯 Bonus: Use more with Piping

Let’s say you want to view the output of a command that produces lots of text — you can pipe it into more.

ls -lR /etc | more

This will list all files under /etc recursively and show them one screen at a time using more.

💡 Quick Recap

• more filename – View file contents one screen at a time
• Space to scroll, q to quit
• Use with commands like ls, ps, or dmesg using a pipe (|)

That’s it! You now know how to read large files in Linux using the more command. It’s a simple but powerful tool that makes your terminal life much easier.

Thanks for learning with us at ProgramGuru.org. See you in the next tutorial! 👋