I use GNU nano as my default text editor when working on my Ubuntu Server installs, primarily for its relative ease of use (well, at least compared to VIM that is). I often encounter files (particularly log files) which contain a ridiculous number of lines and so it is useful to know how to jump straight to the end of the file, hence this note to myself here.

The shortcut to jump to the bottom of the file is:

'Ctrl' + '-' ...followed by 'Ctrl' + 'v'

So the press sequence is first Ctrl then Hyphen/Underscore and when prompted to “enter line number, column number”, follow with a Ctrl and ‘v’.

Interestingly enough, to achieve the opposite of this, in other words jump to the top of the file, substitute the [Ctrl + v] for [Ctrl + y]:

'Ctrl' + '-' ...followed by 'Ctrl' + 'y'

And that is all there is to it – quick and easy!

ubuntu linux nano editor screenshot

Related Link: GNU nano