Micro Text Editor

Getting Started

Micro is a modern terminal text editor with intuitive keybindings. If you know Ctrl+S to save and Ctrl+Z to undo, you already know the basics.

$ micro textfile.txt

Key	Description
Ctrl+q	Quit (or close the current tab/split)
Ctrl+s	Save current file
Ctrl+o	Open a file
Ctrl+g	Open the help menu
Ctrl+e	Open the command bar
Alt+g	Show what every key does in a bar at the bottom

Navigation

Standard arrow keys, Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down all work as expected. These shortcuts provide additional movement.

Key	Description
Ctrl+Left	Move to previous word
Ctrl+Right	Move to next word
Alt+{	Move to previous paragraph
Alt+}	Move to next paragraph
Home	Move to beginning of line
End	Move to end of line
Ctrl+Home	Move to start of file
Ctrl+End	Move to end of file

Jump to a line with the command bar: press Ctrl+e, then type the goto command.

$ goto 42

Selection

Hold Shift with any movement key to select text.

Key	Description
Shift+Arrow	Extend selection by one character or line
Ctrl+Shift+Left	Select to previous word
Ctrl+Shift+Right	Select to next word
Shift+Home	Select to beginning of line
Shift+End	Select to end of line
Ctrl+a	Select all text

Editing

Copy, cut, and paste use the familiar system shortcuts.

Key	Description
Ctrl+z	Undo
Ctrl+y	Redo
Ctrl+c	Copy selected text
Ctrl+x	Cut selected text
Ctrl+v	Paste from clipboard
Ctrl+k	Cut the current line
Ctrl+d	Duplicate the current line
Tab	Indent selection or insert tab
Shift+Tab	Unindent selection
Ctrl+u	Start/stop recording a macro
Ctrl+j	Play the recorded macro

Search and Replace

Search is incremental: matches highlight as you type.

Key	Description
Ctrl+f	Find
Ctrl+n	Find next match
Ctrl+p	Find previous match
Alt+F	Find literal (no regex)

Replace runs from the command bar (Ctrl+e). It asks for confirmation at each match unless you add -a.

$ replace "search" "replacement"

$ replace -a "search" "replacement"

Multiple Cursors

Edit several places at once. Type normally and every cursor applies the change; press Escape to return to a single cursor.

Key	Description
Ctrl+Click	Place an additional cursor
Alt+n	Spawn a cursor at the next match of the current word
Alt+x	Skip the current match
Alt+p	Remove the last added cursor
Alt+c	Remove all extra cursors
Alt+m	Spawn a cursor on every match

Tabs and Splits

Open files side by side or in tabs. Splits are created from the command bar (Ctrl+e).

$ vsplit other.txt

$ hsplit notes.txt

$ tab third.txt

Key	Description
Ctrl+t	Open a new tab
Alt+,	Switch to previous tab
Alt+.	Switch to next tab
Ctrl+w	Jump to the next split
Ctrl+q	Close the current split or tab

Useful Commands & Options

The command bar (Ctrl+e) also changes settings, permanently stored in ~/.config/micro/settings.json.

$ set tabsize 4

$ set tabstospaces on

$ set ruler off

$ set colorscheme monokai

$ help defaultkeys

Key	Description
Ctrl+r	Toggle line numbers (ruler)
Ctrl+b	Run a shell command

Mouse

Micro has built-in mouse support: click to place the cursor, drag to select text, scroll with the wheel, and double-click to select a word.