How to Edit a Text File in Linux?

Part 3 Using Vim

• Type vi filename.txt into Terminal.
• Press ↵ Enter .
• Press your computer’s i key.
• Enter your document’s text.
• Press the Esc key.
• Type :w into Terminal and press ↵ Enter .
• Type :q into Terminal and press ↵ Enter .
• Reopen the file from the Terminal window.

Lesson 2: Editing with vi

• Start vi and press i .
• Hit the Escape key.
• vi has its own command line, which you access by typing a colon.
• Many of the commands that you will use in command mode begin with a colon.
• To save your changes, use the :w command (“Write”).

Part 4 Using Emacs

• Type emacs filename.txt into Terminal.
• Press ↵ Enter .
• Get to know Emacs commands.
• Enter your document’s text.
• Press Ctrl + X , then press S . Doing so will save your file.
• Press Ctrl + X , then press Ctrl + C .
• Re-open your text file.

Edit a file as the root user. Editing files as the root user is potentially dangerous, and may break your system in bad ways. Take great care when editing files as the root user. Using the sudo command, you will need to successfully enter your password before gedit will open.

How do I edit a file in Linux command line?

Edit the file with vim:

1. Open the file in vim with the command “vim”.
2. Type “/” and then the name of the value you would like to edit and press Enter to search for the value in the file.
3. Type “i” to enter insert mode.
4. Modify the value that you would like to change using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

How do I open a text file in Linux command line?

To use the command line to create a new, blank text file, press Ctrl + Alt + T to open a Terminal window. Type the following command and press Enter. Change the path and the file name (~/Documents/TextFiles/MyTextFile.txt) to what you want to use.