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Is there a proper way to exit less - without having to kill the process?

I accidently created a file called - (minus) and tried to view it with:

less -

Less than follows stdin and I did not find any way to exit it properly. I had to ctrl-z and kill the process. Is there some sort of escape char or any other way to exit less - without killing it?

PS: I know the proper way of viewing a file called - is less ./-.

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    This sequence seems to work : a, Enter, Ctrl-C, q after you just started less. Better than Ctrl-Z, but I cannot say it's a proper way. Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 19:52
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    Stepping down to the end of the screen with multiple presses of Enter will give you a : prompt that you can type q at to quit. Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 21:19
  • @Philippe That works, if you don't press ctrl-c without any input. Which is what I unfortunately did. Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 21:47
  • @Kusalananda This always works. Even after I messed up @Philippes way by pressing ctrl-c straight away. Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 21:49

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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(Not sure why @Kusalananda didn't submit this as an answer.)

Hold Enter until the cursor reaches the bottom of the window. Then the expected : will appear, and pressing q will quit.

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  • You may need to press Ctrl+C to start anyway. Then pressing "G" then "q" should also work, and faster. Commented Nov 17, 2020 at 17:16
  • @Ned64 doesn't work for me, you have to go through the Enter routine Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 18:29

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