How do I exit man page from the terminal? Once you have finished viewing a Linux manual page for a program, you'll obviously want to exit or quit. Most likely so that you can and go back to the same open terminal window to proceed to enter new commands.
Although the answer is well known, due to how many times I have been asked how to exit man page or exit info page once done viewing, I figured it a good idea to post a quick answer. Manual pages aka; Linux man-pages are provided with almost all software available for Linux. They house important documentation about an application or program and explain how to use it. Info pages can be used to provide information on programs or commands and how to use them.
Accessing Man Pages in Linux
Linux manual pages can be easily accessed via the terminal by typing man followed by the program name and then pressing Enter.
example: man fdisk
To Navigate Man Pages
Manual page or info page navigation can be accomplished by using the up and down arrow keys or in some cases, by pressing Enter for more.
↑↓
<Enter>
For Man Page Help
Additional help regarding the general use of man pages can be accessed by pressing h followed by the Enter key.
h
To Exit Man Page
Once you are finished viewing a manual or info page, you can exit or close the manual by pressing q.
Example;
q
Once you've quit, you will be returned to a command prompt within the same open terminal window.
How to use Man Pages
Now that you've learned the basics of Man, here is a full example on using it to display the manual for the fdisk (a disk editing program).
- Open a terminal and type man fdisk (to open the manual for the fdisk application)
- Use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to read the document.
- Once finished press q on your keyboard to quit reading the manual.
How to use Info Pages
Note: Info can be used in place of man to access informational pages. For example;
info fdisk
Or for displaying information regarding commands. For example;
info cp
