Make Less Options Permanent or the Missing Lessrc

Let’s have a look at how we can make certain less preferences permanent, like -I, for example, which will make search case insensitive.

The missing $HOME/.lessrc

In GNU/Linux, preferences are often stored in rc files. For vim we have .vimrc, for Bash .bashrc, etc:

$ find "$HOME" -maxdepth 1 -name '*rc'
./.vimrc
./.idlerc
./.xinitrc
./.lynxrc
./.old_netrc
./.inputrc
./.bashrc
./.rtorrent.rc
./.sqliterc
./.xdvirc

Environment variable LESS

So, it would make sense to expect a .lessrc. But there is none. Instead, we define a environment variable LESS. My .bashrc:

export LESS="IFRSX"

Breakdown:

• -I: ignore case when searching
• -F: quit immediately when the entire file fits in one screen (in effect, mimic cat’s behavior)
• -R: enable colored output (for example, when piping to less from diff --color=always)
• -S: truncate long lines instead of wrapping them to the next line
• -X: don’t clear screen on exit

See man 1 less for all options.