How to scroll backwards when displaying file using "more" command?
Use less instead.
Less is a program similar to more (1), but which allows backward movement in the file as well as forward movement.
There's only one operating system where what Shadok says in comments to another answer is actually the case. It isn't even a Unix. Guess which operating system is the one whose more command(s) only give(s) you the Unix user experience of 1988.
On Solaris:
You have two choices of more command: /usr/bin/more and /usr/xpg4/bin/more. The former doesn't have a back one line command. But the latter does. It is k, optionally prefixed by a number to indicate a different number of lines. The xpg4 in the directory name references the X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4, a 1992 standard for Unices that preceded the Single Unix Specification.
Further reading
- more(1), page(1). SunOS man pages. 1997.
On FreeBSD and MacOS 10:
/usr/bin/more and /usr/bin/less are links to the same file, which is GNU less. Invoked via more it tries to follow the POSIX/SUS specification for more. The Single Unix Specification specifies that the command for scrolling back one (or more) lines is k, optionally prefixed by a number to indicate a different number of lines, just like Solaris.
Further reading
- more(1). FreeBSD man pages. 2009.
- more. The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6. 2004.
- more(1). MacOS 10 manual pages. 2008.
On Linux:
The more command is the BSD more version 5.19, from 1988. It doesn't have a key sequence for going backwards by a line, only one for going backwards by a screenful.
Further reading
- more(1). Linux man page. 1992.
Scroll backwards with b.
This worked for me for more where more -V gives
more from util-linux 2.25.2
For context, this was in a Postgres 9.6.1 Docker container where uname -a returns
Linux 85c8072dc7eb 4.9.4-moby #1 SMP Wed Jan 18 17:04:43 UTC 2017 x86_64 GNU/Linux