Git on Mac: How to set Nano as the default text editor?

Question

When I'm using Git on Mac and need to do a rebase, the Vim editor kicks in by default. I would prefer Nano – could someone please explain how to reconfigure Git to make it use Nano for rebase?

I prefer nano too, I am no masochist. – Rolf Sep 22 '17 at 10:31 — Rolf, Sep 22 '17 at 10:31

score 225 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 01 '21 at 19:12

225

git config --global core.editor "nano"

More information here:

https://git-scm.com/book/en/Customizing-Git-Git-Configuration

edited Nov 01 '21 at 19:12

Toto

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answered Nov 08 '12 at 23:18

sunnyrjuneja

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This is manna from cli heaven – gdibble May 25 '21 at 19:25

score 35 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 12 '12 at 11:42

35

If you want to use nano as your editor for all things command line, add this to your bash_profile:

export EDITOR=/usr/bin/nano

This is assuming you're using the system nano. If not, edit to suit where your nano lives (e.g. /usr/local/bin, /opt/local/bin)

Remember to source your bash_profile after setting this or open a new terminal window for the settings to work...

answered Nov 12 '12 at 11:42

phildobbin

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That's assuming you use Bash B) – Jorge Orpinel Pérez Mar 25 '16 at 23:09
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You should be able to use simply `export EDITOR=nano`. – Radon Rosborough Oct 18 '16 at 03:20
Opening a new terminal window might not be enough to reload ``.bash_profile``. – Scott Jul 25 '19 at 04:40

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 26 '19 at 05:35

3

I just learned a moment ago that there (on OSX anyway) is a file at /Users/<USER_NAME>/.gitconfig

$ sudo nano /Users/bob/.gitconfig

Then you should see something like this:

[user]
    email = bob@sandwich.net
    name = Bob Sandwich
[core]
    editor = nano
[merge]
    tool = vscode
[mergetool "vscode"]
    cmd = "code --wait "
[diff]
    tool = vscode
[difftool "vscode"]
    cmd = "code --wait --diff  "

After seeing that structure, you can intuitively understand something like (ie: core.editor):

git config --global core.editor "nano"

answered Oct 26 '19 at 05:35

agm1984

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Love the detail here, ty – gdibble May 25 '21 at 19:27
WTF are you doing there? "sudo nano "? And only for reading a file? To which you've got access anyway? How about... "cat "? – Alexander Skwar Jun 18 '21 at 07:33

Git on Mac: How to set Nano as the default text editor?

3 Answers3