Ubuntu - Change Default Editor

Your terminal should have a default editor. This is what is used whenever you run commands like

crontab -e

. It may not be set to what you like, or your preferences may have changed. To change it, simply run the following command:

sudo update-alternatives --config editor
# You may also need to run this one for crontab
select-editor

Now enter the number representing the editor you would like to default to

Now that is set, you can use the editor command in substitute for

nano

or

vim

. This is great for people who write tutorials because now we don't have to assume what you like to use. For example, I will try to make sure my tutorial steps are like below:

editor my-config-file.txt

Instead of:

vim my-config-file.txt

References

• How-To Geek - Change the Default Editor From Nano on Ubuntu Linux