elinks Command in Linux

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Elinks is a text-based fast and efficient web browser that enables users to browse the web and access web content without a graphical interface. It is a popular browser among Linux distributions that enhances the command-line experience. Other than Linux distributions, it can also be installed on Windows and DOS.

Table of Contents

Here is a comprehensive guide to the options available with the elinks command −

• elinks Command in Linux
• Manual Page of elinks Command
• Common Options wiht elinks Command
• Navigation and Shortcut Keys
• Using elinks Command in Linux

elinks Command in Linux

Elinks is an extended version of the original Links web browser. The name "Elinks" stands for "Extended Links", which reflects its enhanced features and improvements over the original Links browser. Elinks doesn’t come pre-installed on most Linux distributions, however it can be easily installed using a suitable package manager from the distribution’s main repository.

We can install elinks on Debian based systems using the apt package manager −

sudo apt install elinks

Let’s confirm the elinks’ installation on Ubuntu by running the following command −

elinks --version

To install this web browser on Red-Hat based distributions, we can use the dnf package manager as follows −

sudo dnf install elinks

Similarly, we can use the Pacman package manager to install this browser on Arch Linux −

sudo pacman -S elinks

Manual Page of elinks Command

Before moving on to the usage of elinks, let’s first explore the manual page of this command to get a better understanding −

man elinks

The manual page contains all the essential information regarding this browser, such as synopsis, description, valid options, environment variable, etc −

Common Options wiht elinks Command

The elinks command accepts several options; among them, the most commonly used are listed in the following table −

Navigation and Shortcut Keys

Elinks supports multiple navigation and shortcut keys for efficient browsing in a text-based environment −

Using elinks Command in Linux

Follow the below-listed stepwise instructions to use the elinks command in Linux −

Prerequisite Step: Install Elinks

Elinks is not pre-installed by default in many Linux distributions, so you generally need to install it manually before use.

Step 1: Launch Elinks Browser

Write “elinks” in the terminal and hit Enter key to open the Elinks browser −

elinks

As soon as, we hit the Enter key, we are navigated to the following window −

Press enter key to continue browsing or hit ESC key for menu.

Step 2: Access a Website

Now type a URL that you want to visit and hit OK to navigate to that website. For instance, we specify the complete address of the website, i.e., www.tutorialspoint.com to access it −

When we hit the Enter key we are navigated to the following page −

From the output snippet, you can observe that the website has been successfully loaded without the graphical interface. Now you can use the arrow keys to access a specific link, page, category, etc. of the selected website.

Step 3: Add a Bookmark

We add a bookmark by pressing the s key. When we press s key on the keyboard, it navigated us to the Bookmark manager −

Let’s use the right arrow key to select the “Add” option. Hit ENTER key and you will be navigated to the add bookmark page; specify the name and URL for the bookmark −

After specifying the Name and URL, press the ENTER key to add the bookmark.

Step 4: In Page Searching

Press “/” key on the keyboard to initiate an in-page search, then type the term you want to locate within the page. For example, we search for the term “Google” in the current page −

Upon hitting the Enter key, the searched terms will be highlighted as follows −

Step 5: View Browser History

To check the history in the Elinks browser, press Esc to open the menu, navigate to File > History, or we can simply press h to view a list of previously visited URLs −

Step 6: Navigate to a Specific URL

Hit the g key on your keyboard to navigate to open the “Go to URL” page −

Specify the URL that you want to access and then press the ENTER key to navigate to it −

Step 7: Quit Elinks Browser

To quit the elinks browser, simply press q on the keyboard, as a result, the following confirmation dialog box pops up. Select yes using the arrow keys and press enter to close the elinks browser −

That’s all about the usage of the Elinks browser in Linux.

Conclusion

Elinks is a text-based web browser that allows users to browse the internet without a graphical interface, enhancing the command-line experience. It is a lightweight, text-based web browser for Linux, ideal for low-resource situations, automation, and server management due to its efficiency and scriptability.

Although it is not pre-installed on most Linux distributions, it can be easily installed using a package manager. In this post, we covered how to install Elinks on various Linux distributions, explored its manual page, and demonstrated its key functionalities such as navigating websites, bookmarking, searching within pages, viewing browser history, and quitting the browser.