---
name: "zmore"
section: "1"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/zmore"
---

# zmore(1)

view compressed files

## NAME

**zmore**, **zless** – view compressed files

## SYNOPSIS

**zmore** \[*flags*\] \[*file ...*\]

**zless** \[*flags*\] \[*file ...*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**zmore** is a filter that allows the viewing of files compressed with Lempel-Ziv encoding. Such files generally have a “Z” or “gz” extension (both the [compress(1)](/compress/1.md) and [gzip(1)](/gzip/1.md) formats are supported). Any *flags* that are specified are passed to [more(1)](/more/1.md) or [less(1)](/less/1.md), respectively.

**zless** is equivalent to **zmore** but uses [less(1)](/less/1.md) as a pager instead of [more(1)](/more/1.md).

When multiple files are specified, **zmore** will pause at the end of each file and present the following prompt to the user:

```
prev_file (END) - Next: next_file
```

Where **prev\_file** is the file that was just displayed and **next\_file** is the next file to be displayed. The following keys are recognized at the prompt:

- **e** or **q**

  quit **zmore**.

- **s**

  skip the next file (or exit if the next file is the last).

If no files are specified, **zmore** will read from the standard input. In this mode **zmore** will assume [gzip(1)](/gzip/1.md) style compression since there is no suffix on which to make a decision.

## SEE ALSO

[compress(1)](/compress/1.md), [gzip(1)](/gzip/1.md), [less(1)](/less/1.md), [more(1)](/more/1.md)