How to Browse the Web in Your Linux Terminal With Lynx

There is no shortage of feature-rich browsers available today, but most offer largely the same experience. Lynx is a web browser that only displays text, offering a unique and ad-free way to browse the Internet in the Linux terminal.

What is Lynx?

Lynx is a text-only browser that is designed to allow terminal-based systems to access web pages on the Internet. As it relates to Linux, Lynx is a web browser that runs in the Terminal. Lynx can access any web page available on the Internet just like your normal browser can, though it does have some limitations.

How to Use Lynx in Linux

To use Lynx, open the terminal and type lynx to launch the Lynx browser.

To go to a specific URL at any time, hit the G key and a URL prompt will open. Type in the address you’d like to visit and hit enter, and Lynx will load the website. If that site requests cookies, Lynx will prompt you to accept or deny those cookies either once or every time that domain is accessed. (We can automate this prompt in the Options discussed below.)

Navigation on a web page is done with the up and down arrow keys, which will highlight subsequent links. To scroll down a web page, press the Space bar or Page Down. Press Page Up to scroll up a web page. Pressing the Right Arrow key or Enter acts the same as clicking a highlighted link.

Along the bottom of the Terminal window is a list of hotkeys. These include the aforementioned key to go to a URL (G) along with a help page (H), options for Lynx (O), printing a web page to a file or a connected printer (P), navigating to the Lynx home page (M), quitting Lynx (Q), searching the current web page for specific text (/), and accessing browser history (marked “delete,” accessed by pressing Backspace).

Customizing Your Lynx Experience There are a few options you may want to check out by pressing the O key. One of these is how Lynx handles cookies. You can set Lynx to either accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or prompt you when a web page is loaded. (I suggest checking the box to reject all cookies to simplify web browsing.) You can also set Lynx to use colors to differentiate links, enumerate links on a page, and more. Take some time exploring the options page to customize Lynx to your liking, but be aware that options marked with an exclamation mark (!) won’t be saved between sessions.