Linux / Unix: Colored Man Pages With less Command

How do I see colored man pages with standard Unix or Linux less command without installing most paging program for Unix / Linux like oses?

You can use less command, which is a program similar to more), but which allows backward movement in the file as well as forward movement. Edit ~/.bashrc file using a text editor such as vim / vi, enter:
$ vi ~/.bashrc
Append the following code to get coloured manual pages with less command:

 
man() {
	env \
		LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$(printf "\e[1;31m") \
		LESS_TERMCAP_md=$(printf "\e[1;31m") \
		LESS_TERMCAP_me=$(printf "\e[0m") \
		LESS_TERMCAP_se=$(printf "\e[0m") \
		LESS_TERMCAP_so=$(printf "\e[1;44;33m") \
		LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$(printf "\e[0m") \
		LESS_TERMCAP_us=$(printf "\e[1;32m") \
			man "$@"
}
 

(Source: Man page from the Arch Linux wiki)
Save and close the file.

A Note About Colored Man Pages On xterm or rxvt-unicode

If you are using xterm/uxterm or rxvt-unicode edit the ~/.Xresources or ~/.Xdefaults file, enter:
$ vi ~/.Xresources
OR
$ vi ~/.Xdefaults
Xterm user add:

 
*VT100.colorBDMode:     true
*VT100.colorBD:         red
*VT100.colorULMode:     true
*VT100.colorUL:         cyan
 

rxvt-unicode user add:

 
URxvt.colorIT:      #87af5f
URxvt.colorBD:      #d7d7d7
URxvt.colorUL:      #87afd7
 

Save and close the file. Type the following command:
$ xrdb -load ~/.Xresources
OR
$ xrdb -load ~/.Xdefaults
To view the man page of grep command, enter:
$ man grep
Sample outputs:

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This FAQ entry is 2 of 2 in the "Linux / UNIX Colorful Man Pages Tutorial" series. Keep reading the rest of the series: