Micro

Micro is a modern, intuitive terminal-based text editor that aims to be easy to use while still providing powerful features for developers who prefer working in the terminal. Created by Zachary Yedidia, Micro is designed to be the terminal editor that everyone can actually use: unlike Vim or Emacs, which have famously steep learning curves and unconventional keybindings, Micro uses the standard modifier-key bindings (Ctrl-C for copy, Ctrl-V for paste, Ctrl-S for save, Ctrl-Z for undo) that are familiar to anyone who has used a GUI text editor. This makes Micro particularly appealing to developers who occasionally need to edit files in the terminal but do not want to invest time in learning a modal editor. Micro is written in Go and distributed as a single, statically-linked binary with zero runtime dependencies, making installation as simple as downloading one file. Key features include: full mouse support (click to position the cursor, drag to select text, scroll to navigate, and right-click for context menus in supported terminals), standard GUI-style keybindings for all common editing operations, a built-in terminal (run shell commands without leaving the editor), syntax highlighting for over 130 programming languages and file formats (powered by a custom syntax highlighting engine), a powerful command system (accessed via Ctrl-E or a command bar) for executing editor commands, a plugin system via Lua scripting (allowing users to extend the editor with custom commands, keybindings, and syntax definitions), split tabs and panes (horizontal and vertical splits for editing multiple files simultaneously), search and replace with regular expression support, macro recording and playback, persistent undo history (undo and redo work across sessions), and a built-in file manager. As of 2026, Micro has over 26,000 stars.