# Manual Pages

Unix comes with a preloaded documentation, also known as "man pages".

#### Anatomy of a man page

Each page is a self-contained document consisting of the following sections:

* NAME: the name and a brief description of the command.
* SYNOPSIS: how to use the command, including a listing of the various options and arguments you can use with the command. Square brackets (\[ ]) are often used to indicate optional arguments. Any arguments or options that are not in square brackets are required.
* DESCRIPTION: a more detailed description of the command including descriptions of each option.
* SEE ALSO: References to other man pages that may be helpful in understanding how to use the command in question.

#### View man pages

To view a manual page, use the command man.

```
man command_name
```

When viewing a man page, use the following keys to navigate the pages:

* spacebar- view the next screen;
* b (for "back") - view the previous screen;
* arrow keys - navigate within the pages;
* q (for "quit") - quit and return to the shell prompt.

For example, to view the man page associated with the command cp, type the following:

```
man cp
```

#### Search man pages

When you are not sure of the exact name of a command, you can use the apropos command to see all the commands with the given keyword on their man page.

```
apropos keyword 
```

For example, to see which commands are relevant to the task of copying, type the following:

```
apropos copy
```