w3m command line browser for Linux or Mac

w3m is one of the easiest command line browsers for multiple platforms.  w3m is a free software/open source text-based web browser. It has support for tables, frames, SSL connections, color and inline images on suitable terminals. Generally, it renders pages in a form as true to their original layout as possible. The name “w3m” stands for “WWW wo miru (WWWを見る)”, which is Japanese for “to see the WWW” where W3 is a numeronym of WWW.

Why use a text browser:
It helps when you have a very shitty network connection. This is a live saver when you want to get things done super fast. Also sometimes it is easy to read sites without a lot of images etc.

Installing W3M on Linux
You’ll want to install the main w3m package and the w3m-img package if you want inline image support. Use the following command on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install w3m w3m-img

For Mac following command will install:

brew install w3m

You can use the arrow keys to move the cursor around or click at the desired location to move the cursor there. If you want to type in a text box, select the text box with your cursor and press Enter before typing your text. Load a hyperlink by selecting it with your cursor and pressing Enter.
Shortcuts:
Tab: Press the Tab key to position your cursor over the next hyperlink on the page.
Shift-B: will take you back a page.
Shif-U: If you want to load a different URL, you’ll get an URL prompt.
Shift-H: To view the help page if you want to see a more complete list of keyboard shortcuts.
Shift-T: To open a new tab and then you can press Shift-U and enter the new URL. Yes, it does support tab browsing:)

Let me know if you liked it and if you have any other suggestion or tool for the same in comments below.

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