Configuring PAGER in psql :: Noboru Saito's page

Posted on: November 16, 2025

In psql, you can set the PAGER to on/off/always using the pset value. When set to always, the PAGER will always start even if the output fits on the screen when psql starts.

To temporarily turn off PAGER with an option, use the following (you can specify on or always instead of off):

psql -P pager=off

Setting it in the .psqlrc file will keep PAGER off permanently.

\pset pager off

To turn off PAGER after startup (executed after connecting with psql), use the \pset command:

# \pset pager off

Running \pset pager without arguments toggles it, switching between on/off with each execution.

# \pset pager
Pager usage is off.
# \pset pager
Pager is used for long output.

Additional feature from PostgreSQL 15.0

From PostgreSQL 15.0, pager_min_lines has been added, allowing you to specify how many lines must be exceeded before the PAGER starts when output doesn’t fit on the screen. The default is 0, which starts the PAGER when output doesn’t fit on the screen (specifying a number of lines that fits on screen will be ineffective). pset pager=always takes priority over pager_min_lines. This is useful when you only want to start the PAGER if you cannot scroll back in the terminal.

psql -P pager_min_lines=10000

Since it’s a pset value, it can also be set in .psqlrc or executed after startup.

\pset pager_min_lines 10000

# \pset pager_min_lines 10000

The pset values are displayed when you run \pset. The pager value is off=0, on=1, always=2.

# \pset
border                   1
columns                  0
csv_fieldsep             ','
expanded                 off
fieldsep                 '|'
fieldsep_zero            off
footer                   on
format                   aligned
linestyle                ascii
null                     ''
numericlocale            off
pager                    1
pager_min_lines          10000
recordsep                '\n'
recordsep_zero           off
tableattr                
title                    
tuples_only              off
unicode_border_linestyle single
unicode_column_linestyle single
unicode_header_linestyle single

In psql, you can change the PAGER using the PSQL_PAGER or PAGER environment variable. Since PAGER is a general-purpose environment variable used by commands other than psql, use PSQL_PAGER if you want to apply it only to psql. If neither PSQL_PAGER nor PAGER environment variables are set, more or less becomes the default PAGER. If less is available, less is prioritized.

PSQL_PAGER=less psql

Since you can set environment variables in the .psqlrc file, adding the following configuration will permanently change the PAGER.

\setenv PSQL_PAGER less

Types of PAGERs

PAGERs suitable for psql include:

more is available in many environments, but I don’t recommend it as a PAGER for psql because it’s difficult to use.

less

less is a long-standing PAGER and can be easily installed as it’s usually packaged in distributions. less is stable and hasn’t changed much in development over the years, but recently a header option was added.

In version 600, an option to display headers in less was added, so if you have that version or later, you can configure it as follows to fix the display of psql headers (column names):

PSQL_PAGER="less --header 2" psql

--header 2 is an option to display 2 header lines fixed. When using the --header option, it switches to a mode that doesn’t wrap lines (equivalent to -S).

Also, like --header 2,14, if you pass a second argument, in addition to fixing the 2 header lines, when scrolling horizontally, the left side up to width 14 is fixed and can be scrolled. However, since the column width varies by table, it’s not desirable to pass this as an option. When displaying with less, if you type --header, it switches to input mode, and if you enter a character count at that time, it will be displayed fixed at that character count.

Header lines: 2,14

However, since you need to specify the width by character count, it’s not very user-friendly.

pspg

pspg is a PAGER made for psql and has convenient features for displaying tables. It converts psql output to ASCII table format and displays column names as headers. Also, columns can be easily fixed by entering number keys (1 is specified by default, so the leftmost column is fixed).

pspg has many themes available and can be changed. You can check pspg themes with pspg --themes.

PSQL_PAGER=pspg psql

ov

ov is a general-purpose PAGER I created, which started development with psql use in mind, but since options and keys can switch necessary functions for other purposes, it can display appropriately for psql while being general-purpose.

PSQL_PAGER='ov -C -d "|" -H1 --column-mode --column-rainbow' psql

By specifying the number of header lines (’-H1’), the header line is displayed fixed. Since styles can be specified for header lines, you don’t need to treat the delimiter (’-’) as a header, so only 1 line is used. Also, by specifying Column Mode with a delimiter (’-d “|”’), column selection highlighting is possible. Additionally, adding --column-rainbow allows each column to be displayed in a different color.

Since there is --column-mode, both header lines and wrapped display can be used simultaneously.

When ov recognizes columns by delimiter, they don’t need to be vertically aligned, so there’s no problem even if you switch alignment with \a as follows.

For details, please refer to ov’s psql page.

PSQL_WATCH_PAGER

From PostgreSQL 15.0, PSQL_WATCH_PAGER was added separately from PSQL_PAGER.

psql has a \watch command that can periodically execute the previously executed SQL and display the results. PSQL_PAGER is not used for this display. This is because normally the PAGER cannot receive the next SQL results until it exits, making it incompatible with \watch’s automatic execution.

However, if the PAGER side can continue to receive \watch results without exiting, the \watch results can be displayed in the PAGER. PSQL_WATCH_PAGER was added for this purpose.

pspg and ov can be specified for PSQL_WATCH_PAGER.

pspg WATCH support

When specifying pspg in PSQL_WATCH_PAGER, add the --stream option.

PSQL_WATCH_PAGER='pspg --stream' psql

SELECT * FROM pg_stat_activity;
\watch 1

With \watch, the pg_stat_activity results are updated every second.

ov WATCH support

When specifying ov in PSQL_WATCH_PAGER, add the --follow-section option and --section-delimiter "^$".

--follow-section is an ov option that enables follow mode with sections delimited by the delimiter specified in --section-delimiter. --section-delimiter is an ov option, and ^$ specifies blank lines as delimiters.

In other words, it scrolls and displays up to the position where there is a blank line, then repeats scrolling and displaying up to the position where there is a blank line.

PSQL_WATCH_PAGER='ov -w=f --follow-section --section-delimiter "^$" -d "|" --column-mode --column-rainbow' psql

Furthermore, you can specify the section start position with section-start(alt+s). When you specify a section start position, it repeats scrolling and displaying from that position.

Configuring PAGER in psql