How to disable the AWS CLI pager

Long AWS CLI responses can pause in less or more instead of returning straight to the prompt. Disabling the client-side pager makes command output print to stdout so it can stay visible, feed a pipeline, or redirect to a file without an interactive screen taking over.

AWS CLI version 2 chooses a pager from the saved cli_pager setting, AWS_PAGER, or the lower-priority PAGER environment variable. An empty cli_pager value disables paging for the selected profile, and an empty AWS_PAGER value disables paging for the current shell or process.

Use the saved profile setting for normal workstation and automation profiles, AWS_PAGER="" for a short shell session, and --no-cli-pager for a single command. Do not confuse --no-cli-pager with --no-paginate; the pager controls the local display program, while pagination controls how the CLI follows service result pages.

1. Confirm that the shell is running AWS CLI version 2.

   $ aws --version
   aws-cli/2.35.3 Python/3.14.5 Linux/6.8.0 exe/x86_64.amzn.2023

   If the first token starts with aws-cli/1., the cli_pager setting and --no-cli-pager option from this page do not apply to that older major release.

2. Disable the pager for the default profile.

   $ aws configure set cli_pager "" --profile default

   The command writes an empty cli_pager value to the shared config file for that profile. No output means the setting was saved.

3. Apply the same setting to each named profile that should stay pager-free.

   $ aws configure set cli_pager "" --profile audit

   Profile settings are separate. Updating [default] does not automatically update [profile audit], [profile production], or any other named profile.

4. Inspect the shared config file and confirm the blank pager value.

   $ cat ~/.aws/config
   [default]
   region = us-east-1
   output = json
   cli_pager = 
   [profile audit]
   region = us-west-2
   output = yaml
   cli_pager =

   On Windows, inspect %USERPROFILE%\.aws\config. If AWS_CONFIG_FILE is set, inspect that override path instead of the home-directory default.
   Related: How to find the AWS CLI config file location

5. Run a local-output command and confirm that the response prints directly.

   $ aws ec2 describe-regions --generate-cli-skeleton output --region us-east-1
   {
       "Regions": [
           {
               "OptInStatus": "OptInStatus",
               "Geography": [
                   {
                       "Name": "Name"
                   }
               ],
               "RegionName": "RegionName",
               "Endpoint": "Endpoint"
           }
       ]
   }

   --generate-cli-skeleton output renders sample output locally, so this check does not require live credentials or an AWS service call. Generated skeleton fields can change between AWS CLI versions.

6. Disable the pager only for the current shell when the saved profile should not change.

   $ export AWS_PAGER=""

   AWS_PAGER overrides a profile's cli_pager setting. Use a non-empty value only when the shell should force a specific pager program.
   Related: How to use AWS CLI environment variables

7. Add --no-cli-pager when only one command should bypass the pager.

   $ aws s3api list-buckets --generate-cli-skeleton output --no-cli-pager
   {
       "Buckets": [
           {
               "Name": "Name",
               "CreationDate": "1970-01-01T00:00:00",
               "BucketRegion": "BucketRegion",
               "BucketArn": "BucketArn"
           }
       ],
       "Owner": {
           "DisplayName": "DisplayName",
           "ID": "ID"
       },
       "ContinuationToken": "ContinuationToken",
       "Prefix": "Prefix"
   }

   --no-cli-pager affects only that invocation. It is useful for commands that redirect output, run in scripts, or need to ignore a shell-level AWS_PAGER value.

8. Check AWS_PAGER if output still opens less or more.

   $ printenv AWS_PAGER
   less

   A non-empty AWS_PAGER can override the blank profile setting. Unset it or set it to an empty string before retesting the command.