diff --git a/etc/spack/defaults/config.yaml b/etc/spack/defaults/config.yaml
index 7d6f444b7e3..55dad99fe1a 100644
--- a/etc/spack/defaults/config.yaml
+++ b/etc/spack/defaults/config.yaml
@@ -178,6 +178,10 @@ config:
   package_lock_timeout: null
 
 
+  # pager(s) to use for commands with potentially long output (e.g., spack info)
+  pager:
+    - less -FXRS
+
   # Control how shared libraries are located at runtime on Linux. See the
   # the Spack documentation for details.
   shared_linking:
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/__init__.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/__init__.py
index 030a95c2388..970509918f0 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/__init__.py
@@ -4,12 +4,14 @@
 
 import argparse
 import difflib
+import functools
 import importlib
 import os
 import re
+import subprocess
 import sys
 from collections import Counter
-from typing import List, Optional, Union
+from typing import Callable, List, Optional, Union
 
 import llnl.string
 import llnl.util.tty as tty
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@
 import spack.store
 import spack.traverse as traverse
 import spack.user_environment as uenv
+import spack.util.executable as exe
 import spack.util.spack_json as sjson
 import spack.util.spack_yaml as syaml
 
@@ -723,3 +726,123 @@ def __init__(self, cmd_name):
             long_msg += "\n  ".join(similar)
 
         super().__init__(msg, long_msg)
+
+
+def find_pager(pager_candidates: List[str]) -> Optional[List[str]]:
+    """Find a pager from spack configuration.
+
+    Arguments:
+        pager_candidates: list of candidate commands with optional arguments, e.g. "less -FXRS"
+
+    Returns:
+        Arguments, including the found command, to launch the pager, or None if not found.
+    """
+    for pager in pager_candidates:
+        # split each string in the list of pagers into args
+        argv = pager.split()
+        if not argv:
+            continue
+
+        # try to find the requested pager command
+        command, *args = argv
+        path = exe.which_string(command)
+        if not path:
+            continue
+
+        # return the execv args we need to launch this thing
+        return [command] + args
+
+    return None
+
+
+def spack_pager_candidates() -> List[str]:
+    """Get a list of pager candidates by consulting environment and config.
+
+    Order of precedence is:
+
+    1. ``SPACK_PAGER``: pager just for spack
+    2. ``PAGER``: user's preferred pager, from their environment
+    3. ``config:pager``: list of pager candidates in config
+
+    """
+    pager_candidates = []
+
+    spack_pager = os.environ.get("SPACK_PAGER")
+    if spack_pager:
+        pager_candidates.append(spack_pager)
+
+    pager = os.environ.get("PAGER")
+    if pager:
+        pager_candidates.append(pager)
+
+    config_pagers = spack.config.get("config:pager")
+    if config_pagers:
+        pager_candidates.extend(config_pagers)
+
+    return pager_candidates
+
+
+def paged(command_function: Callable) -> Callable:
+    """Decorator for commands whose output should be sent to a pager by default.
+
+    This will launch a subprocess for, e.g., ``less``, and will redirect ``stdout`` to it, as
+    ``git`` does for commands like ``git log``.
+
+    The command will attempt to maintain colored output while paging, so you need a pager
+    that supports color, like ``less -R``. Spack defaults to using ``less -FXRS`` if it's
+    found, and nothing if not. You probably *do not* want to use ``more`` or any other
+    non-color-capable pager.
+    """
+    pager_execv_args = find_pager(spack_pager_candidates())
+    if not pager_execv_args:
+        return command_function
+
+    @functools.wraps(command_function)
+    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
+        # figure out if we're running the command with --help
+        is_help = False
+        if args and isinstance(args[-1], argparse.Namespace):
+            is_help = args[-1].help
+
+        # don't page if not a tty, and don't page help output
+        if not sys.stdout.isatty() or is_help:
+            return command_function(*args, **kwargs)
+
+        # Flush any buffered output before redirection.
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+
+        # save original stdout and original color setting
+        original_stdout_fd = os.dup(sys.stdout.fileno())
+        original_stdout_isatty = sys.stdout.isatty
+
+        # launch the pager
+        proc = subprocess.Popen(pager_execv_args, stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
+
+        try:
+            # Redirect stdout's file descriptor to the pager's stdin.
+            os.dup2(proc.stdin.fileno(), sys.stdout.fileno())
+
+            # make spack think the pager is a tty
+            sys.stdout.isatty = lambda: True
+
+            # run the decorated function
+            result = command_function(*args, **kwargs)
+
+            # Flush any remaining output.
+            sys.stdout.flush()
+
+            return result
+
+        finally:
+            # quit cheating on isatty
+            sys.stdout.isatty = original_stdout_isatty
+
+            # restore stdout
+            os.dup2(original_stdout_fd, sys.stdout.fileno())
+            os.close(original_stdout_fd)
+
+            # Close the pager's stdin and wait for it to finish.
+            proc.stdin.close()
+            proc.wait()
+
+    return wrapper
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py
index d13e5bafb68..b23a573c920 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import llnl.util.filesystem as fs
 import llnl.util.tty as tty
 
+import spack.cmd
 import spack.config
 import spack.environment as ev
 import spack.error
@@ -169,6 +170,7 @@ def print_flattened_configuration(*, blame: bool) -> None:
     syaml.dump_config(flattened, stream=sys.stdout, default_flow_style=False, blame=blame)
 
 
+@spack.cmd.paged
 def config_get(args):
     """Dump merged YAML configuration for a specific section.
 
@@ -178,6 +180,7 @@ def config_get(args):
     print_configuration(args, blame=False)
 
 
+@spack.cmd.paged
 def config_blame(args):
     """Print out line-by-line blame of merged YAML."""
     print_configuration(args, blame=True)
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py
index 8a1100303a8..a8dba7d05bd 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py
@@ -363,6 +363,7 @@ def _find_query(args, env):
     return results, concretized_but_not_installed
 
 
+@cmd.paged
 def find(parser, args):
     env = ev.active_environment()
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/info.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/info.py
index 5fd32762721..7733690a8eb 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/info.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/info.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from llnl.util.tty.colify import colify
 
 import spack.builder
+import spack.cmd
 import spack.deptypes as dt
 import spack.fetch_strategy as fs
 import spack.install_test
@@ -481,6 +482,7 @@ def print_licenses(pkg, args):
             color.cprint(line)
 
 
+@spack.cmd.paged
 def info(parser, args):
     spec = spack.spec.Spec(args.package)
     pkg_cls = spack.repo.PATH.get_pkg_class(spec.fullname)
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/list.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/list.py
index 5982c78a18b..a0de4bc1a69 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/list.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/list.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import llnl.util.tty as tty
 from llnl.util.tty.colify import colify
 
+import spack.cmd
 import spack.deptypes as dt
 import spack.package_base
 import spack.repo
@@ -315,6 +316,7 @@ def head(n, span_id, title, anchor=None):
         out.write("</div>\n")
 
 
+@spack.cmd.paged
 def list(parser, args):
     # retrieve the formatter to use from args
     formatter = formatters[args.format]
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/main.py b/lib/spack/spack/main.py
index 458ef7d2671..bca524ebd1d 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/main.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/main.py
@@ -374,6 +374,12 @@ def make_argument_parser(**kwargs):
         choices=("always", "never", "auto"),
         help="when to colorize output (default: auto)",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--no-pager",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="do not run any output through a pager",
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "-c",
         "--config",
@@ -536,6 +542,10 @@ def setup_main_options(args):
     if args.timestamp:
         tty.set_timestamp(True)
 
+    # override pager configuration (note ::)
+    if args.no_pager:
+        spack.config.set("config::pager", [], scope="command_line")
+
     # override lock configuration if passed on command line
     if args.locks is not None:
         if args.locks is False:
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/schema/config.py b/lib/spack/spack/schema/config.py
index b1f9a2e9bd0..8240fd414a0 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/schema/config.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/schema/config.py
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@
             "additional_external_search_paths": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
             "binary_index_ttl": {"type": "integer", "minimum": 0},
             "aliases": {"type": "object", "patternProperties": {r"\w[\w-]*": {"type": "string"}}},
+            "pager": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
         },
         "deprecatedProperties": [
             {