Bash Terminal Keyboard Shortcuts¶

Note

The following keyboard shortcuts or commands may vary depending on Bash configuration
Keyboard shortcuts or commands may work on Bash variants (e.g. Fish)

Keyboard Shortcuts¶

Task	Command Example	Description
Break Command	CTRL-C	Kill the current foreground running process.
Exit	CTRL-D	Shortcut for the command `exit`. Command line must be empty to work.
Run In Background	CTRL-Z	Run the command/process in the background. Same as ending a command with an `&`.

Task	Command Example	Description
Capitalize Word	ALT-C	Capitalize the current or following word.
Delete Character	CTRL-D	Delete character at the cursor current position.
Delete To End	CTRL-K	Delete from the cursor position to the end of the line.
Delete To Start	CTRL-U	Delete form the cursor position to the start of the line.
Delete Undo	CTRL-Y	Restore last deleted text by CTRL-K, CTRL-U and CTRL-W.
Delete Word	CTRL-W	Delete one word from the cursor position towards the start of the line.
Insert New Line	CTRL-J	Insert a newline control character.
Insert Special Character	CTRL-V	Add the next character typed to the line verbatim.
Insert Tab	CTRL-V-TAB	Insert a tab character.
Lowercase Word	ALT-L	Lowercase the current or following word.
Move Character	CTRL-T	Move the character before the cursor forward by one position.
Move Word	ALT-T	Move a word before the cursor.
Uppercase Word	ALT-U	Uppercase the current or following word.

Task	Command Example	Description
Complete	TAB	Type a partial text to complete the command, directory or file name.
Filename	ALT-/	Attempt filename completion on the text.
Filename Possible List	CTRL-X-/	List the possible completions of the text as a filename.
Insert Complete	ALT-*	Insert all completions of the text.
Possible List	ALT-?	List the possible completions of the text.

Task	Command Example	Description
Exit History	CTRL-G	Exit command history.
Insert Last Word	ALT-.	Insert the first argument to the previous command
Next Command	Arrow Down	Show next command from history. Repeat command to go forward in history.
Next Command	CTRL-N	Show next command from history. Repeat command to go forward in history.
Previous Command	Arrow Up	Show previous command from history. Repeat command to go back in history.
Previous Command	CTRL-P	Show previous command from history. Repeat command to go back in history.
Search History	CTRL-R	History search in reverse.
Search History	CTRL-S	History search forward.

Task	Command Example	Description
Back One Character	CTRL-B	Move the cursor a character.
Back One Word	ALT-B	Move the cursor back to the start of the current or previous word.
Clear Screen	ALT-CTRL-L	Clear the screen and if possible the terminal's scrollback buffer, then redraw the current line, leaving current line at the top of screen.
Clear Screen	CTRL-L	Clear the screen and redraw the current line, leaving current line at the top of screen. Shortcut for the command `clear`.
End of Line	CTRL-E	Move the cursor to the end of the line.
Forward One Character	CTRL-F	Move forward a character.
Forward One Word	ALT-F	Move the cursor forward to the end of the next word.
Start of Line	CTRL-A	Move the cursor to the start of the current line.