Bash is a Unix shell and command language. Bash keyboard shortcuts are based on Emacs.
Bash Navigation
| Shortcut |
Action |
| Ctrl + A |
Move to the start of the command line |
| Ctrl + E |
Move to the end of the command line |
| Ctrl + F |
Move one character forward |
| Ctrl + B |
Move one character backward |
| Ctrl + XX |
Switch cursor position between start of the command line and the current position |
| Ctrl + ] + x |
Moves the cursor forward to next occurrence of x |
| Alt + F / Esc + F |
Moves the cursor one word forward |
| Alt + B / Esc + B |
Moves the cursor one word backward |
| Alt + Ctrl + ] + x |
Moves cursor to the previous occurrence of x |
Bash Control/Process
| Ctrl + L |
Similar to clear command, clears the terminal screen |
| Ctrl + S |
Stops command output to the screen |
| Ctrl + Z |
Suspends current command execution and moves it to the background |
| Ctrl + Q |
Resumes suspended command |
| Ctrl + C |
Sends SIGI signal and kills currently executing command |
| Ctrl + D |
Closes the current terminal |
Bash History
| Ctrl + R |
Incremental reverse search of bash history |
| Alt + P |
Non-incremental reverse search of bash history |
| Ctrl + J |
Ends history search at current command |
| Ctrl + _ |
Undo previous command |
| Ctrl + P / Up arrow |
Moves to previous command |
| Ctrl + N / Down arrow |
Moves to next command |
| Ctrl + S |
Gets the next most recent command |
| Ctrl + O |
Runs and re-enters the command found via Ctrl + S and Ctrl + R |
| Ctrl + G |
Exits history search mode |
| !! |
Runs last command |
| !* |
Runs previous command except its first word |
| !*:p |
Displays what !* substitutes |
| !x |
Runs recent command in the bash history that begins with x |
| !x:p |
Displays the x command and adds it as the recent command in history |
| !$ |
Same as OPTION+., brings forth last argument of the previous command |
| !^ |
Substitutes first argument of last command in the current command |
| !$:p |
Displays the word that !$ substitutes |
| ^123^abc |
Replaces 123 with abc |
| !n:m |
Repeats argument within a range (i.e, m 2-3) |
| !fi |
Repeats latest command in history that begins with fi |
| !n |
Run nth command from the bash history |
| !n:p |
Prints the command !n executes |
| !n:$ |
Repeat arguments from the last command (i.e, from argument n to $) |
Bash Editing
| Ctrl + U |
Deletes before the cursor until the start of the command |
| Ctrl + K |
Deletes after the cursor until the end of the command |
| Ctrl + W |
Removes the command/argument before the cursor |
| Ctrl + D |
Removes the character under the cursor |
| Ctrl + H |
Removes character before the cursor |
| Alt + D |
Removes from the character until the end of the word |
| Alt + Backspace |
Removes from the character until the start of the word |
| Alt + . / Esc+. |
Uses last argument of previous command |
| Alt + < |
Moves to the first line of the bash history |
| Alt + > |
Moves to the last line of the bash history |
| Esc + T |
Switch between last two words before cursor |
| Alt + T |
Switches current word with the previous |
Bash Information
| TAB |
Autocompletes the command or file/directory name |