In this article I will present what are in my opinion the most useful and worth learning BASH shortcuts. Learning this bash cheatsheet can substantially make you more productive and work faster with the terminal.
This is not intended to be a full list of all possible BASH shortcuts, and if you need it you better check the bash documentation.
You can also download a printer-friendly BASH cheat sheet PDF that you can print and keep on your desk. You will find a link to it at the end of the article.
Command Editing Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl + a | go to the start of the command line |
Ctrl + e | go to the end of the command line |
Ctrl + k | delete from cursor to the end of the command line |
Ctrl + u | delete from cursor to the start of the command line |
Ctrl + w | delete from cursor to start of word (i.e. delete backwards one word) |
Ctrl + y | paste word or text that was cut using one of the deletion shortcuts (such as the one above) after the cursor |
Ctrl + xx | move between start of command line and current cursor position (and back again) |
Alt + b | move backward one word (or go to start of word the cursor is currently on) |
Alt + f | move forward one word (or go to end of word the cursor is currently on) |
Alt + d | delete to end of word starting at cursor (whole word if cursor is at the beginning of word) |
Alt + c | capitalize to end of word starting at cursor (whole word if cursor is at the beginning of word) |
Alt + u | make uppercase from cursor to end of word |
Alt + l | make lowercase from cursor to end of word |
Alt + t | swap current word with previous |
Ctrl + f | move forward one character |
Ctrl + b | move backward one character |
Ctrl + d | delete character under the cursor |
Ctrl + h | delete character before the cursor |
Ctrl + t | swap character under cursor with the previous one |
Command Control Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl + l | clear the screen |
Ctrl + s | stops the output to the screen (for long running verbose command) |
Ctrl + q | allow output to the screen (if previously stopped using command above) |
Ctrl + c | terminate the command |
Ctrl + z | suspend/stop the command |
Command Recall Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl + r | search the history backwards |
Ctrl + g | escape from history searching mode |
Ctrl + p | previous command in history (i.e. walk back through the command history) |
Ctrl + n | next command in history (i.e. walk forward through the command history) |
Alt + . | use the last word of the previous command |
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