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Bash / Readline

Bash / Readline Keybindings

These shortcuts work in Bash and any program using GNU Readline (most shells, Python REPL, etc.). They use Emacs-style bindings by default. Switch to vi mode with set -o vi.

Movement

  • Move Forward One Character (Ctrl+f): Move cursor forward.
  • Move Backward One Character (Ctrl+b): Move cursor backward.
  • Move Forward One Word (Alt+f): Jump to the end of the next word.
  • Move Backward One Word (Alt+b): Jump to the beginning of the previous word.
  • Beginning of Line (Ctrl+a): Move cursor to the start of the line.
  • End of Line (Ctrl+e): Move cursor to the end of the line.

Editing

  • Delete Character Forward (Ctrl+d): Delete the character under the cursor. Also sends EOF on an empty line.
  • Delete Character Backward (Backspace or Ctrl+h): Delete the character before the cursor.
  • Kill to End of Line (Ctrl+k): Cut from the cursor to the end of the line.
  • Kill to Beginning of Line (Ctrl+u): Cut from the cursor to the beginning of the line.
  • Kill Word Forward (Alt+d): Cut from the cursor to the end of the current word.
  • Kill Word Backward (Ctrl+w): Cut the word before the cursor.
  • Yank (Paste) (Ctrl+y): Paste the last killed text.
  • Yank Pop (Alt+y): After Ctrl+y, cycle through previous kills.
  • Transpose Characters (Ctrl+t): Swap the character under the cursor with the one before it.
  • Transpose Words (Alt+t): Swap the word under the cursor with the previous word.
  • Upcase Word (Alt+u): Uppercase from the cursor to the end of the word.
  • Downcase Word (Alt+l): Lowercase from the cursor to the end of the word.
  • Capitalize Word (Alt+c): Capitalize the current word.
  • Undo (Ctrl+_ or Ctrl+x Ctrl+u): Undo the last edit.

History

  • Previous Command (Ctrl+p or Up): Scroll to the previous command.
  • Next Command (Ctrl+n or Down): Scroll to the next command.
  • Reverse Search (Ctrl+r): Incrementally search backward through history. Press again to find the next match.
  • Forward Search (Ctrl+s): Search forward through history (may need stty -ixon first).
  • Run Last Command (!!): Execute the previous command.
  • Run by Prefix (!prefix): Run the most recent command starting with prefix.
  • Last Argument (Alt+. or !$): Insert the last argument of the previous command.
  • Accept Line (Enter or Ctrl+j): Execute the current command.
  • Clear History Line (Ctrl+g): Abort the current history search or editing.

Control

  • Clear Screen (Ctrl+l): Clear the terminal, keeping the current line.
  • Interrupt (Ctrl+c): Send SIGINT, cancelling the current command.
  • EOF / Exit (Ctrl+d): Send EOF. On an empty prompt, exits the shell.
  • Suspend (Ctrl+z): Suspend the current foreground process (resume with fg).
  • Stop Output (Ctrl+s): Pause terminal output.
  • Resume Output (Ctrl+q): Resume terminal output after Ctrl+s.

Completion

  • Tab Completion (Tab): Auto-complete the current word (file, command, variable).
  • Show Completions (Tab Tab): Press Tab twice to list all possible completions.
  • List Completions (Alt+?): Display all possible completions.
  • Insert Completions (Alt+*): Insert all possible completions.

Customization

  • Config File: ~/.inputrc (Readline) and ~/.bashrc (Bash).
  • Switch to Vi Mode: 
    set -o vi    # In .bashrc
# or
set editing-mode vi  # In .inputrc
  • Example .inputrc: 
    # Case-insensitive completion
set completion-ignore-case on

# Show all completions on first Tab
set show-all-if-ambiguous on

# Color completions by file type
set colored-stats on

# Custom binding
"\e[A": history-search-backward   # Up arrow searches history
"\e[B": history-search-forward    # Down arrow searches history