bash help sheet - shortcuts
some usefull shortcust for the bash shell
version of 10th Jan. 2007
You have to use ESC (escape key) to get into the vi command mode. You will need to press RETURN Key for executing a command
starting with the ponctuation character « : or « / or « ? . Use CTRL+c for cancel a command. Use « . for repeat your last
command and « :!cmd for execute a shell command (where cmd is the command to execute).
Wildcards Control keys bound (CTRL+key) Alt keys bound (ALT+key)
* match all characters ctrl+a move your cursor to the beginning of alt+< move to the first line of history
the line
alt+> move to the last line of history
? match a single character
ctrl+e move your cursor to the end of the
alt+? show current completion list
line
[]
match a range of value
ctrl+k delete any characters from your alt+* insert all possible completion
{} match a list of value cursor to the end of the line
alt+/ attempt to complete filename
ctrl+u delete any characters from your
alt+. yank last argument to previous
cursor to the beginning of the line
e.g. :
command
$ ls pic[1-3].{jpg,gif} will list pic1.jpg
ctrl+w delete previous word
pic2.gif and pic3.jpg but not pic1.png alt+b move backward
ctrl+t transpose two previous characters
$ mv {short,very_long}.txt will move
alt+c capitalize the word
short.txt to very_long.txt
ctrl+y yank/recover the last deletion
alt+d delete word
ctrl+d delete one character at the cursor
Escape keys bound (ESC+key) alt+f move forward
position
ctrl+h delete one character before the alt+l make word lowercase
delete from the cursor position
esc+d
cursor
to the end of the word
alt+n search the history forwards
ctrl+f move forward
non-incremental
move forward a word
esc+f
ctrl+b move backward alt+p search the history backwards
move backward a word
esc+b
non-incremental
ctrl+r find character sequence in history
transpose two adjacent words
esc+t alt+r recall command
(completion mode)
ctrl+g escape from completion mode alt+t move word around
Tabs keys bound (TT=TAB twice)
ctrl+v Literal next (LNEXT) alt+u make word uppercase
list all available commands
TT alt + delete backwards from cursor
list all available commands
backspace
(string) TT
starting with (string)
list available dir (including
/TT
hidden ones, use /*TT else)
list all system users
~TT
$ exec bash for reloading your current bash (in fact, replace current bash process by a new one,
list all system variables
$TT
and so reload your .bashrc)
list hosts
@TT NB : LNEXT interpret the next character as a string. eg : for symbolize a CR+LF you must do the key
act as ls or dir combination ctrl+v+return, that will print ^M
=TT
Shell-Tips.com Author : Nicolas Brousse
bash help sheet - shortcuts