Shortcut

Description

ctrl + c

cancel the current running action.
Helpful when a command is running and you want it to stop.

ctrl + d

denote end of file (EOF) on standard input.
Helpful when you have started a command that wants more input and is just waiting for you to enter it - but you do not know what it wants.

logout / exit your ssh connection or terminal

ctrl + l

clear the screen

delete

delete current character

backspace

delete previous character

; (semicolon)

perform multiple, unrelated commands on a single line. For example ls; date;

tab key

auto-complete

up arrow

scroll through previous commands

history

history -cw

history | less

ctrl - R

display the command history

clear the command history

redirect the history command to the less command for better output navigation

search history

!n

repeat the command on line n. For example !56 repeats command number 56

!!

repeat the previous command. Same as the up arrow.

!?<string>

repeat the most recent command that matches the string. For example !?cd

Shortcut

Action

ctrl - a

Move cursor to the beginning of the line

ctrl - e

Move cursor to the end of the line

ctrl - f

Move cursor forward one character; same as the right arrow key

ctrl - b

Move cursor backward one character; same as the left arrow key

alt - f

Move cursor forward one word

alt - b

Move cursor backward one word

ctrl - l

clear

Clear the screen

Shortcut

Action

ctrl - d

Delete the character at the cursor location

ctrl - t

Transpose (exchange) the character at the cursor position with the one preceeding it.

alt - t

Transpose the word at the cursor location with the one preceding it

alt - l

Convert the characters from the cursor location to the end of the word to lowercase

alt - u

Convert the characters from the cursor location to the end of the word to uppercase

Shortcut

Action

ctrl - k

Kill text from the cursor location to the end of line

ctrl - u

Kill text from the cursor location to the beginning of the line

alt - d

Kill text from the cursor location to the end of the current word

alt - backspace

Kill text from the cursor location to the beginning of the current word. If the cursor is at the beginning of a word, kill the previous word.

ctrl - y

Yank text from the kill-ring and insert it at the cursor location