Bash Shell Shortcut Keys

The following BASH shell cheat sheet is from my new book Introduction to the Command Line (available now a lulu.com).

CTRL + C
Terminate current program

CTRL + Z
Suspend current program

CTRL + D
Exits the shell

Tab
Command/file auto completion

Home
Go to the beginning of the command line

End
Go to the end of the command line

CTRL + L
Clears the screen

Backspace
Deletes text behind the cursor

ATL + Backspace
Delete whole word backwards

Delete
Deletes text in front of the cursor

CTRL + R
Search command history

Up Arrow
Cycle backwards through command history

Down Arrow
Cycle forward through command history

Left Arrow
Move the cursor back one character

Right Arrow
Move the cursor forward one character

ALT + B
Move the cursor back one word

ALT + F
Move the cursor forward one word

CTRL + U
Cut all text before the cursor

CTRL + K
Cut all text after the cursor

ALT + D
Cut the currently selected word

CTRL + Y
Paste previously cut text

CTRL + _ (Underscore)
Undo changes typed on the command line

CTRL + T
Transpose previous 2 characters on the command line

ALT + T
Transpose previous 2 words on the command line

ATL + L
Convert word to lowercase

ATL + U
Convert word to uppercase