A collection of essential Bash keyboard shortcuts that every Linux admin should know to work faster and more efficiently.
🧼 Screen & Shell Management
Shortcut | Action | Equivalent Command |
|---|---|---|
| Clear the terminal screen |
|
| Exit the shell |
|
🔁 Command History Navigation
Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Navigate to the previous command in history |
| Navigate forward through the history |
🧭 Cursor Movement
Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Move cursor to the start of the line |
| Move cursor to the end of the line |
✅ Example Use Case:
# Run a command:
ls -l /etc/passwd
# Use ↑ to recall it
# Use Ctrl + A to jump to the beginning
# Replace 'ls' with 'cat' and remove '-l'
✂️ Cutting & Clearing
Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cut everything before the cursor and copy to clipboard |
✅ Useful for:
-
Quickly clearing a mistaken password entry.
-
Replacing a large part of the command without backspacing.
🚫 Process Control
Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Interrupt (terminate) a running process | e.g., Stop |
| Pause/Suspend a running process | Can be resumed later with |
✅ Example:
# Run a long command (e.g., ping)
ping 8.8.8.8
# Press Ctrl + Z → suspends it
# Resume it with: bg %1