how can I enter multiple lines in an OSX terminal?

Question

How can I enter multiple lines in a terminal ? I would like to do the same thing as when I do shift + enter in chrome.

Apparently shift+enter in the Chrome console allows you to embed a newline in a command without submitting it for evaluation just yet. In many situations the shell already knows you are in a context where the command line isn't finished, such as when you are in a string or in a control block such as `if`, `while`, or `for` without a corresponding `fi` or `done` — tripleee, Jan 31 '18 at 10:23

score 19 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 31 '18 at 10:20

19

End your line with a backslash (\), hit Enter, and continue typing on the next line.

Keep in mind that if you need spaces between the parts of your command, you need to enter them explicitly, e.g.:

ls \
-la

answered Jan 31 '18 at 10:20

Robby Cornelissen

1 Answers1